New Zealand location, international support

General Practice New Zealand (GPNZ) Chair Shelley Frost first got the idea of bidding for the World Congress on Integrated Care when she saw the residual benefits of Sydney hosting the event in 2014. “GPNZ hosted a two-day event that saw a number of the keynote speakers stop in Wellington en route home to Europe and the UK from Sydney. The idea of getting support for our bid was underway.”

Following a successful bid, the 4th World Congress on Integrated Care will take place November 23-25, 2016 at TSB Arena and Shed 6, Wellington. Co-hosted by GPNZ and the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), the event is expected to attract more than 500 international health practitioners, researchers, clinicians and policymakers across the health and social care sectors.

Frost notes that, just as New Zealand benefitted from the Sydney congress, a similar arrangement will take place this year, with an event to be held in Australia following the Wellington congress. “The potential for New Zealand and Australia partnering in events such as this is significant and very easy to achieve with the support of Tourism New Zealand and our excellent conference organisers.”

Backing the bid

Frost says that support from Tourism New Zealand’s Business Events team was instrumental in winning the event - and only wishes she had been aware of it earlier. “GPNZ has hosted a number of conferences without any understanding of the support that is possible,” she says. “Tourism New Zealand has been such an proactive, easy group to work with. Nothing was a problem for them. They were so professional, they met challenging deadlines and adapted their existing documentation and materials to the health sector and to our organisation.”

While the event is a win for New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand’s support has been world-wide, she notes. This included funding through the Conference Assistance Programme for travel and accommodation to deliver the bid to the IFIC board in Edinburgh in person. With Tourism New Zealand’s help, Frost arrived with bid materials including a special promotional booklet featuring a letter of support from the Mayor of Wellington, a draft programme and a draft budget. “The promotional video was outstanding, it drew people in and really presented our country well, "Frost adds. “And the Foundation was very impressed with the presentation and standard of the document; so much so, that they are now using it as a template for future events.”

Post-win, Tourism New Zealand has offered ongoing support. “We couldn’t make the 3rd World Congress in Mexico in November in person because it coincided with the GPNZ AGM. Tourism New Zealand assisted with promotional material to be presented there on our behalf, including an update of the video welcoming delegates to New Zealand, and Save the Date cards for a seat drop,” Frost notes. “They are also helping with material for a stand at the International Conference on Integrated Care in Barcelona in May. We really want to hit that event hard to get more European delegates coming to New Zealand. We are looking at silver fern badges and other innovative ways to attract people to this side of the world.”

Tourism New Zealand support even extended to venue-finding and logistical assistance. Organisers particularly wanted to host the event in capital city Wellington to ensure key policy makers would be able to attend. “Tourism New Zealand also supported our attendance at the ‘Show Me Wellington’ event, which really opened up our eyes to what the city can offer and ways we can ‘jazz up’ our conference experience,” Frost adds. “Wellington is a great little city. There are a lot of opportunities. We will hold our conference dinner at the marae at Te Papa which will provide such a lovely, unique cultural flavour for our international visitors.”

New Zealand’s knowledge capital

New Zealand’s health system reputation was another key factor in securing the event. Holding a convention in New Zealand taps into the network of local thought leaders working within healthcare and showcases best practice and innovation. The event has received excellent support from New Zealand’s Ministry of Health, Health Quality and Safety Commission, and the Accident Compensation Corporation as Principal Partners, and Frost is pleased that the great work being done locally can be shared internationally.

“New Zealand has a very good health system, and our meso-level primary care networks in particular are the envy of many other health systems. Our Whanau Ora model is of great interest to other countries as it focuses on people and their families and wrapping services around and across the full health and social care sectors. The benefits of hosting this event are two-fold: We in New Zealand learn from the world leaders in healthcare; plus we have the opportunity to showcase our own initiatives and put our GPNZ member networks on the world stage.”