Queensland inspires next generation with a career in tourism and hospitality

June 5, 2023

Careers-roadshow — Career roadshows are important as the tourism and business events gathers momentum

Over 100 high school students from across Far North Queensland were given an insight into the workings of the tourism and hospitality industries at a recent Queensland Tourism Industry Roadshow at the Cairns Convention Centre.

The roadshow is part of a travelling series from Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) which commenced in 2021, to introduce ‘school leavers’ to the scope of possibilities when choosing a career in tourism.

Career roadshows are important as the tourism and business events gathers momentum

The day’s programme at Cairns Convention Centre included a cooking class with Cairns Convention Centre executive chef David Hart, a mixology masterclass with Lyres’ non-alcohol spirits global brand ambassador Jeremy Shipley, a tourism hub with exhibitors offering career and course advice, as well as a panel discussion with industry leaders.

Benjamin Boudaud, culinary services director at the Cairns Convention Centre, said the roadshow was a great opportunity to showcase the wide variety of opportunities available in the tourism industry.

“We need to attract new talent and people to the industry as we continue to rebuild and recover and a platform such as this allows us to share our passion while giving students a better understanding of the event industry.

“This event has allowed students to see first-hand there is so much more to an event than just the food and drink – there are the uniforms, rosters, the need to keep things clean, tidy and functioning. Then there is also the relationship we have with our clients, sales and audiovisual, there is a lot to it,” he added.

Priority Pass strikes up lounge partnership with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

By TTGmice

June 5, 2023

Collinson_Direct Partnership with GZ Baiyun Airport_Image_640 — From left: Collinson’s Colin Dai, and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Business Travel Service’s Yao Honglei

Collinson, owner and operator of Priority Pass, has partnered with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Business Travel Service in China.

This partnership will provide Priority Pass Members access to seven of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Business Travel Service premium airport lounges.

From left: Collinson’s Colin Dai, and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Business Travel Service’s Yao Honglei

In Terminal 1, the partnership covers Air China Premium Lounge, Hainan Airlines First Class Lounge, King Lounge, and China Eastern First Class Lounge. There will be an additional Premium Lounge for international flights that will be launched next month.

In Terminal 2, Premium Pass Members can make use of the Easy-Boarding Lounge, and Premium Lounge.

The lounges vary, and travellers can enjoy tea at an exquisitely designed teahouse, take advantage of designated rest areas and massage zones, or even catch up on work at their dedicated business travel centres.

A Collinson study that surveyed over 5,400 frequent travellers across seven Asia Pacific markets (1,021 of which are China-based respondents) revealed that airport lounge access is the number one most desirable travel benefit at the airport – 69 per cent of travellers in China feel valued as a customer when they are given access to an airport lounge.

This partnership further strengthens Priority Pass’s wide network of 1,300 airport lounges and travel experiences globally, with over 500 in Asia Pacific.

La Vie Hotels & Resorts announces new appointments

By TTGmice

June 5, 2023

La Vie Hotels & Resorts is bolstering its teams across Australia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, with the following appointments.

Alan Christie is the new area general manager in Sri Lanka and will drive the strategic performance of the group’s three Radisson properties in the country.

From left: Alan Christie, Suthiroj Sathitpornkitti, and Abhey Sachdeva

As the new director of growth and business development, South and South East Asia, Suthiroj Sathitpornkitti (Chris) will be based in Bangkok and will focus on expanding La Vie Hotels & Resorts portfolio across the region.

In Sydney, Abhey Sachdeva takes on the role of business development manager, Australia, and will drive sales performance for hotels within the Australian shared services portfolio.

Other appointments in the Australian team include Andrew Marin as group manager of sales, Justin Furkhan as business support manager, and Catriona McKay as group manager revenue and distribution.

MITEC embraces digitalisation with new venue app, exhibitors portal

By TTGmice

June 5, 2023

The Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre (MITEC) has embarked on a digital transformation and innovation agenda as part of its ongoing efforts to meet the changing demands of customers.

As part of the agenda, MITEC has developed its own app, an Exhibitors Portal, digital signage, and engaged Qualtrics as its online survey platform vendor to holistically measure stakeholder satisfaction.

MITEC embraces digitalisation to enhance the customer experience

Customers can now use the MITEC app to access the venue’s latest updates on important events and affiliated business partners in one swipe. Meals from Garden Court Café can also be ordered via the app.

Next, its new Exhibitors Portal aims to serve as a one-stop e-shop for exhibitors to book venue spaces and pay online. This saves them the hassle from making phone enquiries or travelling all the way to MITEC.

Across the venue, digital signages will also replace the requirements for printed buntings.

MITEC’s CEO, Mala Dorasamy said: “The key here is to remain agile and keep a real-time pulse on changing customer preferences and rapidly innovate to redesign journeys that matter in the MICE industry. Technology and digital tools are now indispensable and integrated components of events. However, people remain our focus of an event, because they ultimately make the decisions.”

Pain Relief Therapy offers workshops and talks to improve corporate wellness

By TTGmice

June 5, 2023

Pain Relief Therapy, a healthcare practice in Singapore, has rolled out a series of workshops and talks to promote healthier work habits in the office.

Aside from ensuring an employee’s wellbeing, the workshops can also double up as teambuilding sessions to promote bonding and a healthier lifestyle among employees.

One workshop is the Introduction to Basic Sports Massage. Lasting for 2.5 hours, therapists from Pain Relief will educate employees on the anatomy and physiology of the human body, and there will be opportunities to practice the massage techniques taught on each other to alleviate common work ailments like stiff shoulders and necks.

There is also a workshop for stretching. The Basic Assisted Stretch Therapy session will introduce the basics of stretching to help employees learn various postural assessments to aid in stretching, and practice different stretches to help release sore or tense muscles from being hunched over a desk for a day. Employees will also have an opportunity to bond when performing partner-assisted stretching.

Pain Relief Therapy also offers one-hour-long complimentary talks, where topics will range from pain relief management for the lower body to postural assessment and self-care. Around 50 people can be accommodated for a talk, depending on the available office space.

For interactive workshops, up to 15 people can be accommodated at Pain Relief Therapy’s office, with the possibility of expanding the group size depending on available space. Interactive workshops also cost between S$250 (US$185) and $500 per hour.

For more information, contact movewell@painreliefsg.com.

BestCities welcomes new Strategic Business Development Group chairperson

By TTGmice

May 31, 2023

Cathrine Seidel Tvede, senior bid manager – congress at the Copenhagen Convention Bureau, has joined BestCities Global Alliance Strategic Business Development group (SBD) as chairperson.

Tvede takes over from Reyes López Garcia of the Madrid Convention Bureau.

Tvede has more than 15 years of experience in the global meetings industry and oversees business development activities in North America and Europe. Along with international bidding, she is involved in various projects such as the Copenhagen Future Scenarios, which was launched at the BestCities Global Forum in 2019. She also lends her expertise to industry-boosting projects that focus on upskilling the local workforce and promoting health and safety in meetings.

TUI Blue Hotel Group appoints new business development director

By TTGmice

May 31, 2023

Phan Huu Duc has been named as business development director, Vietnam & Cambodia, of TUI Blue Hotels & Resorts Asia.

He will spearhead TUI Blue’s growth in Vietnam and Cambodia, and grow the TUI Blue brand steadily in the markets and bring long term performance to the company’s partners and owners.

Before joining TUI Blue Hotels & Resorts, he was director of sales & business development at Nova Service Group.

Destination Gold Coast launches global campaign targeting incentive groups

By TTGmice

May 31, 2023

Destination Gold Coast has launched a global campaign inviting incentive and corporate event planners in South-east Asia to “give their team the trip they deserve”.

The integrated campaign – named Give your team the trip they deserve – will be rolled out across trade and social media from May 2023 and supported by content and publicity activities.

Gold Coast invites companies to “give their team the trip they deserve”

Destination Gold Coast’s head of business Events Selina Sinclair said the campaign is designed to speak to the high achievers within companies, those who are sales-driven individuals, loyal and always willing to go the extra mile to reach their targets.

“This digital-led campaign is an acknowledgement by us of all the effort and contributions they have made on behalf of their company. But more than that, it’s a reward. A way to say thank you for all the amazing work they have put in and give them something amazing and truly memorable in return, a Gold Coast trip. The incentive they deserve, ” Sinclair said.

Give your team the trip they deserve is supported by Tourism Australia’s Business Events Advance Program designed to increase the number and value of international business events for Australia.

The Gold Coast has started to fill the incentive travel pipeline with Amway Thailand choosing the city to host over 1,500 delegates over five days in March 2025 which is expected to inject an estimated A$5 million (US$3.25) into the local economy.

This win was secured in partnership with Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund Program and Tourism and Events Queensland.

Incentive travel made up 12.9 per cent of all business events on the Gold Coast and was the fourth most popular international business event destination in 2019-2020. During the pandemic (2021-2022), incentive travel groups were reduced to 3.7 per cent.

Corporate events in Indonesia stage a strong comeback

By Tiara Maharani

May 31, 2023

IPOS_Table_Top_2_640 — Attendees at the Indonesia Professional Organizer Summit Vol 8 Summit and Table Top

Business event players in Indonesia are heartened by the rapid pick up in incentive and corporate events this year, where observations include an increase in group sizes and the preference for new destinations.

When spoken to at the annual Indonesia Professional Organizer Summit (IPOS) Vol 8 Summit and Table Top, Trianto Sunarjati, director at Travel Help Indonesia, revealed that not only demand for incentive trips was high, but companies are also more confident in sending bigger groups.

Attendees at the Indonesia Professional Organizer Summit Vol 8 Summit and Table Top

His shared that his company has been constantly receiving enquires from insurance and banking companies, as well as law firms, with up to 600 participants per group.

“In 2022, the groups were smaller in size of between 50 to 150 people,” he observed.

Agreeing, Wienna Damanik, account director of Cakrawala Event Organizer shared that her company has already organised incentive trips from several manufacturing, banking, and pharmaceutical companies. Group sizes ranged from between 200 and 500 people, where their itineraries included meetings, teambuildings, and gala dinners.

“In June, November and December this year, we also have larger groups of up to 2,000 people travelling per month,” she added.

Evi Nur Hapsari, managing director at B.A.T Travel, has also observed that companies are looking for new destinations, where interest for places like Labuan Bajo and Lake Toba have soared, due to the government’s promotions. Her company has also received enquires for not-so-popular destinations like Likupang in North Sulawesi.

Destinations like Bali and Yogyakarta remain popular choices, but Evi has noticed companies asking for new activities – such as wearing traditional clothes and riding ox carts through a village in Yogyakarta – that can be experienced instead of a regular itinerary.

Held at The Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta earlier this month, the IPOS Vol 8 Summit and Table Top, a total of 366 potential events across 32 provinces in the country were recorded. Of this number, 39 per cent have been confirmed, with another 37 per cent most likely to happen, according to IPOS data.

The event brought 41 hoteliers and event suppliers together with 68 event organisers and tour operators from around the country.

Harry D Nugraha, founder of IPOS, shared that these numbers were a clear sign that the events industry was recovering, and “demand for corporate events has been rising steadily”.

New SITE Foundation research spotlights incentive travel qualifier views

By TTGmice

May 31, 2023

Participant_InSITES_Edition_1-_2023_640_v1 — The cover of the first edition of Participant InSITES

The importance of an incentive trip’s destination as a motivational factor, a preference by participants for increased communication, and some tensions between corporate leadership objectives and qualifier desires for an unscheduled time at leisure were some of the major points that have emerged according to new research published by SITE Foundation.

SITE Foundation has officially published its newest report, Participant inSITEs, which features insights from a global body of 825 incentive travel reward-earners.

The cover of the first edition of Participant InSITES

In this report, respondents painted a new picture of what participants these days expect from incentive travel programme communications, destinations, onsite activities, and more.

Broken into three sections, Participant inSITEs also explored what makes participants get ready to work toward incentive travel rewards; how to set participants up for a motivating experience while qualifying; and why participants enjoy going on trips they have earned and what activities and benefits stand out most.

“This truly global study provides immensely valuable data for all segments of the incentive travel industry,” said SITE CEO Annette Gregg. “We know companies are eager to leverage the power of face-to-face connections to get the best ROI for themselves and for their teams. The insights presented here are key to helping drive all of that.”

A copy of the full Participant inSITEs report can be downloaded here.