Australia’s key industry events No Vacancy and TRAVELtech will return on a bigger platform under its new owners National Media which acquired the two events from founder Martin Kelly.
Grounded in “strong industry recognition and credibility”, both events will be expanded said National Media’s Managing Director Mark Harvey.
No Vacancy LIVE will return over two days at Sydney’s new International Convention Centre on November 1 and 2, while TRAVELtech is scheduled for second quarter of 2018.
“We’ll be taking No Vacancy to another level, combining high quality content with a large trade show featuring up to 150 exhibitors across all verticals, transforming it into the business hub of Australia’s accommodation industry,” said Harvey.
He says the accommodation industry is worth more than $18 billion to the Australian economy. “Yet surprisingly, given the size of the industry there is no dedicated exhibition designed to meet all its needs.”
“No Vacancy LIVE will fill this void and offer hoteliers and other accommodation industry professionals a platform to discover products and ideas to optimize their properties, create amazing guest experiences and ultimately boost their profits.”
Kelly will remain in a programming and moderation role.
Kelly says he will now focus on further developing TravelTrends.biz, while also consulting to travel companies on communications, innovation, industry trends and strategy.
Martin and Stephanie Kelly, founders of No Vacancy and Traveltech
“The great thing about selling the conferences is that I’ll be able to properly investigate the feasibility of a couple of ideas I’ve been trying to get to but haven’t had the time – now there are no excuses,” he says.
No Vacancy has mostly been an accommodation marketing conference, but the new look exhibition will embrace all aspects of the accommodation business, showcasing the best quality suppliers across design and decor, property management, operations and finance, housekeeping, spa and leisure, in-room and guest-facing technology, and marketing, distribution and reservation solutions.
TRAVELtech will also evolve into a much larger event and become the main exhibition and conference for travel technology buyers, travel agencies, tour operators and transport professionals to source, learn and network.
It will bring together a large selection of specialist suppliers showcasing the latest innovations across distribution, reservation, business operation and sales and marketing.
