Years Serving the SA Hotel Industry
From the General Manager IAN HORNE – AHA|SA GENERAL MANAGER
The Arena – It’s a No-Brainer From a hotel and hospitality industry perspective, the development of the Adelaide Riverbank Arena is an essential piece of infrastructure whose development must be a priority if Adelaide is to compete successfully in the new post COVID-19 world. The promised new arena is to be first and foremost an outstanding contemporary live entertainment venue but importantly with much needed convention/ exhibition adaptability and additional capacity, that also provides unsurpassed facilities and match-day experience for professional court sports. Simply put it is a multi-faceted solution that give the greatest possible flexibility to ensure South Australia is able to bid for any and every type of business event, cultural, entertainment and commercial gathering and yes, even a range of professional court sports. The Adelaide Riverbank Arena will significantly strengthen the Adelaide Riverbank Precinct’s competitive advantage and positioning as a world leading event, entertainment, and tourism precinct. It’s a crucial part of a bigger jigsaw puzzle that will place Adelaide as a competitive and desirable destination on par with any similar offering in the southern hemisphere, South East Asia and the world. Just because South Australians think Adelaide is a great place to visit doesn’t make it so in the eyes of the world. Adelaide and South Australian has some 6 | Hotel SA | W W W . A H A S A . A S N . A U
Adelaide Riverbank Arena is a proposed 15,000-capacity multi-purpose indoor arena on the edge of Adelaide's CBD. Photo - www.austadiums.com
massive competition from other Australian State capitals with bigger populations and easier access and a range of international destinations like Hong Kong. Singapore, New Zealand just to name a few. That’s why the Arena model as part of an expanded Adelaide Convention Centre offering is crucial. The Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Port Road is nearing the end of its useful life and its capacity is clearly too small to enable the world’s biggest entertainment acts to be commercially viable. It’s also completely isolated from the CBD, the riverbank and the multitude of other City attractions that make up a capital city experience. Back to Contents
