Beyond Asia: Dubai Business Events, ICC Wales, and Rosewood Houston

Here's TTGmice's weekly round-up of MICE developments outside of Asia-Pacific.

Downtown Dubai
Downtown Dubai

Dubai prioritises the Asian market
Dubai has been expanding its presence in a number of Asian markets with offices staffed with team members from Dubai Business Events that can assist agencies, corporates, and planners.

The emirate is currently represented in cities such as Guangzhou, Seoul, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur. The latter three offices are just a year old, having opened in June 2017.

“Having that infrastructure of people on the ground helps us be proactive in sales, as well as provide support for these organisations looking towards Dubai (as an incentive destination),” Steen Jakobsen, assistant vice president, Dubai Business Events and City Operations, told TTGmice.

On why Asia was being looked at more keenly now, Jakobsen shared: “The focus is more on incentive programmes and on corporate meetings now. We’ve seen a growing interest from many markets throughout Asia such as Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India. More direct-selling industries are using Dubai as a destination for their annual incentive programmes.”

At this point, half of Dubai’s business sector are incentive groups, and of this about 80 per cent are Asian companies. Particularly for the China market, incentive groups have been large. Forever Living brought 12,000 pax to the city, while NuSkin China brought some 14,500 pax.

Steen attributes this growth to the softened visa regulation a year ago for Chinese nationals. They can now obtain a visa upon arrival, and as a result arrivals leapt 41 per cent. – Rachel AJ Lee

ICC Wales construction enters new phase
ICC Wales has reached a milestone in the £84 million (US$112.7 million) project, with more than half the steel for the new centre now in place.

The joint venture between Celtic Manor and the Welsh Government will be able to accommodate 5,000 delegates in total. Function spaces includes a 4,000m2 pillar-free main hall, a 1,500-seated auditorium, 12 flexible meeting rooms, a glass atrium, and 2,500m2 outdoor plaza.

The building will be watertight by the end of November, and is on track for a completion by summer 2019.

When complete, ICC Wales is expected to bring £70 million a year into the Welsh economy.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts to open hotel in Houston
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts will be opening a second hotel in the state of Texas come 2023 in Houston’s Uptown District. It will be located near The Galleria shopping area, and the Texas Medical Center.

The property will comprise 150 rooms, and be located in a mixed-use development. The Houston outpost will have two F&B venues, outdoor pool, fitness centre, Rosewood spa, and meeting spaces.

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