Michael Rousseau, president and CEO of Air Canada, has been named the new chairperson of the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board. He succeeds Scott Kirby, CEO of United, who held the post since December 2020.
In his new role, Rousseau will lead the two annual board meetings and serve as the spokesperson for the board, guiding the strategic direction of 25 global member airlines.
The inaugural Global Venue Experts Forum, jointly organised by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and Beijing North Star Group, concluded successfully in Beijing on December 7, 2024.
The two-day event brought together approximately 300 industry professionals and large-scale venue operators from 50 countries to the newly-built China National Convention Center Phase II (CNCC2). This forum served as a pilot event for the CNCC2 ahead of its official opening next year.
Themed Redefining Possibilities: Shaping the Future of Global Venues, the forum delved into four key topics: the strategic role of convention centres, global venue market dynamics, revenue diversification, and next-generation venue architecture and design. Industry leaders shared insights, case studies, and best practices to address the evolving needs of the global venue industry.
The forum also underscored the evolving role of convention centres. No longer mere meeting spaces, they are now seen as catalysts for urban development and cultural exchange.
In support of this, Li Xiaolin, deputy general manager of Beijing North Star Convention and Exhibition Investment Co., emphasised the two-way promotion between conference activities and destination development. The CNCC2, for instance, is expected to revitalise Beijing’s northern region and serve as a global communications hub.
Patrick Chen, director of the Intangible Culture Heritage Department at Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, highlighted the importance of community engagement. Venues should cater to conference attendees and local residents, fostering a sense of pride and belonging.
Ross Steele, general manager of Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, also highlighted the importance of incorporating local culture into the venue experience, even when clients prioritise enhanced technology and versatile, multifunctional spaces.
He explained that in New Zealand, the Māori culture is deeply embedded in the venue’s identity, where visitors seek authentic experiences through local cuisine and architectural storytelling to connect with the destination on a deeper level.
The Global Venue Experts Forum marked a significant milestone for ICCA’s expansion into China, where the partnership with Beijing North Star Group aims to elevate industry standards and attract more international events to the country.
Off-season demand for business events in Japan is growing thanks to pent-up demand from the pandemic and efforts by national and local governments to promote regional destinations, increasing awareness of the country’s offerings year-round.
March, April and early May, as well as October and November, “have always been the focus of business events,” according to James Kent, director and chief operating officer of destination marketing company The J Team.
Over the past 18 months and in bookings for the coming 12 months, however, his company is seeing “significantly more events in what have historically been the low seasons”, namely the coldest months of January and February, and the rainy and hot months (June through September).
Sector experts attribute the market changes to the pent-up demand for visiting Japan, which began growing when the country closed its borders in March 2020 to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Since all travel restrictions were lifted in October 2022, visitors have returned with enthusiasm, where 26.8 million people arrived from January to September 2024, making it likely this year’s total number of visitors will exceed the 31.9 million recorded in 2019, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.
Efforts by the Japan Convention Bureau to promote the country as offering everything from team-building through karate on a subtropical beach in Okinawa to ice-walking in Hokkaido seem to be paying off.
More buyers are looking for festivals, which are frequent from June to September, for event participants to watch or take part in, or for incentive-based snow sports in resort areas. Similarly, there is interest in Hokkaido for summer, to avoid the heat and humidity of the southern islands, and in Okinawa for winter, for milder temperatures.
The trend “seems to reflect an increasing level of knowledge of the attractions of Japan in different seasons, most clearly reflected in dining experiences and festivals”, Kent opined, adding that planners want “to offer something different in seasons that are perceived to offer more exclusiveness, when other events and FIT are elsewhere”.
You have been with the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) for almost seven years, where the past year was spent as general manager. How did you feel when you were entrusted with the general manager role?
It was such a privilege to step into this role and I’ve felt nothing but support and positivity from the team, my colleagues, and the industry. It has been genuine, heartfelt, and very much appreciated.
I’m grateful for this wonderful opportunity to continue my passion for the business events industry in such an exciting way.
How do you feel about the project finally coming to fruition, with the impending opening of NZICC next year?
Yes, it has been a long time coming but it will be worth the wait. I am working alongside an amazing team to ensure we deliver something truly special for our clients and New Zealanders.
There is still much to be done in preparation for the opening, but we are excited for the day we get to deliver our first event.
Once it opens, what are some of your immediate to-dos? Will it be any different from what you have been doing in the past few years?
Over the last 12 months, we have been working with our customers on Customer Experience workshops with a focus on how we can best work together, and what we can do to make their engagements with us the best they can be. Delivering to those expectations will be our priority.
We will be planning for the future, and always looking at how we can improve. Our main focus on opening will be to make sure we consistently deliver great events.
Which inbound markets is NZICC targeting and what type of industries or sectors are you targeting to attract from those markets?
It will be no surprise that the Asia Pacific market is a key focus. However, our international team has also seen great success in securing global conferences beyond just our region.
We are aligning the industries and sectors that we target to the priority sectors of Auckland and New Zealand: Agritech, Medicine, Education, Earth Sciences and Indigenous conferencing
New Zealand is well known for its Māori culture, and we believe we have an opportunity to shine brightly and lead the way in the Indigenous conference space.
Please also share more about NZICC’s plans for the next five years, and what challenges you foresee?
We expect to host around 500 events and half a million visitors each year; this will be a mix of business and non-business events.
We want to ensure NZICC supports our community, has a vibrant portfolio of events all year, and becomes an asset Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is proud of.
We are committed to future-proofing the NZICC with world-class sustainability to meet the desires of a younger generation of conference attendee who want to know their visit is being offset in innovative and principled ways. This includes a focus on integrating art and culture, demonstrating a holistic approach to sustainability (pre- and post-event) that extends beyond the building’s physical features.
What are some of the business events trends you see in the market now and how is NZICC planning to tap into those?
We are working alongside our clients to understand what the trends are in their world. This way, we can support them in enhancing the visitor experience, which only continues to grow in importance.
For example, we are designing our food menus to accommodate the growing demand for interactive and immersive experiences. And the global emphasis on wellness and inclusivity has seen us design all-inclusive bathrooms, and spaces with special furniture that accommodate our neurodiverse community.
For our own operations, we are also investigating options for automation and AI, as these present great opportunities to evolve our operations by streamlining processes, improving efficiency, and reducing costs. It is still early days, but we hope that by embracing this, we will become more agile, responsive, and scalable, ultimately enhancing productivity and our client and visitor satisfaction.
What do you envision Asia-Pacific’s business events industry will look like in 2025, and how does New Zealand play into this?
It’s an exciting time for business events in Asia Pacific. The region represents a huge opportunity for membership growth for global organisations, and New Zealand is well-placed within the region to be a strong player. We’ve already had two excellent convention centres open, with NZICC on the way.
Ranking fifth in the world for business friendliness, seventh in Asia and Oceania for innovation, and fourth out of 146 nations for gender equality, New Zealand is a great destination for all business events.
The Batavia Coast Conference Centre & The Gerald Apartment Hotel in Geraldton is banking on leisure drawcards – such as the Pink Lake and Houtman Abrolhos Islands National Park – to attract more business events to the region.
The conference venue is relatively new, having opened post-lockdown in June 2021. The only purpose-built conference centre located between Perth and Broome, it can comfortably handle groups of between 10 and 400 delegates.
In response to a query about its current event breakdown, Rachel Finney, sales manager of both the conference centre and hotel, shared with TTGmice on the sidelines of BE reWArded Mega Famil’s B2B workshop, that the events at the venue are currently 20 per cent international, and 80 per cent domestic.
As for the industries involved, she shared: “Fishing is a massive industry in Geraldton, so we get conferences for that. For example, we are one of the biggest exporters of western rock lobsters in the world. We also get agriculture, mining, and logistic conferences.”
Finney pointed out that her presence at such a trade event was to attract more international events, and markets that she has her eye on are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, UK and Europe, adding that the Jetstar flight between Singapore and Broome, although seasonal, is “great news” for the venue.
When asked how would the town handle a group of 400 pax, given that the hotel only had 40 rooms, Finney said that there were “four other quality hotels” in the town that they could coordinate with for overflows.
This year, the Batavia Coast Conference Centre has been working on building relationships with inbound tour operators in Australia.
“We’ve also participated in several trade missions and roadshows with Tourism Western Australia (TWA), which has brought us to Kuala Lumpur and Surabaya. Our owner has also gone over to the UK and Europe as part of a TWA delegation,” Finney added.
“We believe our destination is ideally suited for a two to three-night visit, and are actively working to entice corporate groups to (prolong) their stay beyond conferences to experience the region.”
The Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) will host its Single Topic Conference 2025 in Tokyo, Japan, from October 2-3, 2025.
This event is anticipated to draw over 700 delegates, including 200 international attendees from more than 20 countries and regions, to the Toshi Center Hotel.
APASL has held various conferences since 1978, and acts as a platform for the researchers in the region to present the latest advancements in the field of liver disease.
The successful bid to bring the conference to Tokyo was made possible by strong in-kind and financial suppor from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB).
Rooms
Guestrooms are from the 10th to 21st stories, with just two categories – premier room and suite. Rooms are either king or twin, and ocean- or city-facing.
My spacious 30m2 room had a king-size bed with huge pillows ensuring a good night’s sleep.
The long table skirting the side wall provided ample space for the complimentary fruit platter, plate and cutlery and served as a worktop.
All expected five-star hotel amenities were there: free Wi-Fi, bar fridge, slippers, safe, ironing board and iron, sufficient power points and drinking water. Glass bottles replaced disposable plastics, and the generous supply of four bottles was replenished daily.
The frosted glass-walled bathroom had a spacious shower cubicle. Surprisingly, there was no shower cap, and disposable-tube toiletries were still in use.
MICE facilities
Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams is the first integrated resort in Sri Lanka. As of early November, the meeting facilities were only partially completed. The shopping mall, Nuwa hotel and casino are scheduled to open by mid-2025.
The completed ballrooms impressed in design and ambience. Lumina on Level 7 holds up to 1,800 pax in theatre seating and 1,040 banquet-style. It divides into three and has a large foyer.
Suspended 100m on Level 22 are the cantilevered ballrooms, Cumulus and Celestine, with natural daylight and stunning ocean views. Cumulus seats 718 pax (theatre) and 410 (banquet), while Celestine takes 364 and 220 pax respectively.
The colourful-cloud lighting and branch-like side pillars are artistically pleasing, though these pillars impinge on usable space. Nonetheless, the ballrooms are well booked into 2026!
Upcoming spaces on Level 8 are the 1,000m2 Forum, divisible into two; 576m2 Studio, which splits into four smaller rooms; and elongated-space Boardrooms that turn into six breakout rooms.
On Level 7, the 2,395m2 Podium doubles up for big banquets or exhibitions – think car shows, given the direct ramp access.
Other facilities
The hotel offers a stunning selection of F&B outlets on Levels 9, 23 and 24. The main all-day dining Quizine restaurant had a long spread of local and international cuisine interspersed with ‘live’ cooking stations.
The French, American, Indian and Japanese restaurants each have distinct attributes. More restaurants will open by January 2025. While Cloud Wine looked classy, the stunner was Gatz Bar, spread between Levels 23 and 24 in the cantilevered block, offering splendid ocean views.
The infinity pool on Level 10 was an obvious draw, and will be complemented by a bar-lounge, plus Sky Lounge on Level 24.
Service
Staff are stationed at the ground floor to welcome guests, but check-in is on Level 24. Interestingly, in a far corner is the Sales office where tables are set up to show event planners the various options.
The number of staff on hand was surprising. Perhaps this was also to guide confused guests trying to exit the building – most lifts go to Level 2, whereas another two serve Level 1 and the carpark.
Customer service was tops. When I inquired from Guest Relations about dry cleaning my wine-stained jacket, three laundry staff came to inspect it and explain the treatment. The next evening, it was delivered to my room well-restored.
One inconvenience was having to go through security scanners and baggage checks to enter the hotel, but this was probably due to heightened security concerns at that time.
Verdict
Overall, the hotel and event facilities were impressive, and comparable to those in leading business cities.
Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams positions itself as the largest entertainment complex in South Asia and “all-in-one destination”. When fully operational, it has the potential to garner more international business events and boost Sri Lanka’s standing.
No. of rooms 687
Contact details www.cinnamonhotels.com/cinnamon-life-city-of-dreams-sri-lanka
Following its recent transformation, Pan Pacific Perth, has introduced a Wellness Program that weaves wellness practices into every aspect of a guest’s stay.
Curated in collaboration with Wellness Concierge Todd Brodie, the programme caters to all fitness levels and travel purposes. Business and leisure guests can access energising workouts, guided meditations, and Pilates sessions directly through the in-room Wellness Channel, eliminating the need for equipment or special clothing.
Meanwhile, meeting attendees can benefit from rejuvenating wellness breaks and mindfulness sessions to enhance focus and productivity during conferences and events. These breaks, paired with healthy menu options, create balanced and engaging events.
To celebrate the launch, Pan Pacific Perth is offering complimentary Wellness and Mindfulness Breaks as an add-on for any new conference or event booked in 2025.
Beyond in-room wellness options, guests can enjoy a Sleep Experience Menu featuring sleep-promoting teas, nourishing late-night snacks, and calming activities. Additionally, a wellness dining menu offers energising juices, fresh snacks, and wholesome meals, ensuring well-balanced nourishment throughout the day.
Event planners in Singapore and Malaysia are turning their attention to Perth for corporate events, where demand is driven by the city’s air accessibility, affordability, and diverse range of ready activities.
Jasmine Ho, managing partner of Singapore-based boutique events agency, The MasterPlan, told TTGmice that Perth would be suitable for her clients’ training and off-site events, or incentive trips. The MasterPlan specialises in B2B events for the financial, government, and technology sectors, and only recently started handling outbound corporate meetings and events.
Ho, a participant in this week’s BE reWArded Mega Famil, added: “With this trip, my knowledge of the city has improved beyond the fact that Perth is a family-friendly holiday destination. The airport is efficient, there are sufficient event spaces, the city is not crowded, and many activities and attractions, such as Swan Valley, are within a 30-minute drive.”
Another Singapore-based events planner, Kristina Forssell, director of 8th Wave Events & Destinations, said: “Demand for Perth is fairly steady for my company as it’s one of the hubs in Asia-Pacific. Most of my clients don’t come from Asia, so for an international kick-off meeting, for example, I need a city that is accessible and (served by) direct flights.”
Forssell added that although destinations need to be rotated for her corporate meetings and incentive travel clients and cannot be consecutively held in the same destination, Perth is “definitely in the running”.
“Perth is a destination that I will introduce to my clients. I think the city has good infrastructure. Business Events Perth is very helpful and will link me up with relevant agencies, as well as with suppliers for teambuilding activities, audiovisual (services), or catering,” Forssell elaborated.
Meanwhile, Meeting & Exhibition Planners’ (MEP) founder and owner, Karen Soo, is one step ahead. She revealed: “We already have a high achievers programme for a multinational company booked for Perth next year.”
Based in Kuala Lumpur, MEP, which has been in business for three decades, specialises in outbound corporate meetings and incentive travel across six different industries, such as FinTech, pharmaceutical, and oil and gas.
Soo told TTGmice: “For the past 30 years, my company has sold a lot of Melbourne and Sydney. But with this trip, I feel that Perth has a lot more – in terms of experiences and F&B – to offer now (compared to many years ago when I was here). It is also quite affordable.
“I also believe we’ve only seen a small portion of what Perth can offer during this three-day fam trip. There’s still the Pinnacles, and Pink Lake in Geraldton, that we can add to corporate itineraries.”
Fukuoka Convention & Visitors Bureau (FCVB) paid a call to Singapore’s community of event planners yesterday, with a full-day seminar that dispensed details of new experiences and products ready for corporate meetings and events.
The trade engagement led by FCVB also offered interaction opportunities with several hospitality and events specialists from Fukuoka, the largest city on Japan’s Kyushu Island.
A dual-track presentation was conducted, where one was tailored for convention organisers, and the other for meetings and incentive travel planners. Attendees were introduced to new activities such as ramen-making workshops, vinegar brewing tours, and samurai team battles, as well as evergreen advantages of hosting business events in the city.
Speaking to TTGmice on the sidelines of the event, Yuko Suga, general manager of FCVB, said the bureau has been investing in more trade engagements to reinforce the message that Fukuoka is ready for international business events of any scale.
Suga shared that a major event win for the city is the 2026 annual meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, expected to attract approximately 4,000 participants, with some 2,500 coming from overseas.
The Conference of the International Planetarium Society and the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations 21st Convention will also descend on Fukuoka in 2026.
Business events in the city have various venues to choose from. There are hotels of international brands and standards equipped with a wide selection of function rooms, as well as unique venue options. Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk, Grand Hyatt Hilton, and The Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka are examples, with representatives presenting their event capabilities to trade buyers at the seminar on December 3 (Tuesday).
Fukuoka most recently welcomed a new unique venue option – the Kego Club by Happo-en, a banquet facility located within the Kego Shrine complex. Corporate groups have the option of chartering both facilities for an exclusive event featuring cultural entertainment and dining.
To raise the destination’s profile among Asia-based organisers of international meetings and events, FCVB has chosen to focus its efforts in Singapore, where there is extensive air connectivity from all parts of the world. Global travellers can easily connect on Singapore Airlines to Fukuoka Airport on daily flights.
“Singapore has a very important role in the commercial world; it is part of Asia but also very connected to the rest of the globe,” explained Suga.
Looking into the immediate future, Suga shared that her team is also aiming for more business events in 2025, when groups can coincide their formal activities in Fukuoka with the Osaka World Expo 2025, which will take place from April to October next year. Osaka is 2.5 hours away from Fukuoka by high-speed rail, allowing business travellers and event delegates a convenient extension before or after their events in Fukuoka.
