Operators wind up to Melbourne 2006

The tourism industry is gearing up to make the most of next year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Victorian Tourism Minister John Pandazopolous visited Auckland last week to officially launch the Games to New Zealand and Australian tourism operators.

Melbourne will play host to more sports events than any city in the world has ever held in the next financial year. Pandazopolous said this visit was about getting to the [New Zealand] travel industry to let it know what was available and getting it to work out how it was going to package things.

He was over for the annual travel industry trade event OZ Talk on Friday and Saturday attended by more than 300 local travel agents, plus 250 tourism operators from Australia, which marked the start of the travel trade push to get Kiwi travellers to go to the Games.

An estimated 13,000 will head to Australia for the event, which runs between March 15-26 next year.

A quarter of all tickets have been reserved for New Zealand sales.

Melbourne will host a record 4500 elite athletes - representing 71 nations. More than 40,000 international visitors and 50,000 interstate visitors are expected to attend events. Sixteen sports encompassing 24 disciplines will be on show.

Following in the tradition of the Sydney Olympics, Pandazopolous was also keen to highlight the Business Club which will run alongside these Games.

He said the initiative offered some structure and networking opportunities for corporates planning to use the Games as a hospitality and business building opportunity.

The Games are also being used to showcase Australian business and technology: the baton, which visits all Commonwealth countries in the lead-up to the competition, is fitted with an Australian-designed global positioning system, camera and microphone, so the public can have live access to its progress.

Game for anything

* The Melbourne Commonwealth Games will run between March 15-26 next year.

* 90,000 visitors are expected to attend.

* 13,000 of them are likely to be Kiwis.

* A business club fostering Commonwealth ties will run alongside.