NEW MICE facilities and a first-ever CVB are on the cards for Penang, which is hoping to evolve into an international MICE destination.

Penang state minister for Tourism Development & Culture, Danny Law, told TTGmice e-Weekly that the initiatives were “part of Penang’s strategy to become an international city”, and allow it to attract more domestic and international MICE business.

Upcoming MICE facilities in Penang include the Subterranean Penang International Convention & Exhibition Centre (sPICE), and a convention space within the future The Light Waterfront Penang development.

sPICE is being built on the site of the Penang International Sports Arena and Aquatic Centre in Relau. Expected to be ready by 2015, the venue will boast a 5,000-pax ballroom, while the twin sports facilities are also being spruced up to the tune of RM300 million (US$94 million). Meanwhile, construction of two new hotels – one within sPICE and the other close by – jointly offering more than 400 rooms, is scheduled to be completed by 2014.

According to Law, the convention facility at The Light Waterfront Penang, slated to open in 2017, would have the capacity to cater to 8,000 people.

Besides the new event spaces, Penang will also welcome a theme park in 2014 and a variety of new hotels. Several boutique properties currently being developed in the George Town heritage area and elsewhere are expected to add some 2,000 rooms to the city’s inventory of 14,000 rooms, said Law.

“With such (upcoming) facilities, we need to have a CVB to market Penang and to ensure that we can bring business to them,” he said, while declining to reveal further details about the formation of Penang’s first MICE bureau.

Meanwhile, Penang State Tourism intends to develop its Penang International Travel Mart (PITM), launched this year, into a regional event (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 6, 2012).

“From next year on, PITM will not only sell Penang to international buyers, but also products of South-east Asia,” said Law.

THE IMPENDING inauguration of Conrad Seoul on November 12 is expected to offer MICE organisers some relief from the room crunch in the South Korean capital.

The 434-room property, situated in the Yeouido Business District, will also add 12 meeting rooms and six banquet halls to the capital’s MICE product lineup.

Conrad Seoul will open just in time for the September/November high season, a period during which the travel trade has been experiencing elevated pressure for rooms – due to the closure of the five-star The Shilla Seoul for renovations on January 10. The Shilla Seoul is only expected to complete its revamp by July 31 next year.

Seoul-based US Travel CEO, Dooyoun Hwang, said: “There are enough meeting rooms and ballrooms in hotels (in Seoul), but where do you (house) the people? Many organisers insist on (accommodating) their group in the same hotel. Our biggest challenge is meeting their needs when groups consist of 200 people or more.”

Washington-based DC Affairs director, Esther Chandran, who has noticed growing demand for South Korea among US meeting planners, told TTGmice e-Weekly that Conrad Seoul’s opening would be timely, as there had not been a new luxury hotel brand in Seoul for “quite awhile”.

She added that Korean Air’s Washington-Seoul flights were helping to draw American meeting planners who had previously brought their events to South-east Asia, and who were now looking for new destinations.

THE MAJORITY of exhibition companies from across the globe have declared an increase in their turnover over the past three years, according to UFI’s latest Global Barometer survey of the exhibition industry.

However, most of the 221 respondents from 61 countries who participated in the study in June believe that the global economic crisis has not blown over. Results revealed that most respondents were still feeling the impact of the downturn.

The study noted: “the significant decrease of confidence outlined six months ago in Asia-Pacific is confirmed, with 71 per cent declaring that the impact of the economic crisis on their exhibition business is not over”.

Only 10 per cent of the respondents believe that the economic crisis will end this year, while 44 per cent believe it will end in 2013. In the last Global Barometer conducted in December 2011, 27 per cent of respondents believed that the downturn would end in 2012, and 46 per cent expected it to end in 2013.

Slower turnover growth is also being felt in Asia-Pacific. Sixty-three per cent of respondents in Asia-Pacific said their turnover had increased in the first half of 2012, as compared to the same period last year, while 80 per cent had reported the same for the first half of 2011 in an earlier study.

Seventy per cent of respondents expressed expectations of growth for the remaining half of 2012, compared to 82 per cent who had felt the same about the second half of 2011 in an earlier survey.

The state of the national and regional economy (24 per cent), global economic uncertainty (22 per cent), local and national competition (18 per cent), and internal management challenges (17 per cent) were deemed the four most important issues facing exhibition businesses over the coming year.

THE ANNUAL Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) and Corporate Travel World (CTW) Asia-Pacific will celebrate a number of firsts when they take place this October in Bangkok.

The double-bill event will debut a luxury travel segment this year to cater to the growing demand for premium products among MICE and corporate travel buyers.

IT&CMA will also welcome its very first Middle Eastern offering through Dubai’s inaugural participation in the event’s exhibition segment.

As well, IT&CMA will be attended by buyers from Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico and Tanzania for the first time.

These new features join IT&CMA and CTW’s recent announcement of a closer partnership with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which enables the event organiser, TTG Asia Media, and the association to work together in delivering quality training and seminars for corporate travel managers. (TTGmice e-Weekly, June 13, 2012)

IT&CMA will hold its 20^th edition this year, while CTW is entering its 15^th year.

Meanwhile, an invite-only preview reception for IT&CMA and CTW will be hosted tomorrow at the newly-opened Sofitel So Bangkok.

SRI Lanka’s CeySail Cruises has launched a fleet of luxury Catamaran and Monohull yachts with sea activity options, a move that local tour operators said would sharpen the destination’s appeal to high-end MICE segments.

Rajiv Seneviratne, CeySail Cruises COO, said the luxury yachts would offer activities such as dolphin and whale watching on the east coast of Trincomalee, as well as multi-day trips that include snorkeling, diving and fishing on the south coast.

Prior to the fleet expansion, the company has a Water Sprite 11, a catamaran sailing yacht with four bedrooms for 12 guests and a MacGregor 26 monohull yacht with accommodation for four. CeySail Cruises is looking to add a twin-deck luxury yacht with the capacity for a 100-pax party by this August.

Seneviratne intends to work with travel agencies and hotels to promote his yacht charters and activities.

Ahintha Amerasinghe, managing director of Worldlink Travels, believes that Ceysails Cruises luxury yacht tours and activities will enhance Sri Lanka’s ability to draw deep-pocketed MICE clients and “add diversity” to the destination’s tourism offerings.

CROWNE Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East has rolled out limited time offers for meeting planners in celebration of its opening on September 28.

Event planners who book their events by end of December can enjoy full- and half-day meeting packages at HK$600 (US$77) and HK$450 per delegate respectively. These deals are valid for groups with 10 to 1,000 participants. Lunch, coffee break and free flow of tea and coffee throughout the event are included.

The hotel is also offering promotional room rates from HK$1,100 per Superior room per night for meetings held between November 1 this year and March 31 next year. Meeting groups that consume 40 roomnights or more each day will be offered one complimentary room upgrade, bonus points for Priority Club Meeting Rewards members and a free roundtrip coach transfer.

Prices exclude a 10 per cent service charge.

Perched on top of the PopCorn shopping mall and Tseung Kwan O MTR station, the hotel has 2,400m² of event space and 359 guestrooms.

BELGIUM-BASED Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has selected Singapore and Marina Bay Sands as the venue for Sibos 2015, an annual financial services event.

Commenting on SWIFT’s host destination choice, the organisation’s chief executive Asia-Pacific, Ian Johnston, said: “Singapore’s lead within ASEAN creates a strong draw card for customers from South Asia, as well as the Indian sub-continent and North Asia. Sibos in Singapore is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the region to the entire SWIFT community.”

The event, which brings together the global financial services and technology communities, is said to contribute significantly to the economy of the host city and country. SWIFT’s decision to take Sibos to Singapore also adds another feather to Marina Bay Sands’ cap.

John Mims, senior vice president worldwide sales & resort marketing Asia, Las Vegas Sands, said: “This event will be our largest to date, utilising over 120,000m² of space at Sands Expo and Convention Center, including 250 meeting rooms, six expo halls and the Grand Ballroom.

Sibos will be held in Osaka this year, followed by Dubai and Boston in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

A LUXURY watch brand will lay claim to be among the first corporate events to be held in W Singapore-Sentosa Cove when the luxury hotel opens in September.

Several “very good leads” have surfaced in the months leading up to the 240-key hotel’s opening on September 16, with most from luxury fashion and car brands, according to W Singapore-Sentosa Cove general manager, Stephane Fabregoul.

Fabregoul said the W brand’s design-led focus and passion in fashion, music and entertainment had generated a strong demand from related industries.

The property’s location offered a strong proposition to event planners too, he said.

“Sentosa offers a short escape from the city. The experience and ambience is different, and we sell the hotel as a short escape to a world of wow. Furthermore, the hotel’s ocean-facing location means we can offer unique experiences to event attendees. For instance, W Singapore-Sentosa Cove has its own private berths (located in front of the grand ballroom), which gives event planners the opportunity to provide sea access (to delegates) and organise sunset cruises. No other hotels in Singapore can offer that,” he said.

Fabregoul expects Singapore-based clients to make up 60 per cent of the hotel’s events market.

To encourage more event planners to “come and experience” the property, W Singapore-Sentosa Cove has rolled out a full-day meeting deal priced at S$108++ (US$85) per delegate and a group accommodation deal at S$340++ per room. Terms apply and both deals are valid till March 2013. Starwood Preferred Planners will also earn triple Starpoints for events happening before the promotions expire.

THE PHILIPPINE Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS) will debut a new advanced MICE course in August to improve the quality and competence of local industry practitioners.

PACEOS president Monette Iturralde-Hamlin said the two-day MICE Savvy course, offered by the association’s learning division, the Philippine MICE Academy, will be held on August 16 and 17 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila. Training will be provided by industry experts, and non-PACEOS members are welcomed to enroll.

The course costs 8,000 pesos (US$189) person, and an early bird rate of 7,000 pesos is offered.

PACEOS also reaches out to fresh MICE practitioners through its MICE 101 course, which was held most recently in Manila. PACEOS has plans to take the training session to Cebu and Davao this year, and also to establish a chapter in each of the two cities before the year is over.

Iturralde-Hamlin added that a refresher course on MICE was also offered during every general membership meeting.

Meanwhile, the association is producing the Event Planners Manual, a guide to efficient and effective organisation of MICE events, which is expected to be ready in time for the MICE Savvy classes.