PCMA has appointed Neil Brownlee, head of business events at VisitScotland as its first non-North American chair elect for 2024.
Brownlee has been with VisitScotland Business Events for the past 15 years, and possesses around 35 years of experience in the international hospitality and business events industry.
The announcement comes following the successful approval of the 2024 Board of Directors and Trustees Slate, which was presented to PCMA members on September 1, 2023. Directors and Trustees will assume office immediately following PCMA’s Convening Leaders, taking place from January 7-10, 2024, in San Diego, California.
Alongside incoming chair Leonard Hoops, president and CEO at Visit Indy, Brownlee will be well poised to lead PCMA into a new era of global impact. Both Hoops and Brownlee will work closely with PCMA’s Board of Directors and Trustees, as well as with PCMA and CEMA president and CEO Sherrif Karamat, and his team to continue promoting economic and social transformation through business events worldwide.
The Claridges New Delhi welcomed Hemendra Singh Kushalgarh as the newly-appointed general manager.
Kushalgarh brings over two decades’ experience and expertise to this role. He also plays a senior role at Claridges Collection, designated as the vice president – operations for the entity.
He was hotel manager at Amanbagh prior to joining The Claridges New Delhi.
Dusit International has appointed Adrian Rudin as managing director of its flagship Dusit Thani Bangkok hotel, and Dusit Residences, which will launch in mid-2024 and early 2026, respectively.
The Swiss national brings with him over three decades of experience in leading luxury hotels. He served as general manager of Sindhorn Bangkok Kempinski and vice president of Operations for China and Southeast Asia at Kempinski Hotels before joining Dusit.
In his new role, he will be in charge of shaping the success of both upcoming properties, including securing future MICE business ahead of the hotel’s grand opening next year.
Over the last few years and through the pandemic, Taiwan has kept busy constructing and upgrading event venues across destination to host events both large and small.
In Kaohsiung, new event spaces, accommodation options and supporting infrastructure have risen in Asia New Bay Area. One new space is the Kaohsiung Music Center, which opened in 2021 in Love River Bay, the junction between Love River and Kaohsiung Port.
Glory Pier and Pier 2 Art Center in the port of Kaohsiung
Su Wei-Hsiang, project manager with Kaohsiung Meeting & Event Promotion Office, said: “The Kaohsiung Music Center has an auditorium (Hi-Ing Hall) in the Wave Tower, which can take up to 6,000 people. In addition, the outdoor square (Hi-Breeze Square) can accommodate about 10,000, and is perfectly suited for group activities.”
In the meantime, The Coral Zone, an independent two-storey building within the same compound, provides a multifunctional space for experiential activities, exhibitions, and businesses.
This facility joins existing venues such as the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center (KEC) which has a capacity of 1,424 standard booths and 4,000 people; the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts which has a total capacity of 5,861 seats; Kaohsiung Arena with the capacity of up to 15,000 people; and the 880-seat Dadong Arena.
Elsewhere in the port city, Kaohsiung Port Cruise Terminal recently opened in March 2023. Shaped like a whale, it can berth two large cruise ships of 225,000 at one time. Its 24-hour boardwalk – which offers shopping and dining – links to the new Pop Music Center, and the arts and shopping district within a green necklace along the waterfront.
Kaohsiung does not just have the hardware, it also has beefed up its software.
Su revealed that the Asia New Bay Area is the most comprehensive 5G AIoT (Artificial intelligence of things) implementation site in Taiwan.
The KEC, for example, participated in the 5G AIoT Taiwan Industry Innovation Platform Subsidy Project, and launched its own 5G private network in the venue.
Renee Chu, project director of KEC, said: “I’m proud to say that we are the first exhibition centre and only one so far to provide a private 5G environment.”
Amber Shih, deputy marketing manager of KEC, elaborated: “The 5G private network allows users to receive the signals in their mobile devices at the location, with the benefits being high bandwidth, and low latency. These 5G applications help to enhance attendees’ on-site experience.”
There are ways KEC has made use of the 5G improvements, such as a 3D 4K beam display, used to project speakers who may not be physically present at the venue, but yet are able to interact directly with the audience in real time.
TaiNEX 2 opened in 2019
There is also an app that functions as an indoor navigation tool that leads exhibition buyers to the booths they are looking for, as well as a two-way translation display using AI, where users can speak in their mother tongue and the app will show the translated speech.
“(With 5G AIoT, event planners) can deploy subtitles for an online conference, reducing the need for interpreters. Attendees just need to use their own mobile phones with the app installed,” Shih said.
KEC also provides a 5G Reality Studio. Providing an example, Chu said: “We cooperated with one exhibitor at the Fastener Show and brought the entire 5G production team to their factory to film a panorama video, before ‘bringing’ the factory to our exhibition hall.”
During the show, exhibitors took buyers on a virtual tour, which helped them learn about the entire manufacturing process while physically standing in KEC, but was immersive enough to feel as if they were touring the factory.
“By doing this, we cut down on travel time and transportation costs, as well as reduce carbon emissions from having to travel from KEC to the factory,” noted Chu.
Over in the capital, Grace Chen, deputy executive director of Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2 (TaiNEX 2), said: “TaiNEX 2’s state-of-the-art facilities are a testament to Taiwan’s commitment to advancing the MICE industry and (creating a) convenient business environment. We are also the first exhibition hall to be awarded Green Building Label – Golden Level in Taiwan.”
Owned by the government and operated by Taiwan External Trade Development Council, TaiNEX 2 has 34,480m2 of space, comprising two exhibition floors and a conference floor. Located on the 7th floor of the building, the Skylight Convention Centre offers 14 convertible meeting rooms with a maximum capacity of 3,600.
Combined with the TaiNEX 1, this convention and exhibition centre becomes the biggest in Tawian, providing nearly 80,000m2 of event space.
New venues have also risen in other cities. For example, the Taoyuan Convention and Exhibition Center is set to be fully operational by end-2023, where the main hall has a capacity of up to 6,000 people.
Further south, the Tainan Convention and Exhibition Center opened last April. The venue comprises four levels above ground and one level underground, and offers 10 flexible meeting spaces that can accommodate from 20 to 1,000 people.
Rowena Relucio had been promoted to general manager of Twin Lakes Hotel, the upmarket property of Megaworld Hotels and Resorts in Batangas near Tagaytay.
She previously held the role of director of sales and marketing at the hotel.
Relucio has almost three decades of experience in the hospitality industry, including stints as assistant director of events and management in Edsa Shangri-La, sales and marketing positions at Manila Mandarin Hotel, Hotel Intercontinental Manila, Robinsons Hotels and Resorts, and B Hotel in Quezon City.
This year saw a strong return to face-to-face events
In most regions, face-to-face events have returned to pre-pandemic levels, with hybrid and virtual formats all but disappearing as companies have realised the value, once again, of meeting in person. Inflation is putting strain on budgets around the world, causing many to reduce the size or duration of events or look to alternative venues for cost containment.
Political and financial challenges remain concerns for some, yet overall the sentiment is optimistic looking ahead to 2024. Renewed focus on engagement and customised attendee experiences mean teams are looking for fresh ways to be creative, often with the help of third-party agencies and vendors.
This year saw a strong return to face-to-face events
Here’s a look at how the meetings and events business is evolving, in particular the Asia-Pacific region, according to BCD M&E What’s Trending 2024 report.
Tradeshows, large conferences and meetings, and incentive travel returned in spades in 1Q, contributing to a strong resurgence of meetings and events business in this region in 2023. This was particularly evident in China, which was the final market to relax border restrictions and, consecutively, travel and meeting restrictions. This move had a domino effect in Hong Kong, where outbound incentive business has returned, along with Singapore. We’ve also witnessed the growth of venue search needs by markets and resources dedicated to solutions. India was the fastest-growing market for BCD M&E worldwide, and we’ll introduce a full-fledged incentives team there in 2024.
The positive growth was not without challenges, however. Looking ahead, spend is a top concern. Clients are cautiously optimistic across industry verticals and offerings yet looking at flat budgets for 2024, and costs are increasing across the board. In addition to overheads, costs in the meetings and events ecosystem (such as travel, hotels, F&B and event spaces) have skyrocketed. In some cases, we are seeing reorganisations and/or consolidations of internal roles in marketing, events and procurement. Resources are a continual challenge, with agencies poaching talent through unsustainable offers. The cost of doing business with agencies has also increased, with higher fees and third-party supplier costs.
New guidelines from India’s National Medical Council that prohibit doctors from participating in any seminar, workshop or conference that involves direct or indirect sponsorship from pharma companies or the allied health sector have resulted in market-wide cancellations for some local pharma healthcare provider events. In China, the pharma industry is seeing a significant drop in HCP-related programs as the country cracks down on anti-corruption campaigns targeting the industry.
For 2024, we anticipate overall growth in the Asia-Pacific market, especially in Singapore and India and within the incentive and event solutions verticals. On the meetings management front, further consolidation is expected as clients push for more strategic spend and more experienced SMM customers look to optimize their programs through previous data.
Nearly all (90 per cent or higher) of meetings in the APAC region have returned to face-to-face, and planners are enthusiastic about engaging attendees more than before. Revenue is increasing with the high demand for in-person meetings and events, yet high volume has strained regional hotel supply. Hotel rates have increased more than 30 per cent on average, and availability is a major hurdle. We are slowly seeing a return to the traditional events calendar, which usually includes a kickoff and mid-year hero event supported by smaller face-to-face engagements throughout the year. With this we are seeing reduced pent-up demand for venues which is also helping stabilise the cost of third-party suppliers such as accommodation, airfares and venues.
ROI and accessibility are not as much of a focus here as in other regions around the world. In Asia-Pacific, top priorities for leaders include returning to face-to-face events immediately, bringing the right audiences together to reconnect and ignite the desire to grow again.
Across the Australian and New Zealand markets, we’re also looking at how events play a role in staff retention. With soaring inflation rates over the last two years, stagnant wage growth and low unemployment rates, employees are changing roles to increase their salary packages. As such, customers are using face-to-face events, reward trips and team building experiences to help retain top talent and recreate company culture.
Looking at teams across the region, having a diverse balance of age groups is important to reestablish clear career paths, yet some markets are finding the younger generations do not want to join the business events and travel industry.
Many companies in Asia Pacific are looking to rebuild their teams with greater agency support, especially in India. More than ever, businesses are choosing to outsource to professionals to handle specific daily tasks, and to help with leverage on volume, buying power and pricing. Most markets in Asia Pacific are challenged with a lack of event managers in the market with many leaving the industry due to Covid. In 2H2023, we are starting to see candidates returning to the M&E industry as well as attracting new talent with the push for more technology-based solutions.
The state of business transformation in the region is varied. In Hong Kong, the trend is going back to how things were before (i.e., a return to incentives). Singapore, on the other hand, is seeing transformation with flexibility in selecting the scope of services, and for Australia, transformation is about operational efficiency via technology automation and process optimisation. India is facing general elections in 2024, which usually leads to business stagnation.
Like other regions around the world, inflation is impacting prices for Asia-Pacific meetings and events, yet it’s been accounted for in plans already, so it’s not as much of an issue. Some clients are containing costs by pushing suppliers to give them better prices, having more, smaller events instead of large events, and offering reward trips instead of salary increases. Because demand is much higher than supply, however, suppliers tend to have the upper hand in negotiations.
How has the Philippines’ business events sector fared this year and what are your projects for 2024?
4Q2019 and 4Q2023 are almost similar in terms of revenue, so we can say that the sector is really on its way to recovery.
In general, 4Q is always the busiest for business events, and this year is no exception. Traditionally, 4Q is the busiest for exhibitions and conventions plus there are Christmas parties come December.
Confidence is already there. Regular and fixed business events are already coming back. In fact, some of them are already locked for 2024.
Where is the demand coming from?
Around 90 per cent of SMX Convention Center Manila’s business is domestic. Of that, 30 to 40 per cent will have international exhibitors and participants.
Organised by seasoned domestic organisers and given the ease of travel now, there is confidence in face-to-face events. At the beginning of the year, 95 per cent of convention and exhibition participants were wearing masks. Today, you will see that 95 per cent are no longer wearing masks.
Is this surge temporary? Can demand be sustained?
Demand will be sustained. There is interest from both exhibitors and consumers to attend.
Hybrid events will continue and it will always be an option. Hybrid events were already there pre-pandemic when say, speakers from the US or Europe could not come to the venue. The only difference (from the pandemic years) is that this time there will be more participants who will choose to be physically present at the venue.
How can the Philippines be more competitive in business events?
I just had a conversation with the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB). They’re preparing to roll out the country’s business events branding for 2024, so the sector stands to benefit from that.
Also, capacity building for business events is very important and TPB is supporting that by partnering with local government units and stakeholders in professional trainings, workshops, etc.
As a product, the Philippines is just as competitive when compared to our South-east Asian neighbours – but there’s not enough marketing and promotions.
The House of Representatives recently approved the budget of the Department of Tourism (DoT) for fiscal year 2024. The government should allocate sufficient funds for DoT and its marketing arm, TPB. (Editor’s note: The approved budget of 2.6 billion pesos (US$46.8 million) is 24 per cent lower than the 2023 budget of 3.4 billion pesos.)
To develop the Philippines’ business events sector, there should be sufficient funds. Our neighbours like Thailand, Malaysia and even Vietnam are very aggressive in promotions and marketing. If we compare our budget with Thailand, I don’t think it’s even half of Thailand’s. As such, how can we market our destination with such a small tourism budget?
Hosting international event planners and organisers in the Philippines requires a big investment in their airfares, accommodations, etc. How many times do we have to do that if we want the Philippines to be at the top of the minds of PCOs? Planning for international conventions requires three years, not a year. Without a sufficient budget, the DoT and TPB cannot do it.
What else is needed for the Philippines to attract more business events?
First, we should prioritise improving our transport system, airports, seaports and road network for efficiency and better accessibility. Fortunately, this is happening now.
Second, visa facilitation for international convention and exhibition participants. China is an opportunity market for us but it is challenging to process a large number of visas in a day. Fortunately, some headway has been made with this, with the recent implementation of e-visas for China-based travellers
When attending international roadshows and exhibitions, some buyers still ask if it is safe in the Philippines, a question which has remained over the years. The safety and security of business events participants are essential in attracting international events to the Philippines.
The government should also invest in enhancing our law enforcement agencies, emergency response capabilities, and overall public safety measures that would help boost the confidence of international participants that travelling to the Philippines is safe.
It is also very important to be at par with our South-east Asian neighbours in terms of connectivity and technology. A fast and reliable internet is a basic requirement for an event, not just in metro Manila but in the whole country.
Another way that Philippines can sell itself is by involving the local community and getting them to interact with business events delegates at events. This is how foreigners learn about our local culture and traditions.
A good selling point for the country is to involve local communities and interact with them in business events. That’s also a way for foreigners to know the local culture and tradition.
Both companies are excited to showcase their joint capabilities
Realm Events, an Asia-based DMC and event management company, and Unicorn Group, an Australian creative event agency, have have formed a strategic partnership.
The partnership will combine the extensive event production expertise of Unicorn Group with Realm Events to bring a new level of creative event and experience curation to companies ready to experience Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands.
Both companies are excited to showcase their joint capabilities
Clients of Realm Events and Unicorn Group will benefit from an expanded network of event resources, ensuring access to the best talent, supplier and industry networks across Asia, Australia and the Pacific.
The joint venture also places a strong emphasis on sustainability, incorporating eco-friendly practices into event planning and execution. Both companies are dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of their events and promoting sustainability within the industry.
“This partnership marks a significant milestone in our journey to expand the destinations that we can provide solutions to for our clients, said Selina Sinclair, CEO of Realm Events. “By joining forces with Unicorn Group, we can offer clients the best talent in the business for event planning, design and production, both within Australia and around the Pacific.”
Ron Anderson, CEO of Unicorn Group Australia, added: “We are thrilled to partner with Realm Events as together we can further enhance incentive and conference options in Australia and surrounding areas. Together, we aim to showcase the endless possibilities that Australia and the region can offer. We understand the commitment and investment required to bring people to our part of the world, so we are here to ensure visitors are treated to the very best experiences we offer. Our strategic expertise will also match key objectives on behalf of our clients – we are here to make heroes of our clients and their brands.”
The Impact Report venue’s progress towards its ambitious goals for environmental, social and economic impact
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has published its first Impact Report, which shows that in 2022-23, the venue met its targets for CO2 emissions, water savings, support of ecosystem health, social procurement, use of local suppliers, employee engagement in community support activities, and economic contribution to Victoria.
This report replaces the Sustainability Progress Report and brings reporting in line with MCEC’s financial year reporting.
The Impact Report show’s the venue’s progress towards its goals for environmental, social and economic impact
MCEC has also made progress towards the future convention centre in Geelong/Dijlang, which was officially named Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre earlier this year. The name of the centre was gifted by the Waddawurrung Traditional Owners, returning language to Country. Nyaal Banyul will be a sustainably-focused development, taking a climate positive approach to design, development and operation and will prioritise circular economy principles.
“In 2022-23, we focused on some important projects to help achieve our sustainability, inclusion and social impact goals. We launched our Inclusion and Diversity Strategic Framework, started our Reconciliation Action Plan journey, launched a reusable coffee cup programme and continued our support for prominent community organisations like OzHarvest and Yarra Riverkeeper Association. We aim to further our impact in Geelong/Dijlang with Nyaal Banyul,” added Natalie O’Brien, MCEC’s chief executive.
Recently, MCEC achieved Platinum Certification through EarthCheck, the world’s leading business advisory group specialising in sustainability and destination management for the travel and tourism industry. MCEC is one of only six convention centres in the world to achieve this status.
Samantha Ferrier, MCEC’s Sustainability Manager said: “MCEC has been benchmarking with EarthCheck since 2009 and this Platinum Certification recognises our substantial efforts in reducing our environmental impact and promoting sustainable practices within the events industry.”
“Initiatives like our reusable coffee cup programme, which prevented the use of hundreds of thousands of single use coffee cups last financial year, highlight our ongoing commitment to improving practices and finding new ways to reduce our impact on the environment,” she added.
Rohan Astley, head of advocacy, impact & reputation at MCEC also highlighted the work MCEC is doing to encourage and enable event organisers to create positive impact on the environment and the community.
“We know many of our customers share our goals of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. That’s why we provide resources to help them implement environmentally and socially conscious practices into their events. By working together, we can not only leave a lasting impression on event attendees, but also create a more sustainable future for the event industry and a positive impact for our community.”
The Positive Impact Guide also offers tips and options to make events more sustainable, deliver positive impacts for the community and incorporate meaningful First Nations engagement as part of the event experience, added Astley.
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He was hotel manager at Amanbagh prior to joining The Claridges New Delhi.
In his new role, he will be in charge of shaping the success of both upcoming properties, including securing future MICE business ahead of the hotel’s grand opening next year.
He succeeds Akbar Al Baker, who has stepped down from the position after 27 years of service.
Relucio has almost three decades of experience in the hospitality industry, including stints as assistant director of events and management in Edsa Shangri-La, sales and marketing positions at Manila Mandarin Hotel, Hotel Intercontinental Manila, Robinsons Hotels and Resorts, and B Hotel in Quezon City.
