Olivier Monceau has been appointed as Club Med’s new general manager of Singapore and Malaysia.
His priorities will be to guide the team through the next phase of strategic brand growth within the region and lead his team to deliver effective and targeted end-to-end omni-channel experience to clients that synchronises consideration and conversion to grow top line and client acquisition.
The French national was previously general manager of Club Med Russia.
Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre has appointed Alvin Jaiyaseelan as its general manager.
He brings with him 11 years of general management experience to Singapore after serving in Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
He was most recently general manager of Crowne Plaza Bandung in Indonesia.
Sven Wunram has been appointed executive chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.
Wunram brings with him 19 years of culinary experience within the hospitality industry, having started at the Maritim Airport Hotel Hannover as an apprentice, growing into the role of Commis de Cuisine.
He is no stranger to The Ritz-Carlton brand, having held positions in four Ritz-Carlton properties – Wolfsburg, Guangzhou, Grand Cayman, and most recently in Nanjing, as part of its pre-opening team in 2017.
Malaysia-based events technology company Evenesis has acquired Malaysian tech start-up Txtsy, which specialises in fully integrated online and offline events.
Since the company started two years ago, Txsty has served some of the biggest exhibitions and industry leaders in the region such as the Malaysian International Furniture Fair. The acquisition springs from a goal to offer enhanced business solutions for companies in the region, ranging from internal conferences to large-scale tradeshows.
As a result of this acquisition, Evenesis now offers a total of 12 digital products and services in event tech, establishing itself as a one-stop centre for event stakeholders by providing a complete end-to-end event management system.
Txsty’s founder, SY Chan, joins Evenesis as business development director as the company works on expanding its business regionally.
Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) has secured 94 business events in 2022, surpassing its initial target of 90 events.
Of the 94 business events, 81 business events have been assessed with a total of 570 impacts on the sector, economy, environment and political governance. Over the next eight years, Sarawak is targeting to attract 1,245 business events to the state.
This and more were announced during the third Business Events Tribe Assembly in Sarawak last week.
During the conference, Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, minister of tourism, creative industry and performing arts Sarawak, also indicated that funding will be provided to BESarawak to develop a legacy and sustainable event centre. Necessary resources will also be provided to make business events more impactful to the community and greener for the environment.
The minister also launched the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Business Events and Legacies, an initiative by BESarawak to offer a multidisciplinary perspective that aims to disseminate knowledge about real-world issues in business events, with an emphasis on business meetings, tourism, and legacies.
The biannual journal is the world’s first to merge business events and legacy topics under one title, and is also the first journal in South-east Asia specifically for business events.
The first issue of 11 papers provides insights and knowledge into how global business event players are evolving and what impacts have been found until now, shared Amelia Rozima, CEO of BESarawak.
The objective of the journal is to widen the knowledge capacity of the global industry, ranging from practitioners and researchers to consumers and policymakers, by addressing real-world issues on business meetings, tourism, and legacies.
It is also in line with PCDS’s strategic thrust of optimising human capital and creating a competitive economy and BESarawak’s advocacy on legacy impact.
Accelerating the digital transformation of travel and expense (T&E) will be vital to improving the employee experience and achieving corporate goals next year, according to a new study conducted by Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Amadeus Cytric Solutions.
The study finds global leaders increasingly recognise that, for their businesses to succeed, they must design processes that support their workforce in a new, hybrid world of work.
It revealed there has been progress in the drive toward automation, with 80% of global respondents stating that T&E is more digitised compared to other processes within their companies. This compared to a figure of 67% when the survey was last carried out in 2020. But current T&E management still presents several challenges, including manual and fragmented processes, compliance and security.
When addressing the main challenges of T&E processes today:
The study also found that improving the integration between T&E technologies and other enterprise systems was a top priority (72%) (India: 72%; Australia: 71%):
Digital transformation drives modern approaches to T&E
Rudy Daniello, executive vice president, Amadeus Cytric Solutions, said: “Accelerating the digital transformation of T&E is a top priority for many organisations as we head into next year. As the world of work recalibrates for a hybrid future, processes, technologies and culture need to be updated to drive increased engagement and facilitate better collaboration among employees when planning travel.”
Successfully implemented, new solutions can increase compliance with travel management policies and ease reporting. The risk of not implementing digital solutions is also real, with surveyed finance and travel management decision-makers stating they audit all expense claims – leaving more than half open to fraud, human error, and compliance concerns (41%) (India: 38%; Australia: 25%).
Virtual payments are key to allaying employee concerns over T&E
Pressure for change is coming from several directions – from all levels of corporations. Employees’ greatest complaint comes from having to pay out of their own pocket for travel – a situation which can be overcome by the deployment of virtual cards and other integrated solutions.
For leaders, virtual payments are the most valued functionality in an end-to-end T&E management platform (76%) (India: 72%; Australia: 74%) In total, 50% of respondents believe that one of the biggest advantages gained from virtual payments is better visibility and control over travel spend. This is similar to India, 63% of respondents echoing the same sentiment.
Separately, 48% of respondents considered this technology to be helping them reduce the risk of fraud vs India at 41%. Slightly different is Australia, with 61% believing that virtual payments have the main advantage of reduction in risk fraud, among others. Meanwhile, almost half of the respondents said the tools improved VAT recovery processes (46%) (India: 38%; Australia: 42%).
Ingrid Picard, head of commercial development resellers & corporations APAC, concluded: “Auditing expense reports can be a lengthy and manual process, especially when employees need to submit paper receipts or when information is collected in spreadsheet-based solutions. Fully automated systems, including digital payments, can be an efficient answer.”
“Since the pandemic and the move to hybrid work, employee expectations have risen and there has been a considerable drop in satisfaction. A focus on employee experience using collaborative technology could help reverse these trends, driving engagement, contributing to a sustainable industry, and lowering costs for corporations in Asia Pacific.”
The study was conducted across Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Nordics, Spain, UK & Ireland and the US & Canada. Each of the 525 senior decision makers questioned represents a corporation with revenue ranging from US$100 million to US$5 billion and from 1,000+ to 20,000+ employees. The survey was carried out between July and August this year.
Dao by Dorsett has promoted Roy Liang to vice president of operations.
In his new role, he will head all Dao by Dorsett properties worldwide operationally as well as assist the owners in growing, developing and building the Dao by Dorsett brand and operational guidelines.
Liang will continue his role as general manager of Dao by Dorsett AMTD Singapore.
Congratulations on your appointment as CEO, Annette! How do you feel about joining SITE at this point in time?
This is such an important time for SITE, celebrating 50 years of incentive travel excellence in 2023. For half a century now, SITE has elevated the transformative power of incentive travel and motivational experiences to help move businesses forward and celebrate human achievement. I am honoured to lead this vibrant, exciting community, and craft the direction for the next 50 years.
SITE will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, and the Global Conference in New York will be a wonderful opportunity for me to meet many SITE members in person for the first time. I’m looking forward to hearing from them about what they want from SITE going forward.
How does the current global situation shape your to-do list?
Associations with global memberships will always be affected by geo-political situations, including travel restrictions, employee visa requirements, and military conflict, to name just a few. It all affects the locations we choose for programmes, and the ability and willingness of people to travel. It is our role as the only association focused exclusively on incentive travel in our industry to inform our communities of risks and opportunities, equip them to make good decisions, and advocate for more open, safer travel.
Also key, of course, will be continuing to watch trends and patterns play out with regard to how and where people are working. The need to motivate and incentivise teams is greater than ever in an era of “quiet quitting” and challenges with retaining and recruiting top talent. The rise of remote working also elevates the importance and strategic potential of in-person gatherings – including incentive programmes.
We also need to remain mindful of the challenges the incentive industry is facing in motivating their own teams and keeping up with the strong recovery the industry has experienced this year. We are learning together about how to navigate this post-pandemic period, and I look forward to prioritising ways we can help and support our members further here, too.
What do you think SITE members are looking for in an association these days and how is SITE answering these members?
By 2025, nearly 75 per cent of the workforce will be millennials. This will be a staggering shift from a workforce made up of primarily baby boomers. We need to look at our current members and our members of tomorrow – including those already connected with us through the SITE Young Leaders programme – and make sure we are offering values that resonate with these different generations. Younger professionals want professional development for career advancement, and tools that help them plan programmes with purpose.
Beyond generational-specific needs, today’s incentive professional needs a professional community that will help them succeed in an ever-changing environment.
SITE is planning to revise its success CIS (Certified Incentive Specialist) certification to reflect today’s needs. We also remain committed to offering incredibly relevant educational content and, most importantly, continue providing and enhancing the strong sense of community SITE is known for.
How will future challenges impact incentive travel, and how is SITE helping members to tide through these challenges?
We are still facing issues related to supply chain and staffing – including flight delays and cancellations, and hotel housekeeping and service delivery.
These threaten the qualifier experience and also affect the programme planning. We are also seeing longer response times from smaller companies, which intermediaries like DMCs and tour operators rely on for fulfilment.
Incentive and event organisers are juggling these longer response times and, at the same time, are also facing shorter planning timeframes. With the threat of global recession and inflation in major markets like North America and Western Europe, planners’ budgets are getting stretched. SITE is helping members mitigate these threats through our online educational resources, as well as co-creating a solid programme with planners and suppliers at SITE Global Conference.
What are some of the other trends you see in incentive travel?
Incentive travel has an opportunity to support many of the United Nations SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), not only those related to climate change and environment. Every programme can benefit local communities where they are being held by smartly partnering with the destination and local suppliers, and including projects focused on education, environment, and promoting local industries.
This past summer, SITE’s Florida and Caribbean chapter had an event that specifically supported SDGs 4, 7, 13, 14 and 15. Memorable incentive travel showcases the unique assets of the destination, and the more we can craft programmes that tap into the authenticity of the destination, the more the destination benefits. The demand for these authentic experiences will continue as more millennials participate in these programmes. They value purpose-driven companies and programming, unique and authentic experiences, and a commitment to the community.
How important is incentive travel moving forward and why should companies choose this instead of cash rewards?
With destinations opening up after the pandemic, we’ve seen a huge increase in “revenge travel” with people making up for the experiences they lost during 2020-2021. Even with increased costs and travel delays, people are still taking trips and often combining work trip and leisure travel. This trend aligns with incentive travel, where many top performers will bring families on their trips.
The need for community is underscored even more by more employees working remotely, away from office environments. Incentive travel can be an even more powerful vehicle to bring teams together and provide truly transformational, culture-building experiences that rewards like cash or free giveaways simply cannot. Finally, the younger workforce craves experiences rather than “stuff” like cash or products, so incentive travel will be more appealing to younger top-performer participants.
How do you think the global incentive travel market will look moving forward, and where does Asia-Pacific play into all this?
I think the reason incentive travel has always survived economic downturns and remained a priority for achievement programmes is our inherent need to experience new destinations. Humans want to be together, and are drawn to explore. The incentive market will continue to lead the way in presenting new locations, unique experiences and immersive programming.
Regions in Asia-Pacific that are committed to cultural authenticity and sustainability will be attractive to newer, younger participants – many of us were excited, for instance, to see Japan relax its entry requirements, as a destination that was gaining increased interest pre-pandemic and one that has invested in research and planning tailored specifically to incentives in the interim.
But with 278 Asia-Pacific properties and assets on the UNESCO World Heritage list, the region will remain a desirable region for incentive programmes.
With a month to go in 2022, BESydney has secured another 14 bid wins with a combined direct expenditure of A$40 million (US$27.3 million), which will bring thousands of international delegates from key industries and fields of study to the city in the near future.
This solidifies the Sydney business event pipeline through to 2029 with 85 global and national events, generating an estimated A$483 million in direct expenditure. In total, BESydney secured 259 events in 2022, generating an estimated A$181 million in direct expenditure.
Bidding wins include the International Mining and Resources Conference, which will return to Sydney and the International Convention Centre (ICC Sydney) in 2023. The conference is expected to attract 6,000 delegates from 110 countries over three days to collaborate on trends in mining, investment and innovation towards a sustainable future and is anticipated to be worth A$17 million to the local economy.
Also in 2023 is the IEEE International Future Energy Electronics Conference 2023. This biannual event will bring together academicians, students, researchers, and engineers from all over the world to present emerging topics on electronic technologies for future energy applications. Around 300 delegates over four days are expected, which will generate around A$1.1 million.
Another win for 2023 is the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, which is set to attract 400 delegates over five days, and generate an estimated A$1.9 million for the local economy.
Further on in 2026, the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences will hold its congress at ICC Sydney, and is set to attract 700 delegates over four days generating an estimated A$2.5 million for the local economy.
The ICC Sydney will also host the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s national conference in 2027. The conference is expected to attract 1,800 delegates over three days generating an estimated A$5.1 million.
Mercure Rayong Lomtalay Villas and Resort has made its debut in Rayong, Thailand, offering 51 rooms, suites and villas in its initial opening phase.
For corporate events and teambuilding sessions, the Ocean Wing offers an expansive space with an outdoor terrace that can accommodate up to 250 guests. Other facilities already in operation include an all-day dining restaurant Ecume, pool bar, swimming pool, gym, and Lomtalay Spa.
Another 133 additional keys will come online next year when the resort’s Garden Wing is complete, bringing the total to 184 keys. There will also be four additional dining concepts added to the complex.
