The second annual ‘Accor Great Race’ around Melbourne’s CBD saw 10 teams sprint and busk their way around the city to visit landmarks and six Accor hotels over two days, facing a series of challenges along the way.
More than 50 of Victoria’s established Professional Conference Organisers, Corporate Meeting Planners and Event Finders gathered at The Swanston Hotel Grand Mercure for the start of the race that set out to showcase the diversity of Accor’s city conferencing product.
Teams untangled themselves from the ‘handcuff challenge’ and set off for the first day’s series of challenges dotted across city locations including the Eureka SkyDeck, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Rod Laver Arena, Queen Victoria Markets, The Block Arcade and Flinders Street Station, in between hotel visits to Ibis Melbourne, Novotel Melbourne on Collins and Mercure Melbourne Treasury Gardens.
Day one wrapped up with networking drinks and a gala dinner at the newly re-launched Mercure Melbourne Treasury Gardens hotel which showcased the very best of local food and wine from Victorian producers as well as specialties from Tasmania and the Barossa Valley.
Day two of the Accor Great Race saw the teams head south to The Grand Hotel, MGallery and Ibis Melbourne Little Bourke Street where they received their final challenge for the day before returning to The Swanston Hotel Grand Mercure for a sprint to the finish. It was a true balancing act for teams as they ventured outside of their comfort zones to busk on Bourke Street, solve encrypted codes and complete a series of public photographic challenges.
Participants in the 2012 Accor Great Race included MCVB, Business Events Victoria, Flight Centre Groups and the wining team from FCm Travel, followed by ASN Events in second place and PricewaterhouseCoopers in close third.
The winning team from FCm not only took home the Accor Great Race perpetual cup and medals but also fabulous accommodation and flight prizes to Accor’s hotels in Tasmania and Adelaide. Second and third placed teams also received overnight accommodation at Accor hotels in Victoria.
Accor Great Race event organisers, Greg Robinson from The Swanston Hotel Grand Mercure and Gil Wong from Ibis Melbourne said that the event was a great success and would like to thank major event sponsor, Jetstar and race managers from team building company, BeChallenged. |