To court more business events and meetings, Shangri-La Hotel Chiang Mai is getting creative with themed events for its corporate clients, which currently forms 20 per cent of its business.
“The plan is to leverage on our outdoor venues – we have beautiful gardens with different areas suitable for any type of events. We are looking at making them more conducive for themed events, cocktail events, outdoor meetings and teambuilding activities,” Gabriele Lombardo, general manager of Shangri-La Hotel Chiang Mai, told TTGmice.
He added: “We’re introducing new themed coffee breaks that are more engaging, with live stations, cultural activities like umbrella painting and food with the name of the guest carved in.”
These developments come as the hotel reports greater volumes of business guests from Asian countries other than China – which recently made up some 40 per cent. Thanks to new flight routes, the property is now seeing more business events groups from Taiwan and South Korea as well as from Doha outside of Asia.
Singapore is another market with strong potential, said Lombardo, held back only by the lack of more direct flights.
He pointed out that Chiang Mai can also benefit from an expanded international airport to accommodate the droves of incoming visitors as the city grows in popularity.
Lombardo shared that the Chiang Mai chapter of the Thai Hotels Association has given feedback to the Chiang Mai International Airport, and TTGmice understands it may be given a new and bigger site in two years.
