January 15-22 Santos Tour Down Under, the largest cycling race in the southern hemisphere, kicks off the calendar year in January. Over 750,000 spectatorsline the streets in Adelaide and regional South Australia where the race extends to the Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and scenic coastal towns. The BUPA Challenge, a one-day event open to public for teams and individuals looking to ride for a cause, has been included for 2012.

February sees the Adelaide Fringe will engulf the city for 24 days and  nights with a record-breaking 900 events planned. Acts in 2012 include Bob Downe, Auckland based comedian Stella Graham and the Java Dance Company. www.adelaidefringe.com.au

March 1-4 The 2012 Clipsal 500 Adelaide runs from March 1-4 as the first part of the 2012 V8 Supercar Championship. Eight racing categories are included in the programme as well as four nights of the Live Large Concert Series free to ticket holders with INXS, The Living End and Sneaky Sound System set to appear. New Zealand racing legends Shane Van Gisbergen and Greg Murphy will be in the race next year as well as up and coming NZ driver, Fabian Coulthard.

March 2-18 is Adelaide Festival, Australia's largest multi-arts festival featuring theatre, dance, music, literature, visual arts and a purpose-built late night club. The festival runs for 17 days and nights and next year's event will see NZ artist, Lisa Reihana exhibit in the Adelaide International as well as French screen legend Isabelle Huppert star in the Australia premiere of A Streetcar.

March 9-12 is the 20th anniversary of WOMADelaide. Running from Adelaide’s Botanic Park, next year will see the Australian debut of Swedish Folk duo First Aid Kit and South African icon Johnny Clegg.

June 10-25 is the Adelaide Cabaret Festival of music, satire and comedy. The only festival to be held in winter is all under one roof at South Australia’s creative heart, the Adelaide Festival Centre.

The NZ Travel Brokers annual conference was held at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell at the end of November. Nearly 60 brokers joined with their support team and 25 of their preferred suppliers to share ideas and information throughout the three days in the Bay of Islands. On the first day suppliers joined the brokers on a cruise of the Bay of Islands before pulling into beautiful Otehei Bay for dinner. The following Awards night, a black tie affair, recognised this year's high achievers.

NZ Travel Brokers' Steve Lee and Guy Flynn with 'Broker of the Year' Tracey Dench	Steve Lee and Guy Flynn with 'Brokers' Choice' Kay Gregan	Steve Lee and Guy Flynn with 'Rookie of the Year' Nicola Sorenson
NZ Travel Brokers Gina Courtier, Tracey Dench, Sally Lochhead, Julie Creelman	NZ Travel Brokers Tracey Dench, Nicola Sorenson, Sally Lochhead	Win Macmillan, Kristine Phillimore, Amy Turuta, all NZ Travel Brokers with Sharon Martin, Lifestyle Holidays
Aloma Butler, Qantas Airways and Trista Lucas, NZ Travel Brokers	Sandie Savage, Tracey Dench, Fiona Reid, Michele Averis, all NZ Travel Brokers	Supplier Day
Air New Zealand Top Five brokers, from left, Steve Lee, Tracey Dench, Philip Webb, Katrina Harding, Lynne Sinclair, Sally Lochhead, Guy Flynn	Lifestyle Holidays Top Five brokers, from left, Steve Lee, Gina Courtier, Julie Creelman, Kristine Phillimore, Amy Turuta, Win Macmillan, Tracey Dench, Guy Flynn	Kay Gregan, Lynette Logan, Ian Braithwaite, Sue Farley
Sally Lochhead and Julie Creelman, both NZ Travel Brokers	Carol Wisker, Innovative Travel	Deanna Johnston, NZ Travel Brokers and Phil Mazey, Williment Sports Tours
Marija Tolj, Trafalgar Tours and Vanessa Traille, Cathay Pacific	Zaheda Davies, Ayako Velickovic, Ann Young, all NZ Travel Brokers with Peta Baldwinson GO Holidays	NZ Travel Brokers Kate Vologzhanina, Trista Lucas, Ruth Asiata with Boyd Price from TravelSIM

In conjunction with North Harbour Travel and New Caledonia Tourism NZ, a Gourmet Tour to New Caledonia early November saw participants dine around Noumea and travel off the usual beaten track to see what rural New Caledonia had to offer a travelling foodie.

Based at the hotel Le Meridien in Noumea, the hotel has recently launched a series of activities under the name Gourmet Time, whose aim is to encourage hotel guests to seek out local gourmet delights around the city but also see what happens behind the scenes in the hotels many kitchens.

As well as a cooking lesson, participants travelled to spots as the Noumea daily market and local patisseries on their ‘Bike & Cook’ electric bicycle tour.  A second activity on offer was the Master Apprentice cooking lesson with the hotel’s resident head chef, Michael Boussemart. Boussemart heads up the team that nightly, produce gastronomic delights at the signature restaurant, ‘L’Hippocampe’.

Jennie Burt from North Harbour Travel in charge of the banana leaves !	Croquettes of manioc and smoked hapuka	Taking shelter from the New Caledonian sun before lunch

The group travelled outside Noumea to the tiny hamlet of Focola, near La Foa on the mainland’s west coast. What took them to Focola was the rural home of Gabriel Levionnois, chef/owner of Au Petit Cafe, a lively market kitchen restaurant and now one of Noumea’s most popular dining spots. The aim of the tour was to showcase New Caledonia’s local produce, which can often be left aside in favour of imported ingredients. Gabriel Levionnois (foreground) with his chef from Au Petit cafe, work on preparing the lunch in Gabriel’s rural kitchen. Levionnois currently sources his ingredients from Noumea’s daily market but aims eventually to source his produce from his garden which he has started in Focola. Tour participants dined on a 3-course meal comprising freshly steamed wontons of taro and prawn, also braised local wild pork and croquettes of smoked hapuka and manioc. All ingredients were sourced locally. Tools needed for the cooking such as banana leaves, fresh green peppercorns and tamarind, were harvested by the group with Levionnois’ help, from his garden. The participants travelled with Aircalin and were assisted on the ground by Arc En Ciel Voyages. Photos courtesy of New Caledonia Tourism NZ. Read more about Gourmet Tours to New Caledonia in the June issue of TRAVELinc magazine.

The Adelaide Convention Bureau has wrapped up its eighth and most extensive and diverse Destination SA and looks set to again deliver significant economic impact to the state and its business event operators.

A record 50 hosted buyers from interstate, Asia and New Zealand, joined 50 South Australian buyers to meet with a record 48 South Australian exhibitors.

Glassblowing at the Jam Factory and a Central Market experience were the first experiences enjoyed by overseas guests when they arrived in Adelaide on August 2. This was followed by a two day familiarisation tour of the Barossa Valley that saw them partake in the best food, wine and activities the region has to offer including wine blending, degustation dining and luxury accommodation at the Louise and its famous restaurant Appellation.

From left: Tui Harwood, Driving Force Incentives; Laurie Matthews. Indigo Direct Communications Ltd; Denise McCamish, Toll Global Forwarding and Heather Menzies, NZ Law Limited	Denise McCamish, Toll Global Forwarding (centre) has a go at glass shaping at the JamFactory	Heather Menzies, NZ Law Limited (left) has a close look at how the glass shaping is done at the JamFactory

A welcome function at the historic book-lined Mortlock Chamber at the State Library set the relaxed and welcoming tone for the exhibition. One on one pre-scheduled meetings at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday August 5 was followed by a gala dinner event at one of the world’s most famous cricket grounds - Adelaide Oval. It was a fitting farewell to the international party who departed Saturday morning.

The Australian contingent split into four groups for trips to either The Barossa, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills or Kangaroo Island.  Highlights were:

• A stay at the Iconic Southern Ocean Lodge, where guests combined ultimate luxury with nature experiences courtesy of Exceptional KI. Guests even enjoyed a private quad bike expedition coming face to face with Kangaroos and Eagles in the process.
• A private cooking class at Sticky Rice cooking school in the Adelaide Hills.
• Hands on culinary experience guided by Master Chefs at Chapel Hill Retreat McLaren Vale.
• Hands on photography experience in the McLaren Vale
• Chocovino wine and chocolate matching experience at Hahndorf Hill winery
• A cooking demonstration and gourmet lunch courtesy of the famous Beer family in the Barossa Valley
• Outdoor rustic dining experiences in the Barossa Valley and Kangaroo Island
• Team wine blending competition at Chateau Tanunda Estate in Barossa Valley.

The Adelaide Convention Bureau utilised Destination SA to launch the final phase of its Incentives Adelaide programme which include:

• Details of the programme to be uploaded in Chinese to the Bureau’s website www.adelaideconvention.com.au.
• A compilation video comprising highlights of all Incentive Adelaide itineraries to be available for download by organisations and tour operators
• A regular e-letter updating the latest developments in tourism facilities, activities and destinations

Destination SA resulted in some $41m economic impact for the state of South Australia in 2010 and Adelaide Convention Bureau CEO Damien Kitto hopes this may reach a figure of $50m following the 2011 event.