HAVING reopened in 2011 after a major revamp, heritage hotel Royal Ambarrukmo Yogyakarta is now setting its sights farther, launching a Japanese language website, an Eat, Pray, Love in Jogjakarta promotional video and a new ballroom.

The hotel’s general manager, Sudarsana, said the launch of the Japanese version of www.royalambarrukmo.com is a means to reach out to the market, adding that efforts to generate business from overseas has materialised this year, with groups from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the US.

“For next year, we have bookings from at least 40 groups,” he revealed.

The promotional video highlights the hotel’s services based on Jogjakarta’s royal tradition, while the new Kasultanan Ballroom for up to 2,000 guests for a standing reception is the biggest hotel ballroom in the city.

The hotel’s director for sales and marketing, Bagus Dewa, said: “MICE is an important market for the hotel, contributing 30 per cent of the hotel’s business. The ballroom was built not only to meet the demand for this market, but also that of the city.

“There is actually a high demand for big meeting, convention and social function (venues) here in Jogjakarta. Since the new ballroom started operation in September, it has been utilised for around 20 days per month and we have four medical and pharmaceutical company conventions for next year in the book.”

On the leisure front, the hotel’s travel agency and FIT markets contribute to 18 and 20 per cent of the business respectively, while three per cent are inbound business.

The hotel’s other facilities include The Kraton Ballroom, which can accommodate up to 1,000 pax, and 17 meeting rooms for 30-150 pax in theatre style.

MANY Asian MICE groups due to travel to Bangkok during this season have stuck to their bookings, although demand for next year has taken a beating.

Malaysia-based Rakyat Travel’s general manager, Adam Kamal, said he is handling four incentive groups to Bangkok this month and at press time, there are no cancellations.

“The protests are away from tourist areas, it has not affected flights and the Thai government has taken a softer approach this time, so incentive groups are not worried,” he explained. However, his company has not received any new bookings to Bangkok for next year.

Similarly, Panorama Tours Malaysia managing director, Richard Vuilleumier, said the company has no new MICE bookings to Bangkok for next year. His two Bangkok-bound incentive groups have diverted to Vietnam, fearful the airport might close.

Over in Singapore, Alicia Seah, marketing communications director, Dynasty Travel, said: “It is logistically more challenging for groups to cancel their plans there because they have already pre-booked meeting and accommodation venues in large quantities.” The agency currently has three corporate groups in Bangkok.

Singapore-based World Express also just handled an incentive group in Bangkok two weeks ago. Managing director, Darren Tan, said: “It is not the first time we are seeing such unrest in Bangkok and we know it is not targeted at tourists, so it is still considered safe.”

There has also been little impact on Indonesian outbound.

Panorama Tours Indonesia managing director, corporate incentive management, Vidya Hermanto, said: “I have a group scheduled for December 6. They actually wanted to move to another destination, but if they did, the hotels in Bangkok would charge cancellation fee.”

Indonesia-based Intrarep.com managing director, Elgin Agrigento, added: “MNCs are taking a wait-and-see stand…Many Indonesians know Thailand and are well informed enough to know that the rally does not affect tourist spots.”

WHILE Seoul remains popular with MICE delegates, cities like Busan, Jeju and relatively less-known Gyeongnam are wrestling for a slice of the pie too.

Gyeongnam Convention & Visitors Bureau (GNCVB) marketing director, Kim Daehwan, said the bureau will launch a new campaign, Discover the Undiscovered, in 2014 to showcase the province’s scenic coastal attractions and cultural heritage sites through fam trips and tradeshow participation.

“We will definitely not be able to pull traffic away from the main cities, so we are targeting repeat visitors,” said Kim.

Gyeongnam is well positioned to attract MICE traffic, he pointed out, with new venues such as the 136m Changwon Solar Tower, which features a 300-pax conference room, 1,000-pax outdoor plaza and 120m-high observatory with ocean views.

Currently 80 per cent of MICE traffic to Gyeongnam comes from China, said Kim, and the CVB intends to target South-east Asian markets like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Helen Shim, director of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) Singapore office, said Singaporean delegates are starting to cast their eyes away from Seoul, and are heading for cities like Busan and Jeju.

Shim added that the MICE infrastructure in these cities is “equally competitive” to Seoul’s. “The plus point is the lower prices; it can be even up to 50 per cent cheaper.”

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, KTO is holding today a first-ever MICE presentation on Seoul, Busan and Jeju to woo incentives with its generous support.

A KTO Hong Kong spokesperson said: “In the last five years, the market has grown 250 per cent and we’ve recorded 142,000 incentive visitors in 2012. We want to spread the word, especially about our incentives and sponsorship for groups. After the event, we’ll assess the result and hope to run it regularly.” Out of 100 attendees, two-thirds are corporates, while the rest are DMCs and travel consultants.

Lotus Tours senior manager for MICE, pilgrimage and cruise planner, Arthur Choy, said: “KTO is reputed for its supportive policy for small groups. To us, it’s vital because it’s a value-added element for us to wow our budget-tight clients.”

Additional reporting by Prudence Lui

THE Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre is investing RM7.5 million (US$2.3 million) over the course of the next year on four technology projects as part of its ongoing effort to improve service delivery.

The four projects include upgrading the data centre backbone infrastructure to 10 Gigabytes, introducing a digital walkie-talkie system, implementing an IP (Internet Protocol) CCTV system and improving the virtualised server environment for the data centre.

According to the centre’s IT manager, Richard Soo, the data centre infrastructure will pre-empt any future bottlenecks in Internet connectivity and usage, as well as provide team members with better monitoring and control mechanisms, which will help increase productivity levels.

“To provide guests with better security we are also improving our capabilities through the upgrades of the walkie talkie and CCTV systems. The former will increase our coverage area to ensure there are minimal ‘blind spots’. This will ensure better communication between our team members, which will help to provide a more responsive service for our guests.

“The latter will expand our video surveillance capabilities with better quality video coverage at more locations throughout the venue giving client’s added peace of mind,” said Soo.

HOTEL Éclat Beijing has launched a new ballroom, THE Cocoon, boasting a glass rooftop and cityscape views from the 21^st floor.

As part of the hotel’s aim of fusing design and the environment, Wessel Krauss, general manager of Hotel Éclat Beijing, said The Cocoon provides a setting with natural light and a tropical garden surrounding.

He said: “This (natural lighting) means that the venue works well during the day as well as at night. The curved roof structure also provides a good starting point for designing creative events.”

The 424m² ballroom can seat 150 guests and is well suited to display dramatic multimedia and lighting effects.

Positioned to lure the luxury brands, Krauss said: “The Cocoon has already attracted bookings from a number of luxury brands like Breitling, Lenovo and SK II. It lends itself well to events such as buffet dinners, fashion shows and cocktail receptions.”

The 100-room-and-suite hotel, member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is nestled in a glass-and-steel tower capsule within Parkview Green and boasts the largest private Dali art collection in China.

TAIWAN External Trade Development Council’s (TAITRA) Meet Taiwan project will continue to invest in marketing communications with industry players to grow the destination’s MICE business in the new year, with international association congresses and corporate incentives being the key segments of focus.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly in an interview, Walter Yeh, TAITRA executive vice president, said Meet Taiwan’s efforts will centre on building an extensive database of rotating congresses for industry players and providing assistance to incentive buyers.

“Data on rotating congresses is crucial for bidding success and we have been analysing ICCA’s database for market intelligence. These information will be shared with PCOs to help them identify events they can bid for and boost their bidding success rate,” said Yeh.

To grow Taiwan’s incentive business, Meet Taiwan will continue to provide support such as the provision of official invites to facilitate travel visa approvals and destination marketing assistance to local city governments.

“Although China is today a big market for Taiwan’s incentive segment, contributing 90 per cent of the 100 incentive groups we welcomed this year, we will continue to court South-east Asian and other North Asian markets such as Malaysia and Japan. We will conduct several familiarisation trips for event houses and end-user clients in these markets,” he added.

According to Yeh, the 100 incentive groups to Taiwan involved almost 40,000 delegates. He aims to attract 150 incentive groups in 2014.

He pointed out that incentive clients are becoming more discerning and requests for unique activities are rising, so Meet Taiwan will have to respond to such needs.

“Taiwan can offer plenty of creative activities and ideas for corporate events, such as surfing and mountain climbing to bond teams. Meet Taiwan will therefore seek to provide such ideas through our future familiarisation trips and roadshows,” he said.

KUONI Group Travel Experts and Crescentrating, which promotes Muslim travel through its rating system, have announced a partnership in which the travel provider will market halal-friendly group travel arrangements and packages for Muslim families, leisure and MICE groups.

Kuoni and Crescentrating will launch their first brochure in Asia next month, and will co-develop new group travel products and enhanced travel booking and management services for the Muslim travel market.

Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have the largest Muslim populations, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project.

Reto Kaufmann, Kuoni Group Travel Experts head of MICE sales Asia, said: “Last year, we saw room nights booked by group travellers from these four countries rise, particularly Indonesia and India which enjoyed double-digit increases, while Bangladesh quadrupled.

“And it’s not just leisure travel, more and more of Asia’s businesses…have large numbers of Muslim delegates with specific halal or religious requirements.”

In Asia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand also offer significant numbers of potential Muslim travellers. For example China, with a Muslim population numbering 23 million, saw room nights booked with Kuoni rise six per cent last year.

IN A bid to encourage sustainable MICE practices, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a set of guidelines to encourage local players to meet global sustainability requirements.

STB executive director for business tourism development, Chew Tiong Heng, said: “With corporate clients and delegates becoming increasingly concerned about the environment, business event organisers and meeting planners are turning to destinations and venues with strong sustainability policies in place.

“Green initiatives are therefore gaining traction among MICE event organisers, who recognise that such endeavours significantly enhance the overall visitor experience.”

The guidelines cover seven industry categories from across the business events ecosystem, including hotels, venues, event organisers, meeting planners, transportation, F&B as well as audio-visual set-up. Areas covered include advice on waste management and the efficient use of water and energy.

Welcoming the guidelines, Tour East Group senior vice president for sales and marketing, Judy Lum, said: “Many just talk about sustainability but they do not practise it because they are not sure where to start. Now they do not have an excuse. Interest in sustainable practices is a common prerequisite for responsible organisations.”

East West Planners chief executive and SACEOS president, Janet Tan-Collis, said CSR programmes are becoming “ever more important as a competitive factor for the Singapore MICE industry”, adding that the new guidelines can be easily adopted by local MICE-related companies.

Asian Detours deputy director for marketing, Florence Cheong, said 20-30 per cent of her corporates will ensure their events are environmentally friendly such as through minimising paper usage and utilising solar energy wherever possible.

However, Cheong also pointed out that corporates’ understanding of green practices is very basic like saving paper and reusing materials, hence this new official reference guide will be a useful tool.

According to STB, the guidelines are referenced from international standards such as ISO 20121 and APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards.

Chew said while adoption of the guidelines is voluntary, STB will work with relevant associations like SACEOS, Singapore Hotel Association and Singapore Green Building Council to monitor the adoption rate and gather feedback.

CAPELLA Singapore is offering a new package for meetings and events planners.

From S$499 (US$398) per person per room night, the Conference Package includes the following:

• accommodation in a Premier Garden Room with complimentary non-alcoholic drinks from the minibar and breakfast;
• complimentary Wi-Fi in guestrooms and function rooms;
• two seminar coffee breaks with refreshments;
• one seminar lunch customised in consultation with the executive chef;
• a designated conference service manager and personalised butler; and
• a complimentary room for the event organiser during the event period (subject to minimum booking of 45 guestrooms for two consecutive nights’ stay).

The offer is valid for minimum bookings of 10 guestrooms with at least two consecutive nights’ stay, from Sundays to Thursdays from now till December 20, 2013.

Email johnny@gatewaygp.com for enquiries.

MARRIOTT Hotels will introduce a number of initiatives across its properties worldwide to refresh the experience for meeting attendees.

New meeting spaces with stylish design, natural light, flexible seating and wireless or web-enabled technology enable planners and attendees to focus on the meeting objectives.

Marriott properties in Munich and Amsterdam already feature the new design, with London Kensington Marriott and Paris Marriott Rive Gauche following early next year.

Meanwhile, the Red Coat Direct app enables meeting organisers to adjust and edit their meeting requests and preferences with a touch of a button and without having to leave the meeting room.

Currently available in 35 Marriott hotels in Europe, the service will roll out globally in early 2014 to more Marriott Hotels in Asia-Pacific.