Beyond Asia: The Biltmore, Mayfair, inVOYAGE 2019, and UFI Middle East/Africa Conference

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

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The Biltmore, Mayfair’s Jack Hardy Bedroom

Hilton’s LXR Hotels & Resorts welcomes The Biltmore, Mayfair
The Biltmore, Mayfair is set to open as LXR Hotels & Resorts’ first UK property, following an agreement between Hilton and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.

The luxury hotel, situated on London’s Grosvenor Square, will open for business in Spring 2019, marking the new brand’s European debut. Known as The Biltmore, Mayfair – LXR Hotels & Resorts, the property has been undergoing a multimillion-pound redevelopment since early July 2018.

Designed by Goddard Littlefair, the hotel will offer 257 guestrooms, many with views over Grosvenor Square, as well as 51 suites. Amenities on-site will include new culinary concepts headed by international chefs, an al fresco terrace, cocktail bar, and gym. Meanwhile, the largest function space is the 500m2 ballroom with capacity for up to 700 pax cocktail-style. There are smaller event areas for groups of 25 to 100 guests.

LXR is Hilton’s luxury collection brand. Last year, the collection welcomed its maiden hotel in Dubai at Habtoor Palace, a 234-guest room luxury hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road.

inVOYAGE sails to Monaco
Monaco has been announced as the host destination for the sixth annual luxury incentives and events forum, inVOYAGE, which will come to the Principality from October 6-9, 2019.

The forum will take place at the 278-room five-star Hotel Hermitage Monte-Carlo and its new One Monte-Carlo conference space. One Monte-Carlo opens in spring 2019 and will offer 10 meeting spaces, each of which will bear the name of an artist who has made a mark on Monaco’s history.

Local hotels and venues showcased during the forum include the re-invented Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo, the refurbished Columbus Monte-Carlo, and the luxury Hotel Metropole.

Last year’s edition took place at the Waldorf Astoria in Ras Al Khaimah, the UAE. It attracted 220 event professionals.

UFI takes its Middle East/Africa conference to Dubai
UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, will host a regional conference for the exhibition industry in the Middle East/Africa region this year.

Open to all industry professionals, the conference – themed Embracing Change, Looking Forward to the Future – will take place on April 8 and 9, 2019, at the Dubai World Trade Centre in UAE.

Some of the topics covered will be digital impact and exponential change, the future of venues and events, talent management, the evolution of value and ROI from trade fairs, the economic outlook and visitors’ insights. It will also focus on trends and initiatives shaping the exhibition industry moving forward.

The exhibition industry in the Middle East has grown strongly over recent years, with the market size in the GCC region alone nearing around one billion US dollars, according to estimates from industry consultants.

“UFI currently has close to 100 member companies based in the region, organised in the MEA Chapter, who we are serving out of our Dubai regional office,” said Kai Hattendorf, UFI CEO and managing director.

“The conference is one of the region’s key initiatives, as well as numerous educational projects. Moving forward, we also plan to produce research around core industry data for this important region. And, last but not least, 2020 will see the UFI Global Congress returning to the region with Oman hosting this UFI flagship event.”

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