The PuLi Group has named Dean Winter as CEO, effective June 1, 2026, as it prepares for the next phase of expansion and the relaunch of The PuLi Shanghai.
He joins from Swire Hotels, where he was managing director, overseeing a portfolio that includes The Upper House Hong Kong.
With more than three decades of luxury hospitality experience, Winter will lead the group’s strategic direction, brand development and portfolio growth across Asia.
Tourism Australia has appointed Kathryn O’Brien as executive general manager, global markets, overseeing the organisation’s international offices across 16 markets as well as airline and distribution partnerships.
She joins from Air New Zealand, where she is currently general manager Australia. O’Brien also previously held senior roles with Experience Co and Hamilton Island Enterprises.
Himanshu Kala has been appointed as director of rooms of JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity.
He joins from Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield, where he was director of rooms overseeing operations for the 520-key property.
With over 13 years of hospitality experience, he has worked across luxury, business and MICE hotels.
Tasmania is expanding its business events capacity to capture a larger share of the global conference market through several major infrastructure projects.
The Australian state currently caps event capacity at 1,100 delegates, but upcoming developments will boost hosting capabilities across both Hobart and Launceston.
The proposed Macquarie Point Stadium precinct in Hobart will feature dedicated business event infrastructure for up to 1,500 delegates, while a planned convention centre in Launceston would be able to accommodate up to 1,000 attendees.
To support the expected increase in visitation, Hobart Airport is expanding its terminal and strengthening its runway to handle larger aircraft. Other supporting developments include Lumina at The Tasman, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart, and a scheduled Cadbury visitor experience for 2028.
Business Events Tasmania CEO Marnie Craig said: “These investments will allow Tasmania to compete for larger national and international conferences while maintaining the personalised and high-quality delegate experience we are known for.”
The state is also leveraging its environmental record to secure international bookings, highlighting that Tasmania has been net carbon negative for nine consecutive years and runs on 100 per cent renewable electricity. Stakeholders expect this sustainability profile, combined with local expertise in marine science, renewable energy, and agriculture, to secure the next generation of global events.
“We are ambitious about the future of business events in Tasmania,” Craig added.
Singapore and Hilton Singapore Orchard have captured the top spots in Cvent’s 2026 Top Meeting Destinations and Top Meeting Hotels lists for Asia-Pacific.
The destination leaderboard saw Singapore retain its crown for the eighth time since 2016, followed by Bangkok, Sydney, Tokyo, and Melbourne to round out the top five. The remaining positions in the top 10 were occupied by Kuala Lumpur at sixth, Seoul at seventh – which climbed one spot from last year – followed by Bali at eighth, Shanghai at ninth, and Beijing at 10th.
In the hospitality arena, Hilton Singapore Orchard ascended two spots to claim the pole position in Asia-Pacific for the first time, building on a consistent top-three presence since 2023. Hyatt Regency Sydney retained its second position, while Hilton Sydney surged six places to break into the top tier at third position. ANA InterContinental Tokyo emerged as the region’s biggest mover, climbing to the fourth spot, with Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park rounding out the top five.
The rest of the hospitality leaderboard includes The Westin Tokyo at sixth, Conrad Singapore Marina Bay at seventh, Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park at eighth, voco Orchard Singapore at ninth, and Hilton Tokyo Bay at 10th.
The annual rankings are derived from sourcing and request-for-proposal (RFP) activity across Cvent’s sourcing platforms. Sourcing activity tracked in 2025 surpassed US$20 billion globally, signalling a sustained appetite for in-person business events.
According to Cvent data, nearly 74 per cent of corporate planners reported up to a 20 per cent surge in in-person meetings over the past year, sustaining momentum despite softer economic sentiments across the region.
Rwanda is ready to host the 66th International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Congress in October 2027, bringing the prestigious flagship event back to the African continent for the first time in over 23 years.
According to Janet Karemera, CEO of the Rwanda Convention Bureau, international event organisers have operated under outdated assumptions regarding the continent’s infrastructure and logistics, and the 2027 congress is a prime opportunity to rewrite the business events narrative.
“We still face a lot of misconceptions about the continent. Our goal in hosting the 2027 ICCA Congress is to showcase (our capabilities), proving that Rwanda is a destination you can confidently take a bet on to host a world-class event,” she stated during a press conference at IMEX Frankfurt 2026.
To illustrate this evolution, Karemera pointed to Rwanda’s own transformation on the IMEX floor. Twelve years ago, the nation debuted with a single booth occupied solely by the convention bureau. Today, that footprint has expanded into a larger delegation of 14 local professional conference organisers (PCOs), backed by infrastructure such as the 6,000-capacity Kigali Convention Centre, 10,000-seat BK Arena, and a brand-new international airport slated to open in 2028.
To ensure a frictionless congress, Rwanda offers visas on arrival for all travellers, while citizens of the African Union, the Commonwealth, and Francophonie countries enter completely visa-free with all fees waived. This open-door strategy is supported by major carriers including Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, KLM, and Brussels Airlines.
Aside from ensuring ICCA Congress 2027 is “accessible for everyone”, Karemera emphasised that the bureau’s focus is to ensure the programme will be “inclusive for all”, while making sure that African voices and destinations will also be well represented.
The economic impact of the Congress is also expected to give a boost to the country’s bleisure sector. While typical business conferences last two to three days, international delegates that head to Rwanda usually extend their stays to an average of four or five days to experience the country’s leisure offerings. This includes canopy walks, Africa’s longest ziplines, and luxury safaris.
“A lot of people don’t know that Rwanda has literally the Big Five. They think only Tanzania or Kenya, but you can also see it in Rwanda while you’re there,” she said.
The inaugural Shanghai Fair Healthcare Malaysia 2026 concluded its two-day run at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) on May 23, 2026, marking a step in strengthening medical and technological collaboration between Malaysia and China.
Guided by the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and various Shanghai industry federations, the exhibition featured 73 booths and hosted over 300 Chinese delegates. The event also drew more than 1,000 Malaysian healthcare professionals, buyers, and industry stakeholders.
The exhibition showcased a wide range of first-to-market innovations, including surgical and rehabilitation robotics, AI-powered hearing and mobility devices, advanced oncology treatment systems, and intelligent Traditional Chinese Medicine solutions.
Business matchmaking was a core focus of the event, facilitating over 100 one-on-one meetings between more than 150 participating companies.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Medical Device Authority’s CEO P Muralitharan highlighted how technology and innovation are driving a rapid healthcare transformation.
He also reaffirmed Malaysia’s ambition to leverage progressive policies and internationally aligned regulatory frameworks to become South-east Asia’s leading medical technology hub.
Lin Senyong, president of the c, described Malaysia as “a strategic gateway to Southeast Asia’s healthcare market”. He added that the exhibition provided “an important platform for Chinese and Malaysian companies to explore new partnerships, investments and technology collaborations that can advance healthcare innovation across the region.
In re-engineering duty of care (DoC) for meetings and events, planners can be resilient if they avoid assumptions and rely instead on data based on scientific research to make informed decisions.
Tony Ridley, chief security and risk advisor, EMA Global, told TTGmice safety and security reports and recommendations can be “flawed” if they are marketing driven and not based on scientific research.
Many corporate travel managers, he added, do not know what DoC is.
Planners must ask themselves what DoC is and why it is so relevant in current times, according to speakers on the From Disruption to Resilience: Re-engineering Duty of Care for Meetings and Events panel at the GBTA APAC Conference last month.
Because DoC covers such a broad spectrum – from physical safety to cybersecurity – speakers emphasised that every organisation must build its own playbook to navigate these essential building blocks.
Kaori Pereyra-Lago, head of strategic meetings management, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, at AMEX GBT, gave the example of venue selection and the difficulty of evacuating an event with lots of high-risk stakeholders in a place like Phu Quoc, Vietnam, due to the island’s geography.
On the topic of technology and cybersecurity, Ridley highlighted the use of free Wi-Fi at an event exposes data on who has logged in.
Meanwhile, moderator Navodit Srivastava, hospitality cloud leader Asia Pacific, Cvent, pointed out planners have to verify if comprehensive risk assessment planning is deep enough, or not.
On event insurance, Barry Lin, regional security manager, South-east Asia, Google, shared that a 6,000-strong company event in Macau was handled by human resources, and he did not have the information on how it was procured.
Separately, a global M&E services leader attendee, who organises more than 200 meetings a year, told TTGmice there is only vendor insurance, but no event insurance for attendees as part of DoC.
Ridley added: “DoC is not universal and legislation is different in different countries. Planners need to look at a company’s portfolio risk and concentration risk and know whether or not the right tools are being used.”
Pereyra-Lago highlighted many clients do not have strict travel policies limiting the number of travellers from a department or the number of vice presidents on flights and coaches.
She added more attention also needs to be paid to F&B, citing how airline captains and their co-pilots do not eat the same food.
The Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) has overhauled its leadership team following its annual press conference at IMEX Frankfurt 2026, electing a new board and appointing Dorian Kronenwerth as executive director.
Kronenwerth steps into the role with a mandate to lead JMIC’s next developmental phase, focusing on cross-industry collaboration, and reframing business events as strategic economic infrastructure for global policymakers.
Supporting this agenda is a refreshed board, which welcomes ICCA’s Senthil Gopinath and Maurits van der Sluis of European Major Exhibition Centres Association (EMECA). They join board members Chris Skeith (UFI), Flavie de Beueil (City DNA), and Martin Boyle (IAPCO). Outgoing treasurer Barbara Weizsäcker (secretary general of EMECA) steps down after four years of service during JMIC’s incorporation phase.
The new leadership team’s immediate priority will be the June release of JMIC’s updated Global Manifesto for the Business Events Industry. The upcoming edition will pivot toward evidence-based advocacy, leaning on hard industry data and case studies to build a stronger economic narrative for governments.
Sarawak concluded a three-day showcase at IMEX Frankfurt 2026 today, pivoting from destination marketing to long-term strategic development.
Marking its fourth year at the tradeshow, the Malaysian state detailed major infrastructure projects designed to establish the region as the business events legacy capital of Malaysia and Borneo.
Aligned with Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030), the delegation highlighted two upcoming infrastructure milestones: the expansion of the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK2), set for completion in 2028 to increase international event capacity, and the launch of regional airline AirBorneo to improve accessibility.
“Sarawak has evolved beyond being a host destination to becoming a strategic destination partner…” said Hii Chang Kee, deputy state secretary (operation) and chairman of BESarawak. He noted that the state now focuses on collaborating with organisers to maximise long-term event impact, sustainability, and sector growth.
During the event, BESarawak also introduced Legacy Wonders, a new corporate incentive programme focusing on culture, adventure, nature, gastronomy, wellness, and kindness to drive community immersion. The state also promoted its Academic Mobility Programme, which links international academic research with Sarawak’s priority economic sectors.
BESarawak’s acting CEO Jason Tan Chin Foo stated that these initiatives strengthen Sarawak’s position by balancing investments in both hard and soft infrastructure.
The Sarawak Pavilion featured a combined delegation of local operators, major hotels, and venues, including Borneo Adventure, BCCK, Cat City Holidays, and Mercure Miri City Centre Hotel. Local culinary partners The Bibber’s Tale and the Culinary Heritage and Arts Society Sarawak also showcased the region’s heritage to global buyers before the tradeshow concluded.
