The City of Sydney has appointed Iris Sydney to help it transform the city into a top international Christmas destination.

The appointment, which follows a tender process, tasks iris with the development and implementation of a three-year strategy which will see the city promoted as a festive hub.

The aim of the brief is to generate the same degree of buzz around Sydney at Christmas time as is generated by New Years Eve.

Iris Sydney will deliver a strategy to establish a Christmas program, improve visitor experience and emotional engagement, create cooperative marketing initiatives for business, and develop new events and activations for the city.

Simon Porter, MD at iris Sydney (pictured), said: “We are incredibly excited to be involved with one of the world’s great cities and we’re aiming to create a participation platform that puts the City of Sydney on the global map for innovative and spectacular Christmas experiences.

The job will see Iris work with the Lord Mayor’s Office, leading retailers, hotel groups, restaurateurs and the city authorities, “to create a singular vision that will attract international and domestic visitors, putting the magic back into the Sydney Christmas.”

The 2013 phase of iris’ Christmas work for City of Sydney will go live in November and evolve across 2014 and 2015.