The BizConnect Business Breakfast is a Maroondah City Council initiative designed to connect local businesses and to share knowledge and skills. This morning’s speaker was from Destination Melbourne who discussed the growing $2.6 billion market generated through tourism opportunities from visiting friends and relatives.

The friends and relatives tourism market is the largest segment of visitors into Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and provides economic benefits for local businesses. While Maroondah may not be seen as a traditional tourist destination, it does have a strong component of tourism generated through friends and relatives and the speaker outlined the need for businesses to target this growing segment.

As the Mayor of Maroondah I had the pleasure of introducing the June BizConnect Business Breakfast and the speech I delivered is included within this post:

Welcome to our June ‘BizConnect Maroondah Business Breakfast’. Maroondah City Council, in the spirit of reconciliation, acknowledges that we are meeting on land for which the Wurundjeri people have been custodians for many centuries.

I would like to acknowledge the presence of Cr Natalie Thomas, as well as Frank Dixon, Maroondah’s CEO, Phil Turner, the Director of City Development, Marianne Di Giallonardo, the Director of Corporate Services and Trevor Welsh the Director of Operations and Infrastructure.

Council aims through the breakfast series, networking events and training sessions to improve business practices, as well as become more connected to, and aware of, your fellow local businesses. In addition, these events can also provide inspiration and examples of success, as well as reducing the degree of isolation sometimes felt by business operators.

This morning, we have Chris Buckingham CEO of Destination Melbourne who will explain to you a new initiative of Destination Melbourne, the Friends and Relatives Program and how you can position your business to be a part of this $2.6 billion market.

I would also like to provide an update on Maroondah’s Business Week, which will be held between the 4th and 8th of October. This year the week will feature ex footballer David Schwarz at the NAB Business Breakfast, Peter Alexander, the pyjama king at the RACV Business Insurance Networking Event and Tara Moss, model and successful author, at the Eastland Business Lunch.

Full details of these events will be launched on our BizMaroondah website on 18 August and copies will be available for those who attend our next breakfast on the 18th of August.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our 2010 Sponsors of the Business Breakfast series:

• Hutchinson Legal, our hosts for this morning;
• Denso Automotive Systems Australia;
• RACV Business Insurance – and
• ANZ.