SINGAPORE is sending more business travellers to Australia, according to statistics provided by Tourism Australia’s (TA) office in Singapore.

At the Business Events Australia South East Asia Showcase dinner organised in Singapore earlier this week with Chan Brothers MICE & Travel, TA’s general manager for South/South-east Asia & Gulf Countries, Karyn Kent, told TTGmice e-Weekly that overall business arrivals from the Lion City for 2013 increased two per cent as compared with 2012.

Out of total business arrivals, conference and meeting arrivals rose nine per cent.

Holiday purpose arrivals, which included incentives, FITs and leisure groups, rose significantly by 20 per cent year-on-year for the last 12 months up to March 2014, Kent added.

“Singapore is our fifth largest market in the world, while Malaysia ranks seventh and Indonesia, 12th. We are seeing a lot of potential for incentive business from these three markets,” she said.

Kent added that the strong performance of the Singapore market – incredible for its relative size – is a result of the increased number of flights by LCCs from the city as well as repeat visits.

Singaporeans are also “responding well” to the Australian food and wine campaign launched last July, she said, which now has an added focus through the Restaurant Australia campaign launched early this month (TTGmice e-Weekly, May 9, 2014).

Singapore-based Chan Brothers MICE & Travel’s account manager, Alvin Valencia, said: “About 80 per cent of our outbound MICE business pertain to incentive trips of 50 to 60 pax, mainly from the electronics, engineering and F&B industries.

“For trips to Australia, the Gold Coast and Perth are the most popular, although we have observed an increasing number of enquiries for Melbourne as well. Melbourne’s Phillip Island and Sovereign Hill are interesting incentive options for nature parks and hands-on gold-mining experience respectively.”

Meanwhile, Melbourne continues to draw business events, with the city’s convention venues already well booked out up to 2018, according to Edward Kwek, regional sales director South Asia of Melbourne Convention Bureau.

Medical conferences form the bulk of the major events, Kwek said, citing incentive and pre/post-meeting options like guided coffee tours, the newly relaunched ferris wheel Melbourne Star, sporting events like Formula One and the Melbourne Cup, as well as “the best pizza in the world”, among others.

ASSOCIATIONS can now have an easier time of identifying local representatives when preparing a bid to host the next edition of an association international meeting using Big Data Search.

Unveiled at IMEX 2014 in Frankfurt, Big Data Search utilises the databases of Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search to find academic contacts in specific cities or regions.

The tool is provided by new ICCA member Human Equation and will go live on June 2, alongside Human Equation’s Lead Analytics tool, which identifies organisation names and tracks the online behavior of website visitors.

ICCA CEO, Martin Sirk, said in a press release: “The version announced today is ICCA’s first step in harnessing the power of Big Data and combining it with our own unique data on associations and their meetings, and we anticipate adding new functionality and data sources to ICCA Big Data Search as we receive feedback from users.”

TOKYO Convention & Visitors Bureau last month refreshed its subvention programmes for planners who hold their events in the Japanese capital.

Corporate groups with at least 50 attendees staying for a minimum of two nights in Tokyo, but are still choosing additional destinations, are entitled to rewards based on a tiered system according to group size.

Delegates within a group of 50 will receive a giveaway per person, while groups of 200 or more will receive a gift, choice of party entertainment from ninjas to awaodori dance performances and welcome parties at Tokyo’s airports.

Groups consisting of 500 or more attendees will receive the same benefits but with an extra choice between a traditional noh performance or a pop culture one.

The event must be held in Tokyo by March 31, 2015 and cannot be affiliated with religious or political agendas.

The second subvention programme is for key decision makers of events with more than 500 delegates planning to stay two or more nights in Tokyo, for a site visit in the city.

The CVB’s support extends to three decision makers who will have their airfare and accommodation sponsored. The site visit must be completed by March 31, 2015 and the event held before March 31, 2016.

Full terms and conditions are available at www.businesseventstokyo.org/special-offer-for-corporate-events.

KUALA Lumpur Convention Centre has announced the confirmation of 10 new events for 2014-2016 with an expected total attendance of more than 10,000 delegates.

The bid wins include two national, three regional and five international meetings namely: the Equipment for use in Explosive Atmospheres International Conference 2014; Asian Banker Summit 2014; 16th Asian Congress of Architects 2014; 18th Asia Oil & Gas Conference 2015; Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) Conference 2015; and International Forum on Disability Management 2016.

Alan Pryor, the centre’s general manager, attributed the wins to international associations and meeting planners’ continuing confidence in Malaysia as an attractive and value-for-money destination for business tourism, and the centre as the country’s premier convention facility.

He said in a statement: “The wins come on the back of a record-breaking performance in 2013 (during) which the Centre closed on a high with 1,565 events, the most (events) held in a year since opening in June 2005; with high-profile meetings the likes of the 3rd Women Deliver Global Conference, 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit, 7th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, 35th Asia Pacific Dental Congress and 2013 International Dragon Award Annual Conference.”

In addition to an 8.5 per cent jump in the number of events hosted, the venue welcomed two million delegates who contributed RM700 million (US$217.8 million) in economic impact against 1.7 million delegates and RM590 million in the previous corresponding period (2012).

For 2014, among the major international events heading the centre’s way are XXV FIG (International Federation of Surveyors) Congress 2014, which will be held in June; 20th ASEAN Federation of Cardiology Congress, which will also be held in June and Toastmasters International’s 82nd Annual International Convention 2014 in August. This will be the first time in the organisation’s 89-year history its international convention is being held outside North America.

These three events alone are likely to attract over 7,500 delegates to the centre.

INTERCONTINENTAL Shanghai Puxi has launched full- and half-day package options for meeting planners.

Packages include eight or four hours’ use of the hotel’s meeting room; morning and/or afternoon coffee breaks; conference lunch; audio-visual equipment use; and meeting stationery.

The deal is open to groups of at least 15 persons and valid until June 30, 2014.

Prices start at RMB430 (US$69) per person for half-day programmes and RMB480 for full-day programmes.

Prices are subject to a 15 per cent tax.

JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong is throwing in free breakfast and extra benefits for business and corporate group travellers from now until September 15.

For corporate groups with a minimum of 10 rooms booked per night, the hotel will give one room upgrade to the next available category; one room upgrade for the meeting organiser for every 30 paying guestrooms; and welcome coffee and tea with cookies in the morning.

These are in addition to free buffet breakfasts in the morning.

Terms and conditions apply and prices are subject to a 10 per cent service charge.

For enquiries and bookings, call (852) 2841-3838.

STAGING Connections, which has been InterContinental Adelaide’s in-house audio-visual services partner since 1999, has designed and constructed a fully digital ballroom for the hotel.

Said to be the first such facility of its kind in the Australian destination, the digital ballroom is able to deliver technically complex events without additional cabling or equipment.

Besides the fibre-optic vision system and fully digital audio system, five permanently installed projectors around the ballroom complemented by motorised screens ensure a swift turnaround between events and convenience for event organisers.

Jakki Temple Govan, commercial director of InterContinental Adelaide, outlined how vital Staging Connections is in achieving the state-of-the-art venue: “It offers experience and understanding that is invaluable for both our team and our clients. Its technical expertise and enthusiasm played a vital role in creating this outstanding event venue that we are all very proud of.”

ORGANSING a meeting in Melbourne is now easier with Melbourne Convention Bureau’s new website.

Accessible at www.melbournecb.com.au, the website features comprehensive event planning tools and destination information in the form of three search module for accommodation and venue capacity, event service type, and tours and activities.

Users can request proposals and make comparisons on the site, as well as use the Google map integration to see the hotels, restaurants and attractions close to the preferred venue or accommodation.

The site also stocks useful collateral such as downloadable brochures, videos and maps.

A Planning Toolkit will help planners with promotion and delegate boosting for an event, and they can access the Melbourne Planners’ Guide for tips about visiting the city and Victoria.

Karen Bolinger, CEO of MCB, said the new site was part of the bureau’s digital strategy to engage more with industry stakeholders.

“MCB’s new website was developed from research across key clients and partners to deliver a comprehensive planning tool for holding business events in Melbourne,” she said.