AN ADDITIONAL 50 million yen (US$493,412) has been added to Chiba Convention Bureau and International Center’s (CCB-IC) 2014 budget, bringing its spending power this year to 250 million yen, in an effort to boost its sales and destination promotion capabilities.

In an email interview with TTGmice e-Weekly, Takeo Katsura, director of convention division with CCB-IC, explained that the bureau does not usually enjoy a yearly budget increment, and the booster fund was a result of Chiba Prefecture’s renewed focus on the business events industry.

“Chiba Prefecture (wants to) take advantage of the opportunity presented by the national government’s goal to increase the number of overseas visitors to 20 million per year by 2020 and Tokyo’s successful bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics,” said Katsura.

“Chiba Prefecture is in a good position to take advantage of this opportunity because it is right next to Tokyo, is home to Japan’s main international airport (Narita International Airport) and has the Makuhari Messe Convention Complex.”

CCB-IC has since established a new international business development office and hired two staff to seek out new business leads. The convention bureau will also be expanding its activities beyond participation at international trade conventions to include more destination marketing shows around Asia and sales trips with the prefecture governor.

Some of the market outreach activities planned for this year include the Narita City Thailand Tourism Mission in Bangkok later this month and a seminar in Taiwan this October which will coincide with the Top Sales Tour led by the prefecture governor.

In January 2015, CCB-IC will organise a seminar at PCMA Convening Leaders in Chicago.

CCB-IC has raised its sales target by 40 per cent and hopes to win enough event bids this year to drive an additional 6.7 billion yen into the local economy. While association meetings will remain the focus of CCB-IC, Katsura said opportunities in corporate meetings and incentives, especially from South-east Asia, will be sought out.

Chiba Prefecture, which ranks 294th on ICCA’s list of global meetings cities and 10th in Japan on UIA’s charts this year, already welcomes a number of notable international events. Some of them include the 1,200-pax Asia Pacific Physics Conference in July 2013 and the 1,200-pax JASCA 50th Anniversary Conference IUAES Inter-Congress 2014 in May.

LUXURY colonial estate The Sanchaya Bintan is rolling out full- and half-day meeting packages ahead of its opening on September 1.

The Dahlia function room can host up to 75 people in theatre-style or 48 for a banquet. It opens up to a colonial-style terrace and lawn, suitable for both cocktails and outdoor events.

Other event possibilities include cocktails by the beach or by the pool, as well as private wine tastings with The Sanchaya’s sommelier.

The estate’s Full Day Meeting Package is priced at US$110 per person, based on a minimum of 10 persons with at least a full-day room rental of US$1,100.

It includes full-day use of the Dahlia function room including one hour pre-set up, between 09.00 and 17.00; conference set up; in-house audiovisual equipment; two themed coffee breaks with a choice of menus; lunch in the Dining Room with a choice of menus; free stationery set up; and still or sparkling water bottled on the estate.

A Half Day Meeting Package costs US$95 per person, based on a minimum of 10 persons with a minimum half-day room rental of US$950.

This covers half-day use of the Dahlia function room, between 09.00 and 13.00 or 13.00 to 17.00; conference set up; in-house audiovisual equipment; one themed coffee break with a choice of menus; lunch in the Dining Room with a choice of menus; free stationery set up; and still or sparkling water bottled on the estate.

Meeting packages are available from September 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

For accommodation, the estate’s 21 bespoke villas and nine suites are up for booking, starting at US$390 a night for a one-bedroom villa in the Thai-style Lawan Village. With every 10 paying rooms, with a minimum of five required for group rate, fees for one room will be waived.

The Sanchaya can also be bought out for exclusive use.

For more information, contact Kris Marthin at sales@thesanchaya.com or visit www.thesanchaya.com.

HEALTHCARE Meetings Forum (UK) and Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre have come together to launch a forum this month to shed light on how current global regulations on the healthcare sector will impact international medical meetings held in Asia.

The one-day forum, titled The Future for Medical Meetings in Asia, will be held on August 1 at Suntec Singapore, Room 331-332. It aims to provide key stakeholders an unbiased view of medical meetings, placing on record the views and evidence of experts to better understand and deliver meetings and events in the healthcare sector.

The programme, targeted at senior level professionals from related sectors such as healthcare companies, medical societies and PCOs/suppliers serving this industry, will feature a mix of presentations, panel discussions and audience engagement sessions.

Featured speakers and panellists include Mark Handforth, founding director of Compliant Venue; Ronald Yeoh, consultant eye surgeon and medical director, Singapore National Eye Centre; and Lisa Sullivan, managing director of INVIVO Communications.

This forum is free. Visit www.healthcaremeetingsforum.com/asia/ for more information and to register for the event.

INDONESIA International Expo (IIE) and Media Sinar Global (MSG) have signed a contract with Hannover Fairs International, a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe, to operate Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) centre, which is opening early 2015.

ICE, currently under construction in BSD City on the outskirt of Jakarta, will be the biggest convention and exhibition centre in Indonesia spanning 50,000m2 in indoor space, 50,000m2 in outdoor space, and 33 meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 10,000 people.

A whopping Rp3.8 trillion (US$317 million) has been invested in the facility.

IIE is part of Kompas Gramedia Group that also owns and operates three other venues in Indonesia including Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre.

Speaking at the contract-signing ceremony in Jakarta on July 8, Danny Budiharto, president director of IIE, said that the growth of MICE and economic stability in Indonesia is drawing a lot of convention and exhibition operators to the country, who will in turn bring international shows to the country, in addition to local exhibitions and conventions.

“Jakarta needs more convention and exhibition space to cater for these shows as the existing Jakarta Convention Centre and Jakarta International Expo are already very packed with events.”

On the choice of operator, Danny said Deutsche Messe was one of the 10 biggest convention centre operators in the world and had successfully managed the Shanghai International Exposition Centre.

Andreas Gruchow, member of the managing board of Deutsche Messe, said: “A key objective of our foreign strategy is to grow our expertise as an operator of exhibition facilities abroad and Indonesia offers the ideal prerequisites for expanding our tradeshow business. The economy continues to grow, international industry is actively involved and the investment climate remains stable.”

The partners are also establishing a joint venture company called Deutsche Messe Venue Operations Indonesia, with Hannover Fairs International holding a 51 per cent stake.

Speaking at the event, Mari Elka Pangestu, Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy, welcomed the 25 per cent increase in exhibitions space for Indonesia and noted the correlation between exhibition area and GDP size.

She said Indonesia aims to “triple the amount of exhibition area in Indonesia by 2019”.

FINANCIAL year 2013/14 has been good for the Western Australian city of Perth, which broke its own target and record for revenue generated through conferences.

According to Perth Convention Bureau (PCB), conference delegates will stay for 201,147 days and spend A$108.0 million dollars (US$101.6 million).

The CVB had initially aimed to make A$104 million in direct delegate expenditure.

Ian Laurance AM, chairman of PCB, said: “These results indicate that PCB continues to punch above its weight in the business events industry despite new infrastructure and increasing competition across Australia and around the South-east Asian region.”

The CVB’s CEO, Paul Beeson, added: “The value of conferencing and business events is increasingly appreciated by governments worldwide, as it is here in Western Australia.”

Conferences are the highest-yielding tourism sector, with a single international delegate spending five times more than a leisure tourist.

ASIA’S first-ever international travel bloggers conference (TBC) will be held in Colombo this year, jointly hosted by John Keells Group’s Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and the Professional Travel Bloggers Association (PTBA).

Cinnamon TBC Asia will run from November 14-18, focusing on the themes of travelling, writing, and technology.

It will feature high-quality educational sessions and networking opportunities, while representatives from the BBC, Facebook, TripAdvisor and Google are slated to speak.

Participants include travel writers, photographers, videographers and food writers who will be hosted free with full board and air tickets sponsored by SriLankan Airlines, the official travel partner for the event.

THE new Courtyard by Marriott Boluo in Huizhou, China, will look to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong as its main markets for business event bookings.

In an email interview with TTGmice e-Weekly, Kevin Gong, general manager of the 234-key hotel which is outfitted with seven meeting rooms, said his team will pursue corporate clients such as Samsung, LG, Sony and Coca-Cola based in Huizhou.

Gong also expects to “see interest from local government agencies”.

However, Gong admits that the pursuit of corporate events will be a challenging one in the first year of operations, as “Boluo is still more of an agriculture-focused county, as opposed to a more event-heavy industry like manufacturing”.

Currently, the hotel’s event facilities receive more bookings for weddings.

“That said, Courtyard by Marriott Boluo enjoys a prime location, and coupled with the city developments in the area, it has great potential in becoming a business event destination. The current airport in Huizhou is slated to open to civilian flights at the end of 2014, while the Shenzhen-Guangzhou MTR (expected to be complete within the next two years) will soon provide connectivity between the two cities. We certainly expect more bookings in time to come,” he added.

He also revealed that the hotel might expand its sales and marketing efforts in the corporate market should there be further city and industrial developments by the government.

Besides offering 1,405m2 of meeting venues that are equipped with modern audiovisual technology and high-speed Internet access, Courtyard by Marriott Boluo also houses two restaurants, a well-equipped fitness centre, an indoor swimming pool with a dry steam room, and an outdoor pool, among others.

PULLMAN Kuala Lumpur Bangsar will continue leveraging its strength as a business hotel to increase its market share of international MICE business.

MICE now makes up 40 per cent of business and the 513-key hotel is targeting 60 per cent.

General manager, Eric Tan, said: “The use-up rate of the hotel is higher with international MICE business. With more international MICE business, we also get to showcase Malaysia as a strong MICE destination in this region.”

To generate more awareness of the hotel and its facilities to event organisers, DMCs and international delegates, the property is the official venue of Malaysia’s inaugural Business Events Week organised by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) next month (TTGmice e-Weekly, July 3, 2014).

The hotel will also participate at international tradeshows, follow MyCEB on overseas roadshows and participate in sales missions organised by Accor.

Tan said one of the selling points of Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar is its ballroom, which is one of the largest pillarless ballrooms in Kuala Lumpur and can accommodate up to 2,000 people in theatre-style and 110 round tables for banquet seating. The property also has 11 meeting rooms and an executive boardroom.

The property will be further enhanced by this year-end with the opening of two new F&B outlets – the first a fusion restaurant serving Japanese, Chinese and Thai cuisine, and the other a rooftop bar on the 28th floor providing a clear 360º view of the city. This brings the total number of F&B outlets at the hotel to six.