LUXURY hotel group Okura Hotels & Resorts will open the doors to its first property in Taiwan tomorrow.

The 208-key Okura Prestige Taipei sits in central Taipei’s Zhongshan district, putting business and leisure guests within easy reach of high-end shopping malls and popular tourist attractions.

Facilities at the hotel include multi-purpose rooms with mobile partitions, three restaurants, a lounge/bar, a bakery and a health club with state-of-the-art fitness equipment.

With the launch of Okura Prestige Taipei, Okura Hotels & Resorts will have 25 hotels under its belt, of which 16 are in Japan, six in other parts of Asia, two in the US and one in Amsterdam.

HILTON Worldwide has rolled out its first MICE awareness and incentive campaign targeted at event planners based in Asia-Pacific.

Kicked off on August 1, Hilton’s From MICE to Millions campaign dangles incentives, as well as a chance to win up to two million Hilton HHonours points in an effort to get regional planners to hold meetings and events at Hilton hotels and resorts across Asia-Pacific.

To qualify for the challenge, event planners must make a booking between August 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 for events to be held between August 1, 2012 and February 28 next year. At the end of the campaign, the overall top booker in Asia-Pacific, based on the highest cumulative revenue generated throughout the campaign, will be awarded two million Hilton HHonors points.

There will also be a regional challenge where the top bookers from five Asia-Pacific regions – Australasia, Greater China, South and South-east Asia, India, Japan, South Korea and Micronesia – will be awarded one million Hilton HHonors points.

Philippe Garnier, vice president, sales and regional marketing, Asia-Pacific, said: “Hilton Worldwide understands that organisations are more discerning about their MICE expenditures and are looking to yield more value and unique experiences that can be shared when face-to-face meetings are conducted.

“With this in mind, we have made it a priority to not only offer exceptional value to our customers who are hosting meetings at our portfolio of hotels, but also provide them with tailored solutions for each meeting.”

TOASTMASTERS International will take its annual convention out of North America for the first time in 2014, in favour of Malaysia.

To be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from August 20-23, the Toastmasters International World Convention will be attended by some 2,000 delegates. The event is expected to contribute RM32.5 million (US$10.4 million) to the country’s economy.

Toastmasters International executive director, Daniel Rex, said: “Kuala Lumpur is high on the list of international travel destinations. Known for its dazzling high-rises and rich cultural sense, the city is a prime international convention site for many reasons. It is centrally located (with) a broad membership population, which would potentially boost convention attendance higher than it has ever been.”

Currently, the association has more than 30 per cent of its global membership base residing outside of North America, and has seen strongest membership growth in South-east Asia.

Toastmasters International World Convention is supported by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) under an industry partners’ subvention scheme.

MELBOURNE will host the world’s leading transplantation experts in 2015 when they convene in the city for the Joint International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association, International Xenotransplantation Association and Cell Transplant Society Congress.

Minister for Tourism & Major Events, Louise Asher, said Melbourne had been granted the opportunity to host the congress because of its exceptional quality of transplantation experts based in Victoria and the calibre of research being conducted in the state.

The congress will be held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, and is expected to attract 700 delegates to Melbourne over five days and generate an estimated A$3.3 million (US$3.5 million) for the state economy.

Asher said: “This is yet another addition to a growing number of medical conferences due to be hosted in the city in 2015. During 2015, Melbourne will host a number of significant medical conferences including the International Conference on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Congress of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Coloproctology and the 35th Congress of the Societe Internationale d’Urologie.”

THE KESATRIA 1Malaysia programme initiated by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) in January has identified 14 new business event leads, which together are expected to attract 30,000 international delegates and RM351 million (US$122 million) in tourism revenue for the country.

The programme aims to spur leaders of key industry sectors, who had previously hosted large-scale international events in Malaysia, to voluntarily assist in identifying and encouraging other potential hosts to bid for and stage international conventions in Malaysia.

With the assistance of its appointed Kesatrias, or knights in Bahasa Malaysia, MyCEB has also organised a series of presentations at universities and research institutions to guide potential hosts on how to bid for and stage international congresses. The presentations provide case studies on the benefits a local host stands to gain from organising a global congress, as well as outlines support services offered by MyCEB.

MyCEB CEO, Zulkefli Sharif, said: “Having Kesatrias present the case studies will offer so much more inspiration to potential local hosts.”

There are currently 17 appointed Kesatrias, and according to Zulkefli, the bureau is in the process of growing the pool to represent all key economic growth sectors including agriculture, business services and education.

A STUDY by GBTA Foundation and Egencia, the corporate travel arm of Expedia, has found that travel professionals are having a bigger say in business travel policy, aided by online booking tools and a growing focus on cost-saving efforts.

Titled Travel Policy Trends: Control – What Does it Mean and Who Has It, the study surveyed almost 1,500 travel professionals across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America to determine their definition of travel policy control and how respondents were adapting to new and evolving business travel requirements.

The majority of travel professionals – 60 per cent – indicated that they now have more control over travel policy compared to a few years ago.

Most respondents – 61 per cent – also indicated that driving savings and controlling costs were important definitions of travel policy control. Setting policies and procedures and driving compliance followed with 41 per cent and 35 per cent of the votes, respectively.

In addition, the study found that travel professionals were increasingly using mobile phones and social media to communicate with their travellers and to improve travel experience. Some 65 per cent of respondents said they maintained contact with travellers “to let them know they’re watching out for them”. However, only 18 per cent of respondents had integrated travel policy information into mobile booking tools used by travellers.

As well, 72 per cent of respondents agreed that they now have more travel spend data and improved reporting tools compared to a few years ago, which help to provide more information to find gaps in compliance and bolster their ability to negotiate with suppliers.

THE YOKOHAMA Convention & Visitors Bureau has successfully bagged the hosting rights for the 9^th International Orthodontic Congress, which will be held from October 4-7, 2020.

Organised by the World Federation of Orthodontists, the congress is expected to draw 6,000 participants, with 2,000 from overseas. It will take place at Pacifico Yokohama, a convention complex that overlooks Yokohama Bay.

The International Orthodontic Congress is held once every five years. The last edition was held in Sydney in 2010, and the next will head to London in 2015.

SARAWAK Convention Bureau (SCB) and Borneo Convention Centre Kuching are looking to grow their business beyond Asia-Pacific, and have their sights trained on business events from the US and Europe.

To achieve this objective, both organisations will partner the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau in attending the upcoming IMEX America in Las Vegas this October.

SCB managing director, Mike Cannon, said: “International businesses provide export income, new education and research forums for the people in Sarawak, as well as new trade opportunities for the state. The bureau is also looking to work with the overseas offices of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation to attract more international business events.”

Cannon added that regional and local business events would still be the bureau’s “main focus”.

While debt woes in Europe and the US continue to cast long shadows, Cannon feels that markets in these catchment areas are on the mend, adding that “the idea is to target businesses with a long-term vision and those that can afford to travel longhaul.”

Although international direct flights to Sarawak are currently limited to Singapore and Pontianak in Indonesia, Cannon dismissed connectivity as an obstacle to Sarawak’s aim to lure business events from the US and Europe.

Instead, Cannon said he was confident of improved longhaul connections to Sarawak evolving from Routes Asia 2014, a prominent airline industry event which will be held in Kuching.

THE WEAK euro has boosted Europe-bound incentive movements from Malaysia by more than 30 per cent over the last two years for Kuoni Destination Management (KDM), with half the volume streaming into Central Europe cities such as Switzerland, France and Italy.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly on the sidelines of a meeting with Malaysian outbound incentive agents in Kuala Lumpur on July 25, KDM general manager MICE South Asia, Reto Kaufmann, said repeat clients preferred Eastern European destinations such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia.

Also contributing to the growth in Malaysian outbound incentives were KDM’s ability to negotiate for good rates from suppliers and specialisation in meeting Muslim travel requirements in Europe, said Kaufmann.

He added that the US and the UAE, especially Dubai and Abu Dhabi, were “doing well” with Malaysian incentive clients.

Malaysia is now among KDM’s top three outbound incentive markets in South-east Asia. Kaufmann noted that Malaysian organisers were spending 40-50 per cent of their budget on event related series at destinations.

To further stimulate growth, Kaufmann headed to the Malaysian capital to brief outbound incentive agents on how to be proficient in selling travel incentives to their clients, so that qualifiers would choose travel incentives over cash rewards.

WHILE almost one third of senior finance executives at some of the largest companies within Asia-Pacific expect to spend more on business travel this year, just five per cent anticipate spending at least 10 per cent more, according to the 2012 American Express/CFO Research Global Business and Spending Monitor.

Fifty-one per cent of senior finance executives polled in Singapore said they expect to spend the same or more on business travel over the next year compared to last year.

Dr Carl Jones, head of American Express Advisory Services for the Asia-Pacific region, explained that several factors were driving these trends, including continued economic instability in Europe, slowing growth rates in specific Asian markets, a slight uplift in the US economy, and tempered growth of airfares.

Even though demand for business travel within Asia remains strong, slowing growth rates and the introduction of low-cost carriers in some markets has increased domestic fares by just one per cent in the last quarter. Intra-Asia fares have performed similarly, and as supply responds to increasing demand for intra-Asia travel, fares have remained flat compared to the last quarter.

As a result, Asia-Pacific businesses are looking to maximise the sales opportunities provided by business travel, with 89 per cent of senior finance executives polled indicating their intention to spend more or the same on business travel in order to meet with current and prospective customers. Among Singapore finance executives, 94 per cent say the same.

“Companies in Asia-Pacific are still shying away from doing business in Europe, so airfares to this region continue to fall. As key markets in the region experience the slowing down of growth rates, domestic and intra-Asia airfares are likely to see moderate growth throughout 2012. As a result, companies are continuing to look at smarter ways to manage their travel investment,” said Jones.

“Companies are still aggressively managing travel policy, and this is being reflected in the overall demand that we see in the marketplace. Ongoing uncertainty with the sovereign debt crisis in Europe continues to erode confidence, and reduce airfare growth from the previous highs seen in Asia,” he added.

“High fuel prices will likely stay, and as travel continues to be a priority for Singaporean businesses, fares are likely to remain at these levels, albeit with a slower increase.”