THE EMPIRE Hotel & Country Club, Brunei will receive its largest single booking for the year in November when it plays host to Amway Korea’s Leadership Seminar.

More than 2,400 top Amway Korea distributors will descend on Brunei in four waves, with at least 600 delegates each for a total of 16 nights. Participants will use the opportunity to share their experiences, review past performances and prepare for the future.

Desmond Acheson, general manager of the 518-room Empire Hotel & Country Club, Brunei, said it would be the third Amway Korea event hosted at the property. Amway Korea had used the hotel for its annual Diamond Invitational events in 2005 and 2007.

According to Acheson, the hotel was shortlisted in late 2010 as a possible venue based on the success of previous events, and was officially named host venue last November.

Held from November 10-26, the Leadership Seminar will fully occupy the hotel.

Acheson said: “Some adjustments must be made. We have contacted some of our regular guests who usually come during this time of the year to see if they were willing to shift their travel dates.

“We’re really excited about this event as it will attract more than 2,400 new visitors to the Sultanate, all of whom will act as our ambassadors upon their return. They will talk about us to their friends and, hopefully, their friends will decide to visit us.”

DESPITE mounting interest among Singapore-based corporate firms to charter cruise ships for business events, this segment has yet to take off, according to Mona Foo, head of sales, Singapore, Royal Caribbean Cruises.

“In Royal Caribbean’s case, most of our charters derive from China, where there’s sufficient volume to warrant chartering large cruise ships, either wholly or partly. Multinational companies in Singapore tend to charter ships only if they can build numbers by roping in employees from other regional destinations,” said Foo.

Singapore-based corporate clients, as outlined by Foo, tend to request for cruise departures to Thailand and Malaysia for an average of three nights.

Speaking to an audience of travel consultants at a training session at Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific on Tuesday, Foo emphasised that clients were drawn to hosting MICE events on ships as they offered more value. “Corporations don’t have to fork out for separate elements, itineraries and activities can be customised and there’s an opportunity to drum up publicity,” she explained.

Alex Yip, general manager, Siam Express, expressed that chartering cruises for MICE does make business sense, but in order for travel consultants and event planners to convince their clients to pick ships as a MICE venue, it was crucial that travel consultants and event organisers were given the opportunity to experience the different MICE products and services cruise lines have.

“Only then, will you be able to give the right advice in regards to which cruise ship suits a client’s event best,” he said.

EXHIBITION IT service provider, Info Salons, and group reservation technology provider, Passkey, have joined hands to launch a group/MICE hotel booking service in Greater China.

The partnership will allow Info Salons to provide a much more expansive suite of business travel services, including hotel reservations, to event organisers, exhibition visitors and conference delegates. Passkey’s cloud-based GroupMAX platform, which is said to be the most widely-used solution of its kind, will also enable Info Salons to become the first hotel booking provider in Greater China to offer one-stop business travel registration for event visitors and delegates.

Gu Xuebin, managing director of Info Salons Greater China, said the partnership resulted from three years of preparation.

Greg Pesik, Passkey CEO, said: “We recognise how essential having a local partner is not only to our success, but to the success of our clients. This partnership, as well as the investment in the technology integration, will help ensure that Chinese exhibition organisers, hotels and convention centres can rapidly enhance the level of business travel service they can provide to visitors and delegates.”

DEMAND growth for business travel is projected to slow down next year, according to the 2013 Industry Forecast by Advito, BCD Travel’s independent consulting unit.

The study said continued eurozone woes would soften growth rates in other regions, even in historically strong driver markets such as China. Demand, however, will continue to outpace supply, with airlines keeping a particularly tight hold on inventory. As a result, buyers are warned to brace for low- to mid-single digit price hikes in airfares and hotel rates.

Bob Brindley, principal at Advito, said: “With the current macroeconomic situation uncertain and limited capacity going into next year, it’s more important than ever that buyers have a clear understanding of their buying power going into their negotiations, make better use of data analysis in their decision making process, and closely monitor their travel spend.”

He added: “For instance, with airfares projected to increase, buyers should pay close attention to fare restrictions and recommend smarter purchasing behaviour for their travellers. On the hotel side, options include searching for internal savings such as minor downgrades in accommodation standards and expanding the number of properties used in high demand markets to improve the likelihood of booking availability.”

For the first time, the 2013 Industry Forecast also analyses secondary spend categories including dining, mobile roaming and ground transportation. These expenses are estimated to account for 18 per cent of total T&E, and will become a major savings opportunity in 2013 and beyond.

THE OCEANFRONT Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel in Fukuoka city, Japan is offering a limited edition meeting package for groups with 20 to 50 delegates.

Priced at JPY11,500 (US$147) per person, the Eureka package includes full-day use of a meeting room, lunch at Seala Buffet or take-out Japanese lunch box, two coffee breaks with refreshments, basic audiovisual equipment and stationery, and LCD projector with screen or flipchart.

Meeting delegates will also enjoy access to the hotel’s Iwaburo Stone Bath & Sauna once a day.

The Eureka package is valid from now till December 28. Contact Jeremy Nam, assistant director of sales at jeremy.nam@hilton.com or (81-92) 844-7901.

FOUR Seasons Hotel Singapore is offering complimentary environmentally friendly options for meetings booked by November 30 and held before the year is over.

Priced at S$90 (US$73) per person per day (full-day meeting package) and $75 per person per day (half-day meeting package), the Value Meeting Plus deal offers meeting planners the opportunity to use chinaware and silverware instead of disposable plating and utensils, enjoy a ‘green’ menu with vegetarian options upon request, and donate event decorations and display materials to a local organisation for recycling, among other green efforts.

To qualify for this sustainable meeting experience, a minimum booking of 10 guestrooms is required. Terms apply. Contact Chinen Phillips, director of sales, at chinen.phillips@fourseasons.com or (65) 6831-7007.

DAVID Barrett, former executive manager at Diethelm Events, has joined ONYX Hospitality Group as executive director, events at Amari Watergate Bangkok and Amari Orchid Pattaya.

THE INDIA Expo Centre and Mart (IECM) in Greater Noida, Delhi, India is planning to enter into a joint venture with the private sector to build a 400-key five-star hotel and grow its inventory of exhibition halls by 2015.

IECM is the largest conference and exhibition venue in Delhi, equipped with eight exhibition halls of 4,000m² each and several conference halls and meeting rooms. It has hosted several international events including the recent Conventions India Conclave and IT&CM India in August, and is gearing up for the Asian Development Bank general meeting, which will be attended by 5,000 international delegates, later this year.

The new hotel will augment the room inventory in the Greater Noida region, which is now supported by Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort, Radisson Blu Greater Noida Hotel, and several four-star properties. These properties, which sit within a 10- to 30-minute drive from IECM, offer a total of 2,700 rooms.

Chander Mansharamani, vice chairman of the India Convention Promotion Bureau, said: “IECM building a hotel on its premises is great news. This will make the venue more attractive for large MICE events due to increased room capacity (in the vicinity) and new F&B options.”

SINGAPORE S MICE industry is set to receive an unprecedented boost when the Singapore Sports Hub opens its doors in April 2014.

World Sports Group, which is in the midst of developing a compelling line-up of sports events encompassing football, cricket, rugby and athletics, alongside major concerts for the centrepiece 55,000-seater National Stadium, is keen to draw a mix of local and foreign spectators. Some 140 events will be staged at the stadium each year, bringing in a projected two to three million visitors,

“We are designing a diverse calendar, peppered with huge events that will transform tourism as well as the local sporting and entertainment scene in Singapore,” said Adrian Staiti, the senior vice president of corporate partnerships & National Stadium Club.

He added that leisure and MICE spectators were equally important to the success of the entire project.

According to Staiti, the stadium will house two 1,000-pax restaurants, which will also be utilised for MICE events. Other MICE venues within the Sports Hub include the Singapore Multi-Purpose Indoor area, which can be reconfigured to hold up to 3,000 seats, as well as the Sports Information Resource Centre, which is intended for exhibitions.

There has been a flurry of interest in the Sport Hub’s MICE facilities, but Jennifer Kelly, senior marketing director, Singapore Sports Hub said that it was too premature to roll out packages.

She said: “We are in the planning stages right now, and we will be working on some marketing packages in the coming months. At the moment, we will hold preliminary discussions with interested parties and will try to match up their needs with what we know so far about the Sports Hub.”

Global Spectrum Asia, a partnership between Global Spectrum, a facilities management company, and the Asian-based PICO group of companies, has been roped in to manage the MICE and retail facilities at the Sports Hub.

ORIENT-Express’ new river cruiser, Orcaella, will begin sailing along Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River in July 2013, adding to the selection of luxury MICE experiences in a country that is fast opening up.

Currently under construction in Yangon, the four-deck, 50-guest boat is christened after the dolphins inhabiting the Irrawaddy River. Sailing between Yangon and Bhamo, the boat will operate from January to April and July to December.

According to Eddie Teh, Orient-Express’ newly appointed general manager of Myanmar cruises, the new boat is suitable for both leisure and MICE travellers with its extensive facilities and intimate experiences.

He said: “The deck is large enough for 70-80 people, with enough space for themed activities and local entertainment on board such as movie nights, traditional dances and musicians. The F&B facilities are large enough to cater to MICE groups, and we are in the process of recruiting a chef to introduce guests to local cuisines particular to each region (the boat) sails through.”

Furthermore, both Orcaella and its sister boat, The Road to Mandalay, can be chartered in tandem to offer a total occupancy of 132 guests, opening up “a lot of flexibility” for bigger groups, Teh added.

Each of Orcaella’s 25 air-conditioned cabins feature floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open up to river-facing balconies. Besides the observation deck, there is an all-day lounge and bar, a swimming pool, a fitness centre, a spa, as well as a resident doctor.

With its shallow one-metre draft, the Orcaella will be able to sail the Chindwin River in western Myanmar to as far north as Homalin near the Indian border, making it the first luxury cruise to access this remote region.

Bookings for the new river cruiser will start in January next year.