Australia's top convention cities have united to create a new body, Conventions Australia, in a strategy to grow the country's share of the world conference market. As Australia's first national industry-led entity, Conventions Australia will target the international association market primarily in the key regions of Europe and North America, aiming to increase the number of future confirmed conventions by 10 per cent by 2012. The new organisation is a partnership between 12 venues and convention bureaux, representing the entire country and its eight international convention destinations - Cairns, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and the Northern Territory. Its goal is to reinforce Australia's track record in hosting memorable and successful conferences and increase its standing as one of the world's top ten conference destinations. Conventions Australia chairman Martin Winter said the new organisation had overcome the traditional rivalry between Australian cities to present a united face for the country's conference sector.