This week we chat with yet another talented person in the business events industry! Craig Murray is the Business Events Manager at Destination Rotorua. His journey leading up to this role has been amazing as you’ll soon read, and we’ve also discovered that he has a passion for action sports and music events.
Destination Rotorua and business events
Destination Rotorua acts like a broker in the business events scene in Rotorua. A good thing to keep in mind if you’re thinking of hosting an event in Rotorua and you’re looking for an element to incorporate into your event, reach out to the team at Destination Rotorua. Whether you’re looking for a specific type of accommodation, venue, activities or a helicopter, Craig and the team will reach out to their stakeholders to find a solution that best fits your requirements.
If you’ve not hosted a business event in Rotorua, one of the biggest facilities that Rotorua has to offer is the Energy Events Centre that can hold up to 4,000 people seated in theatre style.
Over 90% of business events in Rotorua are domestic conferences. Followed by 5% made up of large scaled international events. Then the rest is made up of team building and incentive events that are increasingly becoming popular.
During these uncertain times with Covid-19 still lingering, it’s been fortunate that most of the events that were to be hosted in Rotorua have been rescheduled. However, the international events that are on a 3-year rotation, were lost and it’s unsure if they will return.
Overall, business events benefit and contribute to the community. Craig views it differently, “it’s not so much about delivering a conference, its about the supply chain and how it helps your business event become successful”.
A love for action sports and music events
Craig owns an event company called Intrinsic Events that hosts an Enduro mountain bike race through the Whakariro Forest, opened to 600 entries and sold out in just 7 days. Enduro is a mountain bike race that records the downhill time, so whoever’s time is the fastest wins the race.
One of Craig’s ah-ha moments he shared was while at Raglan’s Soundsplash music event, listening to Shapeshifter perform Long White Cloud, he decided that organising a music event is something he definitely wanted to do. He hasn’t done a music event yet but it’s something he will be doing in the next couple of years.
Craig Murray Business Events Manager at Destination Rotorua, has been in the role for 5 year after moving home from Wellington mid-2015.
Craig also has his own Events Company Intrinsic Events (IE), the focus is on action sports events and music relate events, IE manages the Southern Hemispheres Largest Enduro Mountain Bike Race and 2 World Enduro Mountain bike events. Craig started his career in the events space way back in 2002 where he worked with Surfing New Zealand.
Craig is a podcast addict and favourite podcast is anything with Gary Vee in it. Book he is currently reading, The Daily Stoic.
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