The organisation has established the bureau to raise the profile of the Waitaki district and attract more people, for longer stays, to the region.
Without detracting from other activities, events and promotions throughout Waitaki, conferences could provide solid economic benefit, Mr Gaskill said.
''We have some amazing facilities within our district that provide unique opportunities for any visiting delegation,'' he said.
Oamaru Convention Bureau executive Metka Conlan started in the new 15-hours-a-week role on Monday.
The job involves connecting with conference organisers and providing impartial advice and information about venues, accommodation, dining, team building, transport and entertainment options in the Waitaki District.
Mrs Conlan moved to Oamaru six years ago from Christchurch, where she worked in the Christchurch and Canterbury Convention Bureau.
''I studied tourism management at university in Tasmania and when we first moved to Christchurch I was tutoring at a tourism school, and then a job came up with the [Christchurch and Canterbury] bureau,'' she said.
For the past two years in Oamaru, Mrs Conlan has been working in marketing and promoting the Victorian Precinct for the Whitestone Civic Trust.
Many conference organisers were looking for new, quirky places to hold conferences and Oamaru had ''huge'' potential for attracting them, she said.
Historic venues with modern amenities, custom-designed welcoming functions, which could involve Steampunk or Victoriana, some of the country's best restaurants and a full selection of attractions from Moeraki to Ohau made Waitaki stand out from the rest in conference bids.
Attracting more conferences to Oamaru required more co-ordination, with venues and accommodation, dining, transport, attraction and entertainment providers all working together to host delegates, she said.
''Conference organisers look for a bureau, they understand what a bureau is, and they know that they're going to get the impartial advice, the overall picture of the town,'' she said.
''It is really necessary, it brings us up to that next level of professionalism.''
In her first week, Mrs Conlan has already been working on a conference bid for 2017, meeting operators and signing up the Oamaru Convention Bureau with Conventions and Incentives New Zealand.
''A lot of what we're working on is long term,'' she said.
''It's not people who are wanting a conference in October this year - we're working on 2016, 2017 and beyond. That's how far out organisations are planning.''
