Asia/Singapore Sunday, 26th April 2026
Page 294

Bolster engagement

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Engagement is the cornerstone of a prosperous event and continues to be a vital factor at every stage of an event.

However, some organisers endeavour to create captivating events without knowing the proper recipe, resulting in uncertainty and hit-or-miss outcomes. So, how can organisers ensure their events remain engaging and captivating throughout, ensuring their success?

1. Personalisation is the spice that gets you going
According to research conducted by Interaction Studio – Salesforce Marketing Cloud, prioritising personalisation leads to a more improved customer experience, with 88 per cent of marketers agreeing to this claim. Understandably, attendees seek to feel understood, seen, and heard.

Therefore, the engagement process should not be viewed as a utility. It is a performance-driven strategy that intelligently suggests relevant content to the audience, encouraging further participation, and yielding better results for them.

As a result, it is crucial to ensure that your event can personalise recommendations that connect attendees with relevant content, companies, and products that cater to their interests, resulting in a more authentic event experience.

2. Data-driven matchmaking, the main ingredient
A powerful event matchmaking – to the right people and content – does not happen if you leave it solely up to chance. It needs the right formula. A well-crafted formula is necessary, but overly controlling the process can also hinder its success.

Instead, event organisers should provide planning tools that empower attendees to discover and connect on their own terms, while also facilitating relevant meetings and interactions.

Always seek to empower your audiences’ discovery journey with the best planning tools, while not forgetting that facilitating the right meetings between relevant attendees only serves to delight them.

Create a more accurate journey with AI-matchmaking which can help track and analyse all event data in real-time to make accurate predictions, and come up with unique recommendations for each attendee according to their needs and interests.

3. The right measurements and right ingredients
Now that you have your main ingredients, we also need the right measurements. Each audience member has their own preferences too. Some won’t like spicy food, some have a sweet tooth, and some love the taste of something different.

Engagement is a single word but actually a multi-faceted process, hence it wouldn’t be wise to limit your metrics to a single outcome. Your audience may have different focuses at different stages of marketing and sales funnels. That is why solely measuring meetings would not accurately measure the actual success of engagement at your events.

There will be audiences that are very happy simply because they discovered new content with valuable insights. There might also be ones that are happy to gather leads or get the chance to talk to relevant communities and like-minded people.

Minor Hotels announces new managers at its Bangkok hotels

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Minor Hotels has appointed Jose Luis Duran Sanles as the new general manager of Avani+ Riverside Bangkok Hotel, and Frederic Kolde as the hotel manager of Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel.

This will be Sanles’ first general manager posting. He was previously the hotel manager at Anantara Siam Bangkok, and has also held management roles at luxury resorts in Khon Kaen, Koh Lanta and Phuket over the years.

From left: Jose Luis Duran Sanles and Frederic Kolde

Taking over from Sanles as hotel manager at Anantara Siam Bangkok is Frederic Kolde who joins the property from Anantara Riverside where he was hotel manager since September 2022.

Stakeholders voice concern about leadership vacuum at MyCEB

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From left: Noor Ahmad Hamid and Abdul Khani Daud

Business events industry players in Malaysia are concerned about the lack of strong leadership at the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), as two stalwarts have recently left the organisation, with no successors named at press time.

On April 21, MyCEB’s CEO, Abdul Khani Daud, retired as a government officer on April 21, bringing to a close a remarkable career of 38 years of service in the tourism and business events industry.

From left: Noor Ahmad Hamid and Abdul Khani Daud

More recently, former chief operating officer, Noor Ahmad Hamid’s tenure at MyCEB ended in early May. Highly respected, Noor was the regional director Asia Pacific of ICCA where he served for more than 11 years. Last year, Noor also received the highest international recognition from the Events Industry Council (EIC), and was inducted to the global Hall of Leaders Award in the US.

Although MyCEB will be taking part at IMEX Frankfurt, the national convention bureau vacuum is a major industry concern.

Irmohizam Ibrahim, pro-tem chairman, Business Events Council Malaysia, opined: “Malaysia stands to lose out at IMEX, which is all about personal connections, which Abdul Khani and Noor Ahmad are strong at. Industry leaders will lose market confidence if they do not see these familiar MyCEB leaders at the show.”

The Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers’ president, Francis Teo, is also concerned about the current void in leadership. He pointed out that delaying making new appointments would be a setback to Malaysia’s business events industry, and stressed the urgency of having the positions filled soon.

Once filled, Teo plans to brief the new leadership team on the current market situation and market needs.

Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners’ executive director, Shaharuddin M Saaid, also expressed his concern about MyCEB’s succession plan, and added that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture should have a succession plan for key positions in the various establishments it oversees.

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre general manager, John Burke, also shared his hopes about the incoming MyCEB head.

“We hope that, in its future direction, MyCEB will look into amplifying efforts and investments in elevating Malaysia’s attractive destination profile as the preferred business events hub in Asia. Our industry needs a strategic and cohesive marketing and promotional campaign that will enhance our positioning and offerings to the international business events market. This needs to include both exhibitions that facilitate trade, import and export and conferences enable knowledge transfer and legacy impact.”

This is because Malaysia’s business events industry is faced with challenges such as regional competition, the lack of awareness and understanding of business events being a key mobiliser for economic development, and the perception that Malaysia it is not geared to host large international events, all of which Burke said was not true.

“As the national bureau, we expect that MyCEB will look into developing strategies to help narrow this gap in Malaysia through new directions, policies and efforts and close collaboration with government ministries to align business events with the country’s future development agenda,” he said.

Portugal aims to grow MICE business from Asia

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Lisbon (pictured) pleases with both old and new attractions, great shopping, and feasting. Photo credit: Turismo de Lisboa

Business events from Asia to Portugal are currently low compared with Europe and North America, but Turismo de Portugal is working hard to attract more Asian planners and participants.

“Post-pandemic trends of smaller groups and more frequent business events favour destinations like Portugal. Holding association and corporate events throughout the year also helps to mitigate seasonality and disperse demand geographically,” said Joaquim Pires, head of MICE, Turismo de Portugal.

Lisbon (pictured) pleases with both old and new attractions, great shopping, and feasting. Photo credit: Turismo de Lisboa

While medical and association congresses and mega-events such as Web Summit already draw many Asian attendees, incentive travel programmes have yet to catch on. Distance and flight scarcity – the only direct services are from China – are stumbling blocks.

Generally, Asian events are longer than those from Europe and North America. They range from vehicle launches, board of directors’ meetings and retreats to teambuilding programmes. Currently, incentive travel demand is mainly from India, which values competitive, high-quality products and local DMC expertise.

“Safety, quality in the hotel offer, gastronomy and built and natural heritage are some reasons for Portugal being considered one of the best MICE destinations, supported by international recognition in world and European rankings,” said Pires.

While big groups focus on the Lisbon and Porto regions, small, high-end incentives of 20 to 50 pax may also take in other areas, so the business team is pitching to various target audiences at IMEX Frankfurt from May 23-25.

Regional destinations include Obidos, which has an annual chocolate festival, mediaeval fair and recently hosted its first international gaming convention; and Sesimbra’s proposition of a medieval castle and church visit, cruising on a traditional fishing boat and on-shore seafood lunch.

Another option is Estremoz – in the Alentejo wine-growing region – which combines well with historic Evora. Bacalhoa Wine Group’s private tour of the spectacular tile collection in Berardo Museum Estremoz and Quinta do Carmo winery with tasting and meal catering can cater for 30 pax.

Business Events Adelaide releases 2023 Planners’ Guide

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The guide will be updated throughout the year

Business Events Adelaide released its 2023 Planners’ Guide, filled with up-to-date information on accommodation and venues and business event suppliers, as well as general information on Adelaide and South Australia.

“It is our 15th edition and the first as a live “happening” compendium which will be updated online throughout the next 12 months,” said Damien Kitto, Business Events Adelaide’s CEO.

The guide will be updated throughout the year

“The benefits of the immediacy of information in a live online version are obvious and therefore much-welcomed by both event organisers and our members,” he added.

“Now as we modernise it to be immediate we know we are moving with the times and ensuring our members and event organisers know the information is always current. They don’t have to wait a year for the next edition.”

The 2023 Planners’ Guide has made available globally to more than 6,000 event organisers and to members of Business Events Adelaide.

Interprefy unveils next-generation AI event translator Aivia

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Aivia is able to pick up and translate speech in real-time

Multilingual event technology and services provider Interprefy has unveiled Interprefy Aivia, the world’s first advanced automated speech translation service for online and live events.

Able to pick up and translate speech in real-time, the artificial intelligence (AI) based real-time translation solution is the first of its kind to be made available to the public, bringing accurate, AI-translated audio and captions to global audiences at the touch of a button.

Interprefy Aivia is able to pick up and translate speech in real-time

The solution will be available in 24 languages and regional accents initially, with many more to come in the near future. It is immediately available for in-person audiences, as well as for major platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and ON24.

Interprefy Aivia completes Interprefy’s end-to-end remote interpreting offering by providing a cost-effective AI-powered real-time translation solution for scenarios like webinars, training, town halls, or conferences.

Oddmund Braaten, CEO at Interprefy, opined that the company has “produced he most accurate and flexible AI speech translation tool available on the market today”, AI will not be a substitute for professional interpreters in certain scenarios such as “diplomatic conversations, or regulatory sessions” as they are able to “read the audience and provide nuanced localisation to accommodate sarcasm, humour, or idioms”.

While remote interpretation technology continues to grow the demand for simultaneous interpretation, AI can provide a high-quality solution for market segments where nuance is rare.

“Aivia can provide language access where the support from professional interpreters is considered impractical or unaffordable. Simultaneous interpretation is still a premium service today, and AI can help make language access available for a wide range of organisations and events with smaller budgets”, Braaten concluded.

Element expands business intelligence toolkit with ChatGPT

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Element adds business intelligence tools to its portfolio of software aimed at growing TMCs and their clients

TMC technology provider Element has expanded its reselling agreement with cloud computing software company Zoho to include a data preparation service powered by ChatGPT.

Zoho recently announced the integration of ChatGPT into its Business Intelligence Platform, where the latest AI addition can provide TMCs with deeper augmented analytics, improved data visualisation and analysis to create actionable business insights.

Element adds business intelligence tools to its portfolio of software aimed at growing TMCs and their clients

TMCs and their clients will also have access to public data to run comparisons and set benchmarks that will help them gain business insights to improve their travel spend.

The AI-powered tools will also allow users to request data or information and set KPIs by using natural language, eliminating the need for complex SQL formulas. Advanced features include formula generation from chat, the creation of new data sets and data customisation.

Zoho draws from more than 250 data sources – including Zendesk, HubSpot, Microsoft, Mailchimp, Stripe and Google – allowing businesses to integrate and analyse data sourced from diverse third-party systems.

Gavin Smith, director of Element, said: “With the addition of Zoho Analytics and Dataprep to our portfolio of business software we can now help TMCs and/or corporate travel teams consolidate, normalise and automate their various categories of spend, no matter who their suppliers are…”

Smith added: “Zoho’s advanced business intelligence and data preparation tools make travel-related data consolidation, normalisation and processing much easier. Zoho helps businesses build data pipelines across various siloed data storage systems. So marketing, sales, support and finance get insights with KPI dashboards and reports blending across all business functions.”

ICC Sydney invests in its workforce

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The promotions support ICC Sydney’s commitment to invest in its workforce

‌International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), managed by ASM Global, has made 30 team member promotions from January to April 2023, as it continues to deliver a packed calendar of events moving forward.

The promotions were in various departments, and included F&B supervisor, security supervisor and audiovisual floor manager roles. The venue also supported the recruitment of casual hires.

The promotions support ICC Sydney’s commitment to investing in its workforce

Geoff Donaghy, CEO and group director of convention centres at ICC Sydney (ASM Global APAC), commented: “These promotions recognise how important it is to acknowledge, reward, and invest in the development of great talent. This is particularly important as the event industry goes from strength to strength, and as ICC Sydney continues to experience strong demand for events in 2023 and beyond.”

ICC Sydney is set to host thousands of local, interstate and international visitors in 2H2023, including the 45th International Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference (July 2023), SXSW Sydney (October 2023) and Impact X Summit (November 2023).

Luke Fleming, director of human resources at ICC Sydney, added: “At ICC Sydney we create careers, not just jobs, investing in our people to help them achieve their goals and build lifelong professional pathways.”

“We’re proud of our award-winning training and development programs. In FY22 alone, the venue engaged in over 2,147 internal and external training courses and invested in 3,441 training hours for its diverse team of events professionals. For anyone looking for a great career opportunity, the events industry is a dynamic field with strong growth.”

One example is Stephanie Risteski, who undertook ICC Sydney’s paid Progressional Growth Traineeship Program alongside her Events Management studies through TAFE NSW. Once complete, Ms Risteski secured a full-time position as a receptionist at ICC Sydney, before being promoted to Event Planning Coordinator.

She said: “Participating in the Progressional Growth Traineeship Program, I was lucky to be exposed to different teams, services, and departments at ICC Sydney, which opened my eyes to the opportunities available at the venue.”

SACEOS presents 44th Executive Committee

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On May 18, 2023, the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) elected its 44th Executive Committee (2023-2024) at its 43rd Annual General Meeting.

At the helm of SACEOS’ 44th Executive Committee is Richard Ireland, president, who will be supported by Executive Committee members from diverse backgrounds in the business events industry.

Richard Ireland, president, SACEOS, said: “Together with the SACEOS 44th Executive Committee, we are humbled and privileged to be given the trust to lead the Association and MICE industry into an exciting new chapter of growth. The industry has made a strong comeback since its reopening and is on track to recover to pre-pandemic levels over the next few years. Therefore, as the voice and champion of MICE, the role of SACEOS has never been more important during this important phase of growth for the industry.

“While the outlook for the industry is very positive, there remain challenges such as manpower, talent and sustainability. And SACEOS is committed to collaborating with our members, industry players and the government in addressing the challenges so as to advance the industry’s growth and strengthen Singapore’s position as a leading global MICE destination.”

6 ways to build stronger teams through incentive travel

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Brought to you by Destination Gold Coast Business Events

As with all MICE programs, good planning starts and ends with choosing the right destination. There’s the all-important practical considerations, including accessibility, facilities, time of year and weather. You should also consider if a location offers a wide breadth of exciting experiences, whether the individuals in your team are adventure seekers, foodies or culture enthusiasts.

If your goal is to foster team building, the real key is to integrate activities that create a sense of shared purpose and camaraderie.

Here are 6 team building strategies and itinerary ideas from Destination Gold Coast’s business event experts.

1. Improve team communication
Look to include a group activity where effective communication leads to increased overall performance, such as a sailing lesson or a sea tour with double kayaks. Besides being a lot of fun, these activities will naturally improve communication skills among team members as they interact with each other in new and different ways.

2. Build trust
Incentive trips are a great way to build trust among team members as they rely on each other to navigate new environments and experiences – especially the more daring ones! During a Gold Coast incentive trip, we encourage teams to conquer the SkyPoint Climb; an awe-inspiring, open-air climb atop one of Queensland’s most iconic landmarks. Despite the full-body harness and safety rail, at 270 metres above sea level the climb can feel quite daunting for some. Tackling the activity as a team fosters a more supportive and trusting team culture, which can lead to better collaboration back home in the office.

3. Inspire creativity
Exposing team members to new cultures and ideas can help break down barriers and promote innovative thinking, which in turn leads to new ideas and approaches to work problems. You can do this through a group cooking class or pottery workshop, or by learning about a local Indigenous culture. A guided beachside rainforest walk along the magical Jellurgal mountain, led by a local Indigenous elder, allows for team members to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of different cultures. It’s amazing how many lessons from traditional practices and the connection to land embraced by this Aboriginal tribe for thousands of years can actually inspire modern ideas and innovation.

4. Enhance problem-solving skills
By working together to overcome challenges and obstacles, you’re helping your team to be more agile and adaptable to changing circumstances. Choose activities like our TreeTop Challenge, which includes adventurous activities such as ziplines, suspended bridges and flying foxes. It’s such a fun, thrilling way to get your team to support one another.

5. Encourage understanding and appreciation of others
The beauty of teamwork is that every individual brings their own unique set of skills, traits and talents. Incorporating a wide range of activities into your itinerary allows different people to shine at different times. Consider a group surfing lesson, trapping crabs on the mighty Tweed river or seeing a performance at HOTA, Home of the Arts. Having such a diverse range of activities in your itinerary helps your team learn about each other’s preferences and personalities and promotes understanding.

6. Strengthen team bonds
The ideal incentive trip should quite literally be the trip of a lifetime. This means including unforgettable experiences such as cuddling a koala, seeing whales, hot air ballooning at sunrise or having cocktails amongst the dolphins at sunset. Having such incredible shared moments builds a sense of camaraderie among your team, strengthening working relationships back home.

When there’s so many great activities on offer, it’s easy to forget that it’s important to schedule in some downtime too. Remember to let your team enjoy some salty, sandy goodness at the beach, a spa treatment or perhaps a mindful yoga class. With the right planning and execution, you can build a program that helps employees to relax, feel appreciated and valued, while at the same time creating a much stronger team and work culture back home.

We can help you deliver a Gold Coast incentive trip guaranteed to shine as bright as your high achievers. Book a free consultation with one of our experienced Business Events team to create a unique itinerary of your own.

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