Concept
On the grounds of Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary in New South Wales sits a world-class medical facility which rescues, treats and rehabilitates sick or injured koalas, as well as provides a home for orphaned koalas.
One of Australia’s most iconic animals, unfortunately, the koala population in Port Stephens has shrunk to mere hundreds, as compared to more than a decade ago they numbered in the thousands. This is why the work of the sanctuary is important when it comes to the rehabilitation of injured koalas.
During a one-hour-long educational tour of the sanctuary with a local guide, I learnt about koalas’ dietary needs, their lifestyles, and how they are taken care of at the sanctuary. It was a nice touch to see signage located across the grounds with the names and details of the many koalas that have passed through the sanctuary’s gates.
Although most of the injured koalas are released back into the wild, there are a few that call the sanctuary their home for various reasons. Visitors will be able to watch these koalas from the Newcastle Airport SKYwalk, a 225m-long elevated pathway and viewing platform that winds around the koalas’ habitat, offering a unique tree-top perspective.
Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary is a collaboration between the local government agency, Port Stephens Council and Port Stephens Koalas Hospital.
MICE application
Although the sanctuary has been in existence for more than three decades, it only just set up 20 glamping units during the pandemic. Corporate groups will be able to stay overnight on the sanctuary grounds in comfortable one-bedroom deluxe suites or deluxe studio rooms.
This would provide incentive groups with an immersive experience, allowing groups to wake up with the koalas, and spend more time observing these marsupials from the viewing platform. There might also be chances for groups to look through the hospital viewing window, and see the vets in action, administering treatment to injured koalas.
Aside from staying overnight, incentive groups can also purchase souvenirs and other products at the Koala Centre Kiosk, where proceeds will go towards the continued rehabilitation of rescued koalas. – Additional reporting by Rachel AJ Lee
The Great Room, South Bridge reimagines the former Eu Yan Sang shophouse
Hospitality-led co-working operator The Great Room has expanded to its sixth location in Singapore at 269 South Bridge Road, occupying the 1910 conservation property which was once the medicine hall for Singapore heritage brand Eu Yan Sang.
The Great Room, South Bridge boasts 11 dedicated offices that can host between five to 70 members, one work hall, and four meeting rooms for two to 12 guests.
The Great Room, South Bridge reimagines the former Eu Yan Sang shophouse
Doubling as an event venue, The Drawing Room is ideal for smaller corporate events and meetings, while the outdoor alfresco space accommodates larger crowds, making it suitable for a variety of events and gatherings.
The location will also feature a rooftop alfresco restaurant and bar on the fourth floor, which is accessible to the public in the evenings.
“After the pandemic, we noticed a shift in how the global workforce has adopted approaches for flexible work and the use of flexible spaces. The Great Room, South Bridge is designed with the trove of knowledge we’ve gained about how the perception of work has changed over the course of the global pandemic, offering great flexibility to our members to suit their growing business needs,” said Jaelle Ang, co-founder and CEO of The Great Room.
Tourism Malaysia recently appointed Ammar Abd Ghapar as its new director-general, replacing Zainuddin Abdul Wahab who retired on April 10.
He has served 35 years in public service and will carry out the duties as senior director of management in addition to leading the Strategic Planning division and the Domestic & Events division of Tourism Malaysia.
Ammar was previously senior director for international promotion division for Americas, Europe and Oceania.
Santiburi Koh Samui has named Giulio Stix as its new general manager.
With almost two decades of experience in luxury hotels and resorts in Europe and Asia, Stix is fully versed in digital transformation, and has gained a reputation for his ability to design and implement effective marketing strategies.
Previously the CEO of a contemporary design company in his native Italy, Stix is also fluent in Italian, German, English, French and Spanish.
Guidelines address areas of concerns among institutes and interns
Good internship outcomes require commitment by both companies and interns
Look beyond internship programmes as a channel for talent acquisition and retention
Business events companies in Singapore are urged to develop more fruitful internship and training programmes to overcome ongoing talent acquisition and retention hurdles.
To help business events companies in this effort, the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) has written a guide on best practices for internships in the business events industry.
Business event firms, institutes and students discuss the value of internship at the MICE Talent Dialogue
Developed in consultation with institutes of higher learning and industry players in Singapore, such as National University of Singapore, Singapore Polytechnic and Institute of Technical Education, the guide provides a set of best practices for businesses and schools to reference when designing or embarking on internship programmes.
It covers key areas such as objectives of the internship, a mentorship framework, recommended working hours, leave benefits, allowance, workplace safety and wellbeing as well as early job offers.
Richard Ireland, president, SACEOS, told TTGmice that these were identified as areas for improvement through communications with institutes and their students since last year.
“We wanted to make these key areas very transparent so that conversations could happen between the institutes and companies, between students and the institutes, and between students and companies,” he said, adding that clarity around these key areas would give students the ability to discuss expectations, and to know what their internship programme will deliver for their learning journey.
While SACEOS is not able to enforce the application of the guide among companies, Ireland believes that companies will find that offering a quality internship programme will only benefit themselves.
“It is important to have transparency on what a good internship programme looks like. If I want to attract interns as an employer, this has to be my base. If I want to go to an institute and say I want recommended students, this has to be my base. The institutes are going to place students with companies that are ready to abide by these guidelines. And the best companies are going to get the best students,” he elaborated.
SACEOS will distribute the guide to all institutes, which will likely introduce these best practices to companies keen on engaging interns.
When asked by TTGmice if there were enough internship openings in Singapore to allow institutes the freedom to weed out companies with poor internship programmes, Ireland said: “Absolutely. But the real question is, are there enough companies using internship as an entry point for talents? Our industry employed 34,000 people pre-Covid, and up to 10,000 exited during the pandemic. While there are only about 1,000 graduates each year from MICE courses in Singapore, they are a good source of talents for companies in our industry.”
Consolidated data from SACEOS states that the various courses related to hospitality, tourism and events offered by seven institutes of higher learning in Singapore generate some 930 graduates each year.
Pipeline for talents During the MICE Talent Dialogue on April 18, held alongside the introduction of the guide on best practices for internships, speaker Lioba Mauch, regional HR manager at Koelnmesse in Singapore, said internship programmes have contributed to her company’s talent acquisition through the years, with at least 10 interns successfully converted to full-time hires and eight are still in the team.
But for internship programmes to be successful, Mauch said both the potential employer and the intern have to do their part. Potential employers will need to design a programme that allows interns to rotate through various roles to maximise their learning opportunities, offer mentorship, and treat interns like a team member and “not cheap labour”. Interns will need to contribute to the team, and should they hope to be converted to a full-time staff, express that intention and remain in contact should a job offer not be possible immediately.
At Clarion Events Asia, where Ireland is managing director, a number of interns have been absorbed into the full-time workforce over the years.
For those that have moved on to join other companies, Ireland said it was a “pay it forward” for the industry.
“(It is more important that) interns stay on in our industry. However, it is not just about whether they stay put, but also about their impression of this profession, the company and the career opportunities in our industry that they share with other students or graduates,” he added.
Look beyond internships Ireland told TTGmice that he is confident that the talent crunch could be managed “by hard work” on the part of employers to provide structured training opportunities for promising talents.
He also believes that internship should not be the only channel deployed by companies to attract talents.
Clarion Events Asia recently started a management trainee programme in Singapore that attracted 125 applicants from across institutes and fields of study. Of these, 30 were selected and invited to the office to participate in various individual and group work as well as interviews and interaction with different staff. The company eventually hired five into the programme, which will run for nine to 12 months and rotate trainees through different roles every three months.
Trainees are given the opportunity to take on sales, operations and content roles in different project teams and under different mentors. They will then be assessed on the best function or team for them at the end of the programme.
“We are six months into this, and the outcomes are quite optimistic. We find that role rotation is absolutely critical, as that gives the trainee the opportunity to try new things. That contributes to higher talent retention too, as young people want options and avenues to gain fresh experiences,” Ireland reflected.
“The great thing about our industry is the diversity of roles, projects and sector. You could be a conference manager for a project in the health sector, and what you experience would be very different from if you were handling sales for a gaming conference, or in an operations role for a consumer event. I don’t think we, as an industry, is selling that diversity of roles enough to potential hires. Furthermore, this is a profession with opportunities to travel,” he added.
Malaysia Convention & Exhibition (MyCEB) has revealed that CEO Abdul Khani Daud will be retiring on April 21, 2023, bringing his 38 years of service in the tourism and business events industry to a close.
He began his career in Tourism Malaysia (TM) in 1985 until he was promoted to acting director general. As he earned his stripes at TM, he was posted as an overseas director to undertake global markets which include Tourism Malaysia’s offices in Australia, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand. His expertise in marketing was proven by a 60 per cent increase in tourist arrivals from Singapore between the years 2000 to 2004. During his service period, a 45 per cent growth for Latin America was recorded, opening the market for Argentina.
Abdul Khani was also the mastermind and leader of Global Meet 2006 during his tenure as the advertising director of Tourism Malaysia for more than a decade. In 2018, he was the organising chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
Abdul Khani was also the former director general of Islamic Tourism Centre from 2018 – 2020, where he played a pertinent role in spearheading efforts to develop a Muslim-friendly Accommodation Recognition programme and created global awareness of Malaysia as a tourism destination for Muslim travellers.
On February 5, 2020, Abdul Khani officially took office at MyCEB. He was no stranger to the national convention bureau as he had been serving MyCEB since 2017 as the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees.
During his time at MyCEB, he helped to spearhead various local and international projects, such as the Meet in Malaysia campaign, which has generated an estimated economic impact of RM1.05 billion for the country from the year 2020 to 2022.
Additionally, he created the 3R (reset, restart and responsible) initiative, which aimed to help industry players achieve maximum success. This resulted in supporting the participation of 19 industry players in international tradeshows, assisting 50 professionals in obtaining Certified in Exhibition Management, and helping 114 local partners retain their local and international association memberships.
He also played an instrumental role in the ease of travel to Malaysia where he formed Business Events Special Lane at major airports to ensure a smooth entry process, and MySafe Business Events Planner; a digital planner to assist and guide international business events planners and organisers. He was the driving force behind the 10-year plan, the Malaysia Business Events Strategic Marketing Plan 2021 – 2030 which forecasted by the year 2030, business events are expected to contribute RM42.1 billion in estimated economic impact whilst creating around 25,833 total employment.
Abdul Khani has guided the organisation through several reinventions, including working closely with various ministries to track all business events activities that are taking place in the country. This includes some major events organised by the different ministries such as Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition, Malaysia International Halal Showcase, and others. As part of a global movement, he also led MyCEB to join the Hybrid City Alliance together with other 21 cities around the world and formed Asia Convention Alliance together with Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea.
The International Café & Beverage Show (ICBS) 2023 will return to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre next month, from May 25-27, 2023.
It will be held in Halls 4 & 5 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, with trade and industry visitors the focus of the first two days, while the third and final day will be open to the public.
A previous edition of ICBS
Christopher McCuin, managing director of show organiser Montgomery Asia, shared: “We are proud to have already confirmed 90 per cent of our exhibitor targets and the demand for the remaining 10 per cent of space remains high. We are excited about the positive response to ICBS 2023 so far, with more than 250 brands exhibiting from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, The Netherlands and Italy.”
In addition to the exhibition, Montgomery Asia has again teamed up with the Malaysia Specialty Coffee Association (MSCA) to host the semi-finals and finals of the 8th edition of the Malaysia National Coffee Championship (MNCC). The ‘national champion’ baristas (in three categories – Gigi Coffee Malaysia Barista Championship 2023, Falcon Coffees Malaysia Brewers Cup 2023 and Gigi Coffee Malaysia Latte Art Championship 2023) will go on to represent Malaysia at the World Coffee Championships 2024.
Kelvin Ngow Wai Hng, president of MSCA, elaborated: “This year 76 baristas participated in the early stages of the MNCC. Twelve baristas in each of the three categories have advanced to the semi-finals, where they will be competing to become ‘national champions’ and represent Malaysia at the World Coffee Championships 2024.”
There will also be an educational series Cafe Talk @ ICBS 2023, which will involve 14 workshops and talks throughout the exhibition. This will include workshops from Barista Guild Asia, which will be hosting two courses – Introduction to Coffee, and So, you want to start a café?.
Dankoff Coffee Specialist will also be hosting their Sensory Room with DC Academy, where participants will learn what it takes to identify different coffee and tea flavours and aromas.
The Roasters Pavilion will also return this year, and is a cost-effective way for many smaller coffee roasters to showcase their unique coffee flavours. Visitors who visit the booth will be able to try innovative coffee roasts produced by more than 15 participating companies.
Wellington (pictured) continues to build its advocate programme
Wellington has added five new ambassadors across a range of disciplines to its Advocate Network, where the programme supports the city in bidding for attracting international conferences.
The five individuals are Jessica Mills, president, Psychosocial Oncology New Zealand; Nadia Pantidi – lecturer in interaction design at the School of Design Innovation, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University (VUW); Mark Lawrence, senior geologist, GNS Science; Lee Davidson, associate professor, Museum & Heritage Studies, VUW; and Paul Atkins, CEO of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Wellington (pictured) continues to build its advocate programme
“The internationally recognised expertise of these thought leaders and their organisations play a major role in attracting international conferences to Wellington and showcasing our research and innovation on the world stage,” said Business Events Wellington’s manager Irette Ferreira.
VUW’s Pantidi was instrumental in bidding for OzCHI 2023, the International Annual Conference on Computer Human Interaction. She pointed out: “This is an opportunity to bring people over and showcase the excellent and diverse research we do in the area of Human Computer Interaction, as well as what Aotearoa, New Zealand and specifically Wellington has to offer across several industries such as gaming, film, fine arts and tech startups.”
Meanwhile, Lee bid for and won the Conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) in 2026.
“The theme of the conference will be Whakapapa/Relationality, and how heritage connects people with each other, with the past and with the land. Delegates will be able to ground theory in practice through proximity to Wellington-based national organisations such as the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Heritage New Zealand, the Department of Conservation, Museums Aotearoa, and Creative New Zealand,” said Davidson.
UC Tumu Whakarae | vice-chancellor professor Cheryl de la Rey and IAMCR president Nico Carpentier formally signed the MoU and UC’s commitment to support the conference
New Zealand will host the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) conference in 2024, the first time in almost 30 years the event will take place in the Southern Hemisphere.
More than 1,000 international and national delegates are expected to convene in Ōtautahi Christchurch at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre in July 2024, delivering an estimated NZ$1.6 million (US$1 million) to the local economy.
Seated at the table, from left: UC Tumu Whakarae | vice-chancellor professor Cheryl de la Rey and IAMCR president Nico Carpentier formally signed the MoU and UC’s commitment to support the conference
The conference will be hosted by Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) academics, putting Indigenous knowledge at the centre of communication research. UC’s bid for the conference was submitted in partnership with mana whenua (the local tribe), with the support of ChristchurchNZ and Tourism New Zealand.
The conference theme, Whiria te tangata | Weave the people together: Communicative projects of decolonising, engaging, and listening, invites reflection on the terms and models appropriate to describe contemporary communication, including the political and moral goals embedded in them.
UC’s formal partnership with local iwi Ngāi Tūāhuriri also contributed to the successful bid. UC is also home to the country’s first journalism school and is the only institution in the country to offer a Māori communications major.
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Ammar was previously senior director for international promotion division for Americas, Europe and Oceania.
Previously the CEO of a contemporary design company in his native Italy, Stix is also fluent in Italian, German, English, French and Spanish.
She joins The Heritage Hotel Manila from Boracay Tropics and Hotel Celeste in Makati, where she was director of sales and marketing.
