A seamless 22-day Amway Korea Leadership Seminar has concluded in Cairns & Great Barrier Reef this week, featuring five waves of charter flights, impressive three-hour turnarounds of hotel rooms, and intimate Australian cultural and wildlife experiences.
The seminar saw Cairns city welcome 2,800 Amway Korea delegates arriving in five waves on 20 charter flights from 17 November to 7 December, delivering a $13 million boost to the region’s economy. Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) chief executive officer Mark Olsen described the incentive programme, which rewarded Amway’s top performers from South Korea, as a huge logistical exercise designed to ensure delegates were wowed by what would be, for many, their first taste of Australia.
Back-to-back charter flights with Korean Air and Asiana Airlines brought the delegates to Cairns, with the groups taking over Shangri-La The Marina Cairns for more than three weeks. Up to 14 Tropic Wings coaches and five limousines operated daily to transfer groups to tours, events and their business programme at the Cairns Convention Centre.
Each group enjoyed two full days of touring, taking in the Atherton Tablelands, Kuranda, the Daintree, Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef, with wildlife experiences, nature tours, golf and shopping featured throughout. Fogarty Park alongside the hotel was transformed into a picnic-style festival for delegates’ afternoon of arrival, allowing them to relax on deck chairs, listen to music, and enjoy customised mocktails and local gelato.
Delegates met local animals including a koala, python, crocodile and lizard, and participated in Indigenous workshops to learn painting, boomerang throwing, jewellery making, and watched didgeridoo demonstrations. Hemingway’s Brewery hosted the welcome reception dinner complete with a band and fireworks, whilst the Cairns Convention Centre served as the venue for the final night’s gala dinner, featuring a stunning rainforest-themed entrance, band, dancers and aerialists.
As the appointed local Destination Management Company for the Seminar, Arinex worked closely with local Cairns suppliers to deliver the programme. Arinex chief executive officer Maree Di Pasquale emphasised their approach: “For the Amway Korea Seminar, we worked closely with local Cairns suppliers, weaving rich Indigenous culture throughout the programme with deep respect for the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji and Yirrganydji people, the traditional custodians.”
The programme featured interactive workshops through to a fireworks spectacular set to Australian anthems in local Aboriginal languages, guaranteeing delegates a profound Tropical North Queensland journey. Amway Korea’s thoughtful choices ensured the seminar was highly sustainable, perfectly aligned with the destination’s ethos and Arinex’s own values.
Shangri-La The Marina Cairns added additional staff to manage the event’s 5,536 room nights, which included impressive three-hour turnarounds of rooms between the departure of one wave and the arrival of the next. General manager Golden Whitehead noted the scale of the operation, with the team turning rooms around in just three hours whilst preparing 900 breakfasts and lunch for 450 at their events centre on turnaround days.
The hotel’s team was well prepared for this logistical challenge, having successfully managed hotel buyouts with other groups in the past, including Amway China in 2018. With three Korean chefs on staff, the event organisers were delighted after tasting the proposed menu. Kimchi was shipped in, but everything else was sourced locally. Shangri-La The Marina Cairns provided numerous extras for delegates including keepsake room keys designed especially for Amway, an arrival minibar, local toys as gifts and locally produced arrival hampers.
Tourism Australia acting managing director Robin Mack highlighted the significance of business events to the nation’s visitor economy: “There is strong competition for these high yielding incentive groups which is why we are incredibly proud the 2025 Amway Korea Leadership Seminar was secured with the help of Tourism Australia’s Bid Fund Programme.”
The Bid Fund has been building a strong pipeline of future international business events over several years, continuing to deliver significant benefits for destinations and businesses across the country.
Queensland Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell noted that attracting high-yield business events to the state delivered significant community and economic benefits. The cluster of events is anticipated to boost the state’s economy by $13 million whilst simultaneously increasing the international reputation as an in-demand holiday destination.