MALAYSIA Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) is organising the first Business Events Week (BEW) to expose local industry players to key insights, challenges and growth opportunities in the business events arena.

To be held between August 14 and 21 at the Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar, the event will bear the theme Exceeding Expectations to encourage participants to see value in being innovative and to think differently in order to surpass expectations and draw more business to Malaysian shores.

Malaysia’s aim is to lure 2.9 million business event arrivals by 2020 to make up about eight per cent of the 36 million targeted tourist arrivals. Last year, the country welcomed 1.4 million business events arrivals, which translates to 5.2 per cent of total tourist arrivals to Malaysia.

MyCEB CEO, Zulkefli Sharif, said: “The purpose of BEW is to create a platform for all stakeholders of the business events industry to converge, communicate and debate issues that impact on the future growth and sustainability of the business events industry. There will be a series of seminars, workshops, dialogue sessions, expo and networking sessions that engages all levels and segments of the business events industry.”

International speakers slated to attend include Jason Fox, motivation strategy and design expert and author of The Game Changer, and Mike van der Vijver, meeting designer and advisor, trainer and coach in intercultural management.

Both experts will both speak on topics related to innovation.

Delegates will also hear from North American meeting and event planners on how they can best capture business, and listen in on dialogue sessions between the private and public sector on strategies to enable Malaysia to develop and position itself as a leading business events destination globally.

DUANGJITT Resort & Spa, located towards the south of Phuket’s Patong Beach, has rolled out a new convention facility within its 14.6ha premises to raise its appeal as a MICE venue.

“Although we have over 500 rooms, our meeting facilities could only accommodate 100-plus pax previously, hence the management decided to add a new convention hall to the resort with an investment of some 300 million baht (US$9.3 million),” said Duangjitt Resort & Spa’s assistant director of sales, Purimpratch Sukbuayai.

Comprised of three main buildings designed in traditional Thai architectural style, Duangchanok Convention Hall features the 986m2 high-ceilinged Duangchanok Ballroom that can comfortably accommodate 1,200 pax and be divided into three smaller spaces; the 309m2 Duangrada Reception Hall that can host around 300 pax; the Banquet Hall consisting of four breakout rooms (Duangkamol, Duangthip, Duangmanee and Duangkaew) varying between 100m2 and 200m2, plus the 232m2 open-air Duangdao Hall; and three VIP rooms with private restrooms.

“Duangchanok Convention Hall is able to accommodate up to 2,000 pax, making it the biggest MICE venue on Patong Beach,” added Purimpratch. “Construction has already been completed but the facility is still undergoing fine-tuning of its interior systems, with an official opening planned for later this year.”

Soft-opened in late-2013, Duangchanok Convention Hall hosted the 6th Andaman Travel Trade Show in November 2013 as its first event, and has received meeting requests for groups varying between 300 and 400 pax from neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Singapore, Purimpratch shared.

Upcoming groups include a 600-pax group from Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group and two 600-pax groups from India in September this year.

Less than 1km away, the newly opened Grand Mercure Phuket Patong also offers a 290m2 Grand M Ballroom accommodating up to 200 guests for sit-down dinners and 300 guests for standing cocktails, plus two meeting rooms of 95m2 and 60m2 each, according to the resort’s assistant director of sales, Nuschanart Ariyakhachorn. The 314-room property will celebrate its grand opening later this month.

DRIVEN by Pattaya’s rising potential as a corporate and meeting destination, Holiday Inn Pattaya is pushing for the growth of its MICE business with the launch of a meeting-oriented wing in August.

Set adjacent to the existing 367-room Bay Tower, the new 200-key Executive Tower will boast a dedicated meeting space, Workshop, on the fourth floor. The retro-inspired, industrial-designed area is outfitted with meeting rooms, a boardroom, an auditorium, a terrace and a media hub along with a dedicated breakout zone.

Apart from the additional 200 rooms and suites each with their own private balconies, the new building will feature a top-floor Executive Club with panoramic views of Pattaya Bay, swimming pools, a kids’ club and a restaurant.

“There continues to be a healthy demand for MICE business into Pattaya, with many telling us they are looking for something different,” Kate Gerits, general manager at Holiday Inn Pattaya.

“The Workshop concept is about bringing the meeting area to life, providing a creative space in which participants feel inspired, and being able to provide flexibility of space all on one level,” she added.

Holiday Inn Pattaya will also form part of the newly launched North Pattaya Alliance (TTGmice e-Weekly, June 30, 2014), a group of seven hotels aiming to raise the district’s appeal as a premier destination for MICE business events and Indian weddings.

SINGAPORE is proudly hanging onto its crown as the world’s foremost city and country for international meetings, titles the city-state is holding for the third and seventh year running respectively.

This is according to the Union of International Associations’ (UIA) 2013 Global Rankings.

UIA reports that some 994 meetings held in Singapore qualified under UIA’s criteria for international meetings – a 4.4 per cent increase over 2012’s 952 – and thereby forming 9.4 per cent of UIA’s database of meetings.

In particular, the Lion City garnered praise for its excellent infrastructure, efficiency, vibrant business ecosystem, knowledge networks and strategic location in Asia.

Second runner-up country, the US, recorded 799 meetings, while the Brussels took second place for top international meetings city with 436 meetings.

Singapore played host to notable events last year such as the IFLA World Library and Information Congress, the 60th Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Annual Conference, the Amway Japan Leadership Achievement Seminar, the World Engineers’ Summit as well as the World Retail Congress Asia Pacific.

Singapore has six world congresses in its pipeline to date – the World Congress on Brain Mapping & Therapeutics 2016 and World Congress of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus 2016; the inaugural Asian edition of SpineWeek; the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Asia-Pacific Advancement Conference 2015; the Regional Dermatology Conference 2016; and the Asia Pacific Congress of Hypertension 2017.

Neeta Lachmandas, assistant chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), said the MICE industry remained an integral component of Singapore’s tourism sector.

“The overall Economic Impact Analysis (examining the extent to which the MICE industry supports Singapore’s economy) of MICE activities is approximately S$3.7 billion (US$3 billion) or 1.1 per cent of Singapore GDP in 2012. This is an increase from 0.9 per cent of GDP in 2008.

“The Meetings segment contributes the highest proportion at 55.4 per cent of total economic impact. Beyond the direct economic benefits, MICE also contributed in terms of networking opportunities, branding of Singapore and cross-industry skill sharing.”

To further build on Singapore’s strengths as a MICE destination, STB is rolling out a training curriculum based on STB’s Sustainability Guidelines in September this year, in partnership with SACEOS.

RUSSIA’S profile as an exhibitions venue is getting a boost with the appointment of Sergey Alexeev of ExpoForum-International appointed as the incoming president of UFI for 2014/2015.

Welcoming Alexeev’s appointment, currently UFI president Renaud Hamaide of Comexposium/ViParis said: “Sergey brings 30 years of exhibition-related experience to our UFI presidents’ trio! As the first Russian UFI president, he will certainly provide valuable insights for the development of UFI programmes in this country.”

Russia is represented in UFI by 38 members, the third largest number after China and Germany. The country has more than 20 venues offering a minimum of 5,000m2 of indoor exhibition space and a combined total of almost 600,000m2.

This places the country 10th in the world in terms of exhibition infrastructure capacity and UFI ranks Russia 8th for exhibition activity for the three million square metres of net exhibition space rented yearly.

Commented Alexeev: “Joining the UFI presidential trio is a reflection of the prospects and professionalism of the Russian exhibitions industry. Over the past 20 years Russia has taken its place among the world’s exhibition leaders.”

Hamaide will thus take his place in the Triumvirate as outgoing president, while the new current president is Andrés Lopez-Valderrama of Corferias, Colombia.

These appointments will take effect after the 81st UFI Annual Congress in Bogota, Colombia which will be held between October 29 and November 1 this year, for the term 2014-2015.

Alexeev will become president for the 2015/2016 term.

In the meantime, Lopez-Valderrama will lead a UFI that has since welcomed 15 new organisations, bringing membership to 650 in 83 countries, and 28 more audited international exhibitions.

The UFI presidential trio is meant to provide for greater management continuity within the association and enable UFI to represent the exhibition sector in a greater number of international industry events and activities.

A consortium of researchers led by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has won the rights to host the 7th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequence in Wellington in November 2015.

The bid was made with the support of Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), Positively Wellington Tourism (PWT) and the Conference Assistance Programme (CAP), and will bring an estimated NZ$500,000 (US$435,700) to the country’s economy.

The symposium is expected to attract up to 150 international delegates and speakers from universities, research organisations and the industry.

In a press release, NIWA Marine Geologist and conference convenor Joshu Mountjoy described the event as the “benchmark conference for submarine landslide researchers around the world”.

“New Zealand has a long history of research into submarine slope instability and bringing this conference to New Zealand…offers a great opportunity to showcase our research and unique offshore environment,” added Mountjoy.

TNZ’s international business events manager, Bjoern Spreitzer, said international events such as the symposium provide a huge opportunity to grow the value of visitors to New Zealand.

PWT chief executive, David Perks, added that hosting an international conference of this scale is a real vote of confidence for the city.

“Targeting sectors where the capital excels helped the city succeed in winning this bid. A lot of work goes into ensuring Wellington is seen as an accessible, unique place to do business. Our capital is compact, cultural and cutting edge – perfect for business meetings and it is the smart choice when it comes to hosting domestic and international business events,” said Perks.

Bjoern said: “TNZ has significantly increased its activity in the business events sector in the last few years, and this result is a great example of our focus to work collaboratively with the industry to grow delegate numbers and value.”

TNZ’s management of the CAP has seen the country bid for 39 events over the last financial year, securing nine international events to date.

HILTON Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa has added a new events space to its MICE inventory in a bid to win more regional business.

The 180m2 Andaman Room, which can be divided in two, seats up to 130 people in theatre setting and includes an adjoining 66m2 sheltered outdoor area.

General manager David Prince said: “With the addition of the Andaman Room, the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa is one of the most comprehensive MICE venues in South-east Asia.”

Jens Frank-Mikkelsen, director of business development, told TTGmice eWeekly the property was targeting a range of source markets including the US, Australia, Europe, China, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as the domestic trade. Key sectors include banking and finance, healthcare, transportation, logistics, industry associations and international government agencies.

“To add further value to MICE organisers, the hotel is now a part of Hilton Worldwide’s Connect+ website, a service which provides industry-leading tools for meeting planners and allows customers to connect with Hilton event experts and sales representatives,” Frank-Mikkelsen said. “We also have a special meeting package that is valid from June 1 to December 30, 2014.”

The Andaman Room’s launch follows last year’s renovation of the property’s MICE facilities, which saw its Grand Ballroom upgraded to an 850m2 space, making it one of the island’s largest meeting rooms.

ASIA, in particular China, India and Japan, has come onto the radar of Spain’s authorities in their bid to further boost the country’s global standing in the business events sector.

To achieve this the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), which includes the Spain Convention Bureau (SCB), has signed an agreement with Marca España – a government-backed organisation that promotes Spain as a brand – to actively participate in overseas destination promotions.

SCB’s director, Marta Moran, said the annual EIBTM in Barcelona is already helping to raise MICE interest in the country.

“I’m getting more appointments each year with interested companies from countries such as India and Japan at both EIBTM and IMEX (in Frankfurt),” Moran revealed.

Moran sees these two countries, along with China, as being the main target markets in Asia, a region she described as being “an incipient market for us”.

ICCA’s latest ranking of top destinations for association meetings had placed Spain in third position, right after the US and Germany, for hosting 562 ICCA qualified meetings in 2013.

Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, high commissioner for Marca España, said Spain had seen a 14 per cent increase in attendance at MICE events last year. But the numbers were “clearly insufficient”, he said, given the potential offered by the country’s broad diversity of regions.

According to FEMP secretary general, Ángel Fernández, Madrid hosted 186 congresses in 2013, up from just 65 in 2008 during the western economic crisis.

The country attracted a record 60 million tourists in 2013, shared de los Monteros

GRAND Hyatt Singapore has unveiled its remodeled Level 2 events space and the star is its show kitchen that is located within the 515m2 Grand Salon.

At the push of a button, the show kitchen, complete with a customised cooking island flown in from Italy, is revealed from behind a skyfall to offer guests a rare opportunity to step into the kitchen and interact with a team of master chefs, while picking up their favourite items from the live cooking stations. Complete with optional sliding glass panels, planners get the flexibility of offering views of an open kitchen without the sounds and smells of food preparation.

With a capacity of 340 people for banquets or 700 people for receptions, the show kitchen can prepare almost any cuisine a MICE planner desires. From Chinese, to Italian and even Indian, the show kitchen is fully equipped with all cooking equipment required to prepare every signature dish from each of the hotel’s food & beverage establishment, such as grill-to-order meat and sustainable seafood, pizza and other delights from our pizza oven, roast duck and Singapore Laksa.

For more information, visit www.singapore.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/meetings-and-events.html or contact Grand Hyatt Singapore’s meeting specialists at (65) 6416 7373 or meetings.sg@hyatt.com.