BANGKOK’S business events industry is flatlining as a result of protracted anti-government protests which have dominated parts of the city for more than three months, resulting in losses of more than 1.2 billion baht (US$36.6 million), MICE specialists say.

DMCs are reporting rising cancellations and a dip in requests for new business as MICE visitors are put off by political turbulence combined with dozens of travel advisories urging visitors to avoid parts of Bangkok, or bypass the city altogether.

Sumlee Anankamanee, Thailand incentives manager at Asian Trails, said the only new business was coming from ad hoc groups.

“No one is coming. No one is asking for (itineraries and quotes) this year, groups are just making requests for next year. There are many cancellations,” she said.
“We had problems in December and January. It should be peak season now, but if there’s more fighting things will get worse.”

Other specialists report equally grim news.

Events Travel Asia said a group of 1,000 pax cancelled in December because of the anti-government protests.

“Requests for new business in Bangkok are declining,” said MICE manager Pom Nopkesorn, who added the DMC has managed to relocate some groups to Malaysia.

“We’re trying to be as positive as possible. We tell clients it is safe to come (as long as) they avoid protest areas.”

IMPACT Arena, Exhibition and Convention Center is facing numerous cancellations, mostly from domestic clients.

For the time being, Chiang Mai and Phuket remain viable alternatives for DMCs trying to convince clients not to cancel, while Pattaya is seen as being too risky due to its proximity to Bangkok.

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau said it has helped minimise cancellations by regularly updating local and international stakeholders on the situation which has been largely confined to certain parts of Bangkok, leaving much of the city unaffected.

The political situation has reduced the number of MICE visitors to Thailand by 13,396 persons, down 7.9 per cent on the bureau’s target of 170,000 delegates from January to February.

Notable cancelled corporate meetings and incentive groups include CommsGroup SKO14 and Thomson Reuters Asia Regional Sales Conference, while ALERE Mega Incentive and the International Congress in Aesthetic Dermatology 2014 have postponed their activities.

THE Nam Hai in Hoi An is offering The Nam Hai Meeting package that combines seasonal room rates and meeting arrangements.

Priced at US$85++ per person, The Nam Hai Full Day Meeting Package includes meeting room set-up, free-flow coffee/tea during the meeting, two coffee breaks and one set lunch. The price is for use of a single meeting room and does not include breakout rooms.

Bundled benefits under the Season of Opportunity and Season of High Demand sets are: accommodation in a one-bedroom villa, a one-time group round-trip airport transfer, daily buffet breakfast at The Restaurant for up to two people per villa, free Internet access in the room, free non-alcoholic beverages in the minibar, and free accommodation for the organiser during the official dates of the event, including breakfast for one person.

Rooms during the Season of Opportunity that runs from May 2 to June 30, 2014 and September 1 to December 20, 2014, go at US$380++ per night.

For the Season of High Demand between July 1 to August 31, 2014 and January 11 to March 31, 2015, the price is US$420++.

Bookings must be for a minimum of 10 villas and two nights.

Rates are subject to service charge and taxes totalling 15.5 per cent.

For bookings, call (84-8) 3825 6000.

THE 30-year-old Hilton Petaling Jaya has reported a rise in forward bookings for corporate groups and business events since the completion of its renovations in mid-January.

General manager, Charles Marshall, told TTGmice e-Weekly in an interview that prior to the facelift, which cost in excess of RM50 million (US$15 million), the hotel drew mostly group leisure business.

“Now, the business mix is 40 per cent corporate/ FIT, 45 per cent events and association meetings, and 25 per cent leisure,” said Marshall.

He added that the 546-key property, located in the heart of Petaling Jaya, is benefiting from its strategic location along the Federal Highway to tap residential conferences, multinational training events and corporate business from both Petaling Jaya and the larger Klang Valley.

It also enjoys spillover business from Kuala Lumpur whenever major events and conferences flood the city and rooms are fully booked.

Marshall is optimistic about the business outlook for this year. He said: “We are getting more enquiries from the US, Europe and the Middle East especially from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.”

STUDENTS aspiring for a career in the meetings and events industry will get to rub shoulders with industry professionals at IT&CM China in Shanghai this April.

The programme, put together by IMEX Group, Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and MCI, will see 50 students from Shanghai-based universities attending a day of presentations led by leading meetings industry professionals and participating in a guided tour of the show grounds.

IT&CM China’s IMEX-MPI-MCI Future Leaders Forum (FLF) will kick off a year-round series of similar forums slated to take place in destinations such as Turkey, Africa, Slovenia and North America, including MPI’s World Education Congress in Minneapolis and IMEX America in Las Vegas.

IT&CM China, a dedicated trade show for business events specialists, has supported FLF for several years now. Organised by TTG Asia Media, this year’s edition will run from April 15 to 17 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center.

FLF in Shanghai will also host the semi-finals of the University Challenge, where the winner will be sponsored to attend the finals at IMEX Frankfurt in May.

Some 6,000 students have taken part in FLF since its launch in 2003, and an overwhelming 90 per cent of them have stated that they are “likely to enter the industry as a result of attending (the event)”.

A NEW standalone, seafront event centre has opened at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa in Singapore, offering an answer to the luxury property’s growing requests from corporate clients for unique, outdoor venues.

Named Atmosphere by the Sea, the venue measures 322m2 and comes with a 120m2 covered terrace and an adjoining timber deck of 120m2. These spaces are able to accommodate up to 150 guests altogether.

Events that require even more space can take up the lush, sprawling lawn surrounding Atmosphere by the Sea. According to the hotel’s spokesperson Tina Chia, the lawn can accommodate an additional 100 guests or more for standing cocktails, subject to event layout.

Ben Bousnina, general manager of Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa, told TTGmice e-Weekly the hotel had received frequent requests for outdoor venues in the past, and the new event centre would now be able to satiate that growing demand.

Bousnina noted that the venue’s launch party last Thursday had generated “very good response from our corporate clients”.

“The launch party gave us the chance to showcase how flexible Atmosphere by the Sea could be for our clients’ functions, and we created several themes, such as French and Roman, in various sections of the venue and had different food presentations including a barbeque and an Indian spread,” said Bousnina, adding that the event was planned and executed in-house.

Describing the new venue as one that enjoys a “unique location in Singapore”, Bousnina said: “It will strengthen the idea of hosting events here on the island and (encourage clients) to think of Sentosa as a destination. Instead of taking their events to island destinations like Bali, clients now have an option here on Sentosa.”

With the addition of Atmosphere by the Sea, the hotel now offers 15 function spaces.

A NEW standalone, seafront event centre has opened at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa in Singapore, offering an answer to the luxury property’s growing requests from corporate clients for unique, outdoor venues.

Named Atmosphere by the Sea, the venue measures 322m2 and comes with a 120m2 covered terrace and an adjoining timber deck of 120m2. These spaces are able to accommodate up to 150 guests altogether.

Events that require even more space can take up the lush, sprawling lawn surrounding Atmosphere by the Sea. According to the hotel’s spokesperson Tina Chia, the lawn can accommodate an additional 100 guests or more for standing cocktails, subject to event layout.

Ben Bousnina, general manager of Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa, told TTGmice e-Weekly the hotel had received frequent requests for outdoor venues in the past, and the new event centre would now be able to satiate that growing demand.

Bousnina noted that the venue’s launch party last Thursday had generated “very good response from our corporate clients”.

“The launch party gave us the chance to showcase how flexible Atmosphere by the Sea could be for our clients’ functions, and we created several themes, such as French and Roman, in various sections of the venue and had different food presentations including a barbeque and an Indian spread,” said Bousnina, adding that the event was planned and executed in-house.

Describing the new venue as one that enjoys a “unique location in Singapore”, Bousnina said: “It will strengthen the idea of hosting events here on the island and (encourage clients) to think of Sentosa as a destination. Instead of taking their events to island destinations like Bali, clients now have an option here on Sentosa.”

With the addition of Atmosphere by the Sea, the hotel now offers 15 function spaces.

EAGER to boost its overall tourism industry performance and improve average occupancies in four- and five-star hotels, the Malaysian state of Selangor is looking to strengthen its positioning as a business events destination.

In an interview with TTGmice e-Weekly, Selangor Tourism general manager, Noorul Ashikin Mohd Din, revealed that the bureau is targeting business event groups from Australia, the Middle East and regional markets.

Included in Selangor Tourism’s action plans is an updated business events directory which will be ready by end of this year. The directory will provide a listing of meetings, accommodation venues and attractions in the state, among other details.

MICE hardware will improve through the launch of a new convention centre in Selangor’s Shah Alam by 4Q2014. Ideal Convention Centre will be the largest venue of its kind in the state. Spread across 8,674.4m2, the venue will comprise 11 halls in four different sizes. It will be able to accommodate up to 8,000 guests.

Ideal Convention Centre will join two other private venues that had opened in Shah Alam in recent years. The latest is Midlands Convention Centre which opened last month in Section 7, Shah Alam. The purpose-built venue can host up to 2,500 people in theatre set-up. The other is Setia City Convention Centre which started operations in late 2012.

Also keen to court business events, especially those from Indonesia and the Philippines, is i-City Properties which has added new attractions to its i-City theme park. According to the company’s sales manager, leisure division, Norsyuhaini Mohd, a Best Western hotel will open within the theme park by the last quarter of the year.

Saini Vermeulen, head of international sales, Panorama Tours Malaysia, said the new event spaces would provide more options for meetings and noted that events hosted in Selangor would cost some 30 per cent lower than the same in nearby Kuala Lumpur.

“(Selangor’s) lower prices are especially attractive to the price-sensitive regional markets,” he said.

Sachin Bansal, director of ABS Holidays in Delhi, said: “With Malindo Air’s new Delhi-Kuala Lumpur flights, we anticipate MICE demand to Malaysia to pick up significantly this year. Thus, it would be helpful if Selangor Tourism could keep us updated with new product developments.”

AUSTRALIA’S Northern Territory (NT) is ready to step up its MICE strategy now that international air connections have “stabilised” and more suitable products are available.

NT’s existing daily Jetstar service from Singapore to state capital Darwin was joined in November by Malaysia Airlines’ four-weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Darwin. SilkAir will boost its frequency between Singapore and Darwin from four to five times weekly come June and upgrade its aircraft for this route to the new Boeing 737-800 from October, said Tourism NT’s international marketing executive, Philip Haines.

Hotel developments are advancing too. H Hotel and Élan Soho Suites will boost Darwin’s room inventory with 186 rooms and 168 rooms respectively. Hilton Worldwide, which has taken over three properties in Darwin from InterContinental Hotels Group, now operates Hilton Darwin, DoubleTree by Hilton Esplanade Darwin, and DoubleTree by Hilton Darwin in addition to its existing by Hilton Alice Springs.

Halikos Hospitality, which manages H Hotel, is spending A$750,000 (US$661,200) in phase one to refurbish Crab Claw Island Resort, 90 minutes from Darwin, to package with its 800 hotel rooms and serviced apartment units in the capital, according to general manager Geoff Weeks.

To cater to corporate meeting groups from China, Marrakai Luxury All Suites, a 10-minute walk from the Darwin Convention Centre, has engaged a Mandarin-speaking staff member.

To reach out to new buyers from Asia-Pacific, Great Southern Rail will be attending AIME for the first time this year, said Claire Sim, general manager.

“We have been promoting to European (and Japanese) incentive groups…for a long time and are now looking to grow the South-east Asian market, in particular Singapore and Malaysia,” she said.

“Incentive groups can travel on The Ghan’s two-night weekly departures through the heart of Australia from Darwin to Alice Springs and ending in Adelaide, and participate in off-train bonding and teambuilding activities. (It) is suitable for satellite meetings and exclusive board meetings for between eight and 10 people,” she explained.

THE Biggest Loser’s Michelle Bridges and Forbes columnist Margie Warrell will be among the star-studded line-up for AIME Knowledge 2014, taking place on February 18 and 19 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The event, part of the annual tradeshow Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo, aims to provide both personal and professional development for attendees and promises a varied programme covering creativity, mindfulness, interpersonal relations, innovation, events trends and business travel.

AIME Knowledge 2014 also encompasses the fifth annual Saxton Ultimate Event Experience, which will showcase 12 presenters in the space of 2.5 hours on February 19. Highlights include ARIA award-winning vocal group, The Ides of North, and musician Darren Percival, best known for his soul-stirring performances on the first season of The Voice Australia.

“This year we’ve created a comprehensive programme that we expect will appeal to the varied audience that comes to AIME,” said Jacqui Timmins, exhibition director at AIME and China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition.

“We utilised research and feedback gathered from previous years to build the programme for 2014. AIME Knowledge is such an important component of the event and it’s crucial that we deliver value to our attendees by motivating them and providing them with the tools they need for success.”

“We believe the speakers presenting this year will truly resonate with our audience and provide hands on, practical advice on how to develop their skills.”

Other speakers featured at AIME Knowledge 2014 include Adam Fraser, one of Australia’s leading educators, researchers and thought leaders in the area of human performance, who will teach the audience how to tap into their high performance by identifying triggers and practical techniques; and Debbie Mayo-Smith, one of the world’s leading business productivity experts, who will impart easy, clever tricks to improve business success and free up time with everyday technology tools.

Tickets are priced at A$55 (US$49) for AIME visitors, with free visitor pre-registration now available via the AIME website. An All Access Pass that provides access to all sessions is also available for A$175.

Exhibitors are welcome to the education sessions by purchasing an Exhibitor Company Pass for A$175.

Visit www.aime.com.au for more details.