A conference centre that traces its origins to the 2011 Rena disaster opened yesterday at the Papamoa Beach Top Ten Holiday Park.

Oil from the stricken ship heavily affected the coastal beaches, wrecking the 2011/12 season for the holiday park.

Papamoa's conference centre, in the grounds of the Top 10 Holiday Park, opened its doors yesterday.

'We lost so much money through the Rena disaster that I really had to look at alternative markets,” says holiday park manager Rebecca Crosby.

'Weddings, groups and conferences were the three markets we really delved into.

'And we found ourselves turning away a lot of conferences for 60-80 people. So once we were financially able to - and I'd talked very nicely to my bank manager - we dived into building something that could cater for this region.

'And of course, we've got the location, so why wouldn't you want to come here?”

The first customers were Tourism Bay of Plenty's Industry Forum, and the 152m2 centre provides for up to 100 people with catering or a fully equipped kitchen available and a host of electronic aids.

Fibre-optic broadband is being installed next week, and the centre currently has high-speed broadband, a high definition projector with a 120-inch screen.

'We have been working with a few of the Bay of Plenty's best catering companies and even putting together signature Papamoa Beach dishes, which is really cool,” says Rebecca.

'We already do lots and lots of weddings, we just never had an indoor backup. So it's very much complementary.”

Costing close to a million dollars, Rebecca says designer Robin Baillie concentrated on a multi-purpose facility.

'It's an asset to the Bay of Plenty and perfectly complements the surge of exciting retail and residential development that is already occurring in the Papamoa area,” she adds.

'It will definitely help to drive year-round visitation. It's the perfect spot for delegates to work, stay and play in one beachfront location.

'We get told all the time how much executives love to sit on the decks of their beachfront villas and work on their laptops while overlooking the ocean.

'We want to provide a complete experience for our corporate guests, where we take care of everything so that they can be inspired without having to sweat the small stuff.”