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Editorial deep dive

Blood 2026 brings Australasia's combined haematology congress to Auckland's new NZICC

MICE editorial — 03 September 2026 Auckland Tier A

Blood 2026, the combined annual scientific meeting of HSANZ, ANZSBT and THANZ, runs 18-21 October 2026 at Auckland's new NZICC, expected to draw more than 1,300 blood-science delegates.

What Blood 2026 is

Blood 2026 is the annual scientific meeting of Australasia's blood-science community, confirmed for 18-21 October 2026 at the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) in central Auckland. The event's own site (bloodconference.com, live and confirmed) welcomes delegates to Tāmaki Makaurau and describes NZICC as the "brand new" host venue, marking the meeting's return to New Zealand after the 2025 edition ran in Perth alongside the 26th Regional Congress of the ISBT.

Who runs it

According to the organiser, BLOOD is the combined annual meeting of three professional societies: the Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand (HSANZ), the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion (ANZSBT), and the Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ). HSANZ describes Blood as its flagship scientific meeting, and its site confirms the 2026 return to New Zealand. Conference logistics are handled by professional conference organiser The Conference Company, with Tourism New Zealand and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited listed as destination sponsors.

Who it is for and the programme

The congress serves haematologists, transfusion and thrombosis/haemostasis specialists, scientists, nurses and trainees. The published structure spans an HSANZ Trainee Day, an ANZSBT Workshop and a THANZ Workshop, plus speaker sessions, a call for abstracts and social functions. Promotional material carried by the participating community (Arrow Foundation) reports the meeting is expected to welcome more than 1,300 attendees, with over 100 speakers including 20 international experts and more than 500 abstracts submitted for oral or poster presentation. Per the official site, early-bird registration and abstract submission opened 4 March 2026.

The venue and delegate context

The NZICC sits in the Auckland CBD and is the country's largest purpose-built convention facility, giving a congress of this scale a single central home for plenaries, concurrent workshops and exhibition. Its city-centre location places delegates within walking distance of a dense cluster of CBD hotels and the accommodation options the conference lists on its own registration pages, and close to Auckland's waterfront, dining and transport spine. For a multi-day medical congress drawing a large trans-Tasman and international cohort, that concentration of beds and amenities near the meeting floor is the practical backbone of delegate movement.

Why it matters for NZ MICE

Blood 2026 is a marquee booking for the new NZICC and for Auckland business events: a 1,300-plus-delegate international medical congress, backed by Tourism New Zealand and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, landing a rotating trans-Tasman meeting on New Zealand soil. It is exactly the kind of high-yield, knowledge-economy congress the NZICC was built to attract, and a visible signal of Auckland's capacity to host large scientific meetings.

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