PENANG is likely to set up a state convention bureau by the end of 2014, but this is subject to the hiring of a consultant to start work in August on its structure and funding.

If all goes well, this will be almost two years since the Penang chief minister, Lim Guan Eng, mooted the idea in January 2013.

The convention bureau is to be known as Penang International Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PICEB).

Plans now hinge on getting the approval of the chief minister and the board of directors of Penang Global Tourism to hire a consultant who will be tasked with drawing up a structure and a sustainable funding model for the bureau to fund its team as well as marketing and promotions, and to support the travel trade in bidding for business events to Penang.

The state government will not provide financial assistance to the bureau but will support it by other means.

Ooi Geok Ling, managing director of Penang Global Tourism, said the delay in setting up the bureau was because the pro-tem committee, comprising local private players in the MICE industry, and the government could not agree on a sustainable funding model for PICEB.

“The hotel room levy in Penang will be taken under consideration for the funding structure of PICEB,” said Ooi.

The state government will be collecting RM2 (US$0.62) levy per room, per night on three star hotels and below, while a RM3 levy is charged on four-and five-star hotels (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 22, 2014).

COME May 2017, Perth will welcome and host Tim Bernes-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web (WWW), along with more than 1,000 global key influencers, decision makers, technologists, businesses and standards bodies who will present their ongoing work, research and opinions on the future direction of the WWW during the five-day academic conference.

Perth’s bid was presented at the annual meeting of the International World Wide Web Committee, held on April 12 this year in Seoul.

Perth Convention Bureau’s director of marketing, Sue Stepatschuk, said in a press statement: “Perth’s successful bid was the result of years of joint intellectual efforts, negotiations and networking involving all of the WWW2017 Perth Bid Committee along with academics from the WA universities, and industry supporters.”

Paul Beeson, CEO of the MICE bureau, added that hosting the event would present a substantial opportunity to facilitate knowledge transfer and deliver economic and social benefits to Western Australia.

MARINA Bays Sands Singapore is offering an Upgrade and Be Rewarded package that dishes out several perks for event planners who choose to upsize their standard meeting package.

The standard meeting package is priced at S$375++ (US$230++) per person and includes a night’s stay in a deluxe room, use of a meeting room, audiovisual equipment, stationery, floral centrepieces, carpark coupons for up to 20 per cent of delegates, free Internet line for the organiser, morning and afternoon breaks, and a working lunch.

With a S$4 upgrade, planners can get a Value Package and enjoy an upgraded lunch option to international buffet at RISE Restaurant.

With a S$10 upgrade, planners can get a Deluxe Package that will give them an upgraded lunch option to international buffet at RISE Restaurant or near the meeting room, three snack items per refreshment break, a secretariat office with refreshments, and Internet access for up to 20 users per day.

With a S$15 upgrade, planners will enjoy a Premium Package which comes with an upgraded lunch option to international buffet at RISE Restaurant or near the meeting room, three snack items per refreshment break, a secretariat office with refreshments, and Internet access at both the convention centre and hotel for every room booked.

Terms and conditions apply.

Contact Up@MarinaBaySands.com for more information.

INTO its fourth edition, the Americas Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition (AIBTM) will kick off at Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida from June 10-12 this year, marking the first time the show is taking place in the Sunshine State after Chicago and Baltimore.

“New destinations means new opportunities,” said Michael Lyons, exhibition director of Reed Travel Exhibitions. “The move and rotation of AIBTM will offer all stakeholders access to new business opportunities in two gateway cities that are themselves major hubs of the meetings industry.”

He added: “Following the lead of many associations in the US that move their events to a different place each year, we will now have the flexibility to maximise the enormous potential delivered to AIBTM by both Chicago and Orlando.”

The three-day show will continue its traditional emphasis on education, with the introduction of Knowledge Program, a series of interactive sessions dedicated to encourage and inform delegates about trends, best practices and issues that focus on giving them tools and techniques to generate greater ROI from their meetings.

At the same time, AIBTM is also partnering online certification specialist RecertTrack, offering MICE professionals to track their industry-related professional development activities, including the credits obtained by attending the AIBTM Knowledge Program.

Asia is set to have a bigger presence at AIBTM, which has been seeing “a steady growth year-on-year” of hosted buyers from Asia since the show’s launch in 2011, according to Lyons, with close to 100 hosted buyers from Asia registered at press time.

Based on post-show evaluation, he also revealed that nearly 30 per cent of AIBTM buyers specifically selected Asia as a key region of interest for placing outbound business, with China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Singapore and Thailand specifically identified as key regions of American buyer interest.

According to Lyons, the most popular cities in the US for Asian business and meetings travel include Orlando, Miami, Washington, Las Vegas, Chicago, California, Dallas and Atlanta.

Pacific World and German MICE specialist, Eberhard v. Forstner DESTINATIONS+more, have come together to leverage the growing demand for China as a destination for German business groups.

Explaining the motivation behind this partnership, Cindy Zhang, regional director for Greater China at Pacific World, said: “China was Germany’s third-biggest foreign trade partner last year, with 140 billion euros (US$193.5 billion) in turnover passing between the two countries, according to the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden. China also ranks fifth among importers of German goods and is the second biggest exporter to Germany.”

According to Zhang, Pacific World China has seen overall growth in German corporate meetings, incentives, trade missions, product launches and business travel, and has predicted continuous growth this year.

Eberhard von Forstner, owner of DESTINATIONS+more, a company well known in the German-speaking MICE industry and which handles global clients with the majority being Germany-based companies, said: “China and Hong Kong have been on the list of the most (desirable) destinations for German outbound business for years now, as they continue to have something very unique to offer to the MICE market, not least a number of emerging destinations.”

Von Forstner identified Shanghai and Beijing in China as being the most popular among his clients.

“Shanghai is one of the favourites in China (and) is rapidly growing as a MICE destination. The vibrant city offers new venues, from small hotels to the biggest of exhibition centres. Meanwhile, Beijing has vowed to attract more business travellers, especially those from overseas, by rolling out many measures to promote the city’s image as a major tourist destination. Beijing’s long history and rich culture are key advantages for its MICE development,” he explained.

As more Chinese destinations add modern MICE infrastructure and international branded hotels, Von Forstner believes that “the rest of the cities will come into the game once there is special interest” from German corporates.

While Zhang did not give a financial projection of the growth this new partnership would bring, she told TTGmice e-Weekly that “stable and steady growth over the coming years” should be expected, especially in incentive travel business.