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Activities News
Parrtjima – A Festival in Light – to light up Alice Springs in 2018
Alice Springs will light up again in 2018 when Parrtjima – A Festival in Light returns to celebrate Central Australian Aboriginal art and culture.  The spectacular free outdoor festival, which comprises performance, light and sound installations with the majestic MacDonnell Ranges as its backdrop, will be staged from 28 September to 7 October 2018. In 2017, the festival involved five Aboriginal art centres and showcased the work of 20 Aboriginal artists.  

Accommodation News
Lasseters rebrands as Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Lasseters
Lasseters Hotel in Alice Springs has been re-branded by the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) as Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Lasseters.  The A$5 million refurbishment of the property is due for completion by 15 March 2018, with all 205 hotel guest rooms to be renovated and refreshed. The hotel, which nestles beneath the spectacular MacDonnell Ranges, is located adjacent to the 1200 seat Alice Springs Convention Centre and Lasseters Casino and also overlooks the 18-hole Alice Springs Golf Course, Australia’s only championship desert golf course.  

Alice Springs Resort joins Accor
The former Chifley Alice Springs Resort has re-branded as the Mercure Alice Springs Resort and has officially joined the AccorHotels network. With the re-branding, the 139-room resort has undergone an A$2 million upgrade of its rooms and facilities and has also launched a new al fresco area known as Ilthe Akethe-Le. The outdoor multi-purpose venue will be available for conferences, events and performances and in 2018, Indigenous workshops and cultural sessions will be staged in this space. 

Accommodation News
Westin Darwin to open in 2020
Marriott International will open a new Westin property in Darwin in 2020.  The eight-story luxury hotel will offer easy access to the nearby Darwin Convention Centre & Waterfront Precinct, with extensive water and city views. The property will comprise 240 guest rooms including 14 spacious suites, three dining venues and a bar.  More than 1,100 square metres of meeting and event space will be available, as well as an Executive Lounge. Leisure facilities will include a fitness studio, resort-style swimming pool and a spa.
Airport News
Darwin International Airport wins awards for solar innovation and new venue
The Airports Council International recently awarded Darwin International Airport with the Asia-Pacific Green Airports Platinum Award for its $13 million solar farm project. Comprising 15,000 solar panels spread over six hectares within the airport grounds, the panels can produce the electricity equivalent of 1000 households.  They meet the airport’s peak energy demands in the middle of the day, contributing to 25 per cent of its overall energy needs.  When completed, the solar array will be the largest airport airside PhotoVoltaic (PV) system in the world.  

Darwin International Airport is the first airport in Australia to establish and operate its own business centre, which recently opened on the mezzanine floor of the international arrivals area.  Covering more than 1000 square metres, the A$3 million Wirraway Business Centre features 75-seat & 25-seat conference rooms with video conferencing capability.  The new centre has already been awarded an Airport Innovation and Excellence Award by the Australian Airport Association in the category of Non-Aeronautical Development. The Wirraway Business Centre is named after the Australian-built training plane, which was converted to a light bomber during the Second World War.
Activities News
The Precinct Tavern extends
The Precinct Tavern, located at the extensive Darwin Waterfront Precinct, has developed a new state-of-the-art alfresco permanent deck on the lawns overlooking the Waterfront Wave Pool. The A$750,000 alfresco covered deck, which opened early in 2018, provides a new space for informal welcome, closing or casual dining functions for conferences being staged  at the nearby Darwin Convention Centre. The combined tavern and deck space can now offer capacity for cocktail-style events for up to 700 guests.
Darwin’s Waterfront Precinct comprises landscaped gardens and parklands, hotels, cafes, bars and restaurants, as well as a wave pool and saltwater lagoon with man-made beach.  It is just a short walk from the Darwin Convention Centre and only five minutes from the Darwin CBD.

Activities News
Camel Farm lights up
Uluru Camel Tours operates the largest camel farm in Australia with over 60 working camels available for escorted camel rides.  The Farm also offers a multi-purpose entertainment venue, ideal for team building activities as well as al fresco dining.  The extensive paved terrace provides room for a stage, dance-floor, bar and barbecue facilities and now also boasts new lighting and audio visual facilities. The venue can cater for small gatherings through to large events involving hundreds of guests.

Features include an outback bar known as “Old Toms Waterhole”, a saddlery and blacksmith’s workshop and also the ‘Staging Post” area which houses a fully-restored Cobb and Co stagecoach, wagon and buggy, as well as a display of historic images and artefacts. The Camel Farm also has a permanent racetrack which is the location of the annual Uluru Camel Cup and can also be utilised for bespoke camel races for conference and incentive groups.

Voyages Ayers Rock Resort – Field of Light to continue
At Uluru, Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, the spectacular ‘Field of Light’ continues to provide added incentive for planners to bring a business event to the Red Centre.  With the recent announcement that the world-renowned lighting installation will be extended till 31 December 2020, it is expected that the destination will attract ongoing attention from domestic and international planners wishing to integrate this global phenomenon into their conference and incentive programmes.