British Airways has added a second daily flight from Singapore to London, returning to its pre-pandemic schedule to Singapore.
The London-Singapore service will fly daily from November 6, departing London Heathrow Airport at 18.50 and arriving Singapore at 15.55.
The return flight from November 7 will also be a daily service, leaving Singapore at 23.15 and arriving in London at 05.25.
Oakwood Studios Sukhumvit Bangkok is the latest Oakwood property to open in the Thai capital.
Located along Sukhumvit 36 and close to the Thong Lo BTS station, the property features 177 keys ranging from the 25m2 Superior Kings to the 39m2 Studio Premiers.
Other facilities on-site include a gym, swimming pool, pool bar, co-working space, bar and lounge, and all-day restaurant Vibrante.
Two more Oakwoods will come online before the end of the year, including the 191-unit Oakwood Suites Tiwanon Bangkok located near Chatuchak Weekend Market, and the 178-unit Oakwood Hotel Sukhumvit 11 Bangkok.
On the opening day of the 61st ICCA Congress in Kraków, ICCA World members voted Marta Gomes as the new ICCA president, succeeding James Rees.
She is currently the deputy executive director, sales, of Viparis. Viparis manages and operates 10 convention and exhibition centres in Paris.
Nicola van Heemsbergen has joined Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh as executive chef.
The Belgian brings nearly three decades of culinary experience to the table, with notable stints at Michelin-star restaurants like Lasserre in Paris, and the La Pyramide in Vienne, France.
Previous hotel experience, meanwhile, includes periods at properties like Dubai’s Burj Al Arab, Raffles Singapore, The Peninsula in Manila, and Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti in Tanzania.
Dorchester Collection has appointed Arabella El Barkouki as its new global director of sales.
El Barkouki will be responsible for leading the brand’s global sales teams, developing sales strategies to support growth and spearheading policies, objectives and initiatives across the portfolio of current and future hotels.
The Brit brings over 20 years of leadership experience from the luxury hospitality industry to her role. She first joined Dorchester Collection in 2008, before moving to Mandarin Oriental in 2015 as head of regional sales Europe.
Most recently, she was vice president of global sales partners at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.
Keen to pump up its pipeline of new inbound business events, Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB) recently hosted its first two fam trips for meetings and incentive travel planners in three years.
Held from October 25 to 29, the fam trip welcomed some 20 international trade buyers who were split into two different tracks – one on Tokyo’s nature and wellness opportunities in Hachioji and Tachikawa, and the other on Tokyo’s waterfront developments in districts such as Shinagawa, Odaiba and Shiba Tokyo bay area.
The waterfront track featured some unique venues that were created for Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and are now available for event usage, such as Yumenoshima Park Archery Field and Canoe Slalom Centre.
TCVB will host two more in December.
Yuka Murata, representative of Business Events Tokyo, told TTGmice that the fam trips focus on nine MICE hubs across Tokyo, with the aim of introducing the events capabilities of the areas as well as new event ideas that have been developed there.
“There is more than just the familiar city centre of Tokyo for events. There is so much to do and experience across Tokyo,” said Murata.
“By educating planners on the versatility of the Tokyo Metropolis, we will not only inspire programmes to offer more variety but also encourage longer stays in the city and drive more tourism revenue deeper into the communities in the surrounding areas,” she added.
John Wee Tom, founder and managing director of Canada-based AreA, said the Hachioji and Tachikawa showcase had given him a new view of Tokyo even though he is familiar with the Japanese capital.
“It is quite a revelation for me. The selling point for both Hachioji and Tachikawa is their closeness to nature, which is something unexpected for visitors to Tokyo. Both areas are so accessible, and that has inspired me to consider using Tachikawa as the base for the main event and to plan activities around Hachioji,” he said.
Tom added: “The activities, such as rafting (in Okutama, which Tachikawa is an entry point) and dining at Ukai Toriyama in Hachioji, presented in the fam trip have incentive travel applications.”
Fioren Cahyadi, travel services manager with Destination Tour in Indonesia, who also participated in the same showcase, said the fam trip presented her with ideas for a more active programme.
“Indonesians are not used to walking long distances, but our hike up Mt Takao (in Hachioji) showed me that the activity can be quite comfortable in cooler weather, such as in autumn. The hike can be paired with the bonfire experience in Takaone Activity & Stay (an accommodation and cultural activity centre at the foot of Mt Takao) to satisfy clients’ need for unique and cultural experiences,” said Cahyadi.
In January 2023, TCVB will host fam trips with alliance cities, such as Okinawa, and Nagoya.
Murata said TCVB and the Tokyo business events community are well prepared for the return of events, while the destination’s delivery of the delayed games have demonstrated “our readiness to welcome large-scale events again, safely and securely”.
Going forward, TCVB will develop teambuilding programmes that satisfy Sustainable Development Goals.
Planners keen to take their events to the Tokyo Metropolis can qualify more easily for TCVB’s subvention programmes, as conditions have been adjusted to reflect current event needs and trends.
“Most post-lockdown event groups are smaller in size,” stated Murata.
Site visit support can now be obtained with just 500 visitor nights, down from 1,000 previously.
Tokyo’s Special Programs, which offer destination experiences perks, now cover smaller-scale events. Events with 70 visitor nights, down from 200 previously, can qualify for benefits such as an airport meet-and-greet, participant giveaways, VIP gifts, and a choice of entertainment activity.
Short of visitors during the pandemic and eager to find alternative uses for their facilities, Japan’s temples are now appealing directly to the business events sector.
For instance, Houkouji Temple in the forested hills of Shizuoka Prefecture, south-west of Tokyo, has already hosted meetings, events and shukubo retreats for Japanese groups. Shukubo is an accommodation experience in which the traveller lodges at a Buddhist temple.
It is now working to attract foreigners to its sprawling facilities, said Zendo Oshima, a senior monk and director of the temple.
“We have a large main hall that can accommodate several hundred people for zazen meditation, lectures, meetings and other events. Our dedicated zazen meditation hall is also registered as an important national cultural asset,” he said.
The 15,000m2 complex also has a historic tea ceremony room, a small meeting room, overnight accommodation for up to 50 people and dining facilities for shojin ryori (traditional Buddhist vegetarian cuisine) for as many as 200 people.
Aside from providing tables, chairs, projectors and whiteboards for meetings, corporate groups are also encouraged to take part in morning services such as zazen meditation, yoga, copy of sutras or guided treks in the surrounding sacred mountains, said Oshima.
He opined: “An increasing number of foreigners are visiting Japan and there is a world-wide interest in zazen, mindfulness and vegetarian cuisine. Temples, which have been handed down from our ancestors for hundreds of years, are symbolic of a sustainable society, and I believe people will want this experience more in the future.”
Mai Sato, founder and CEO of Tokyo-based ShareWing, operates the Otera Stay brand and represents 10 temples across Japan that can host corporate
groups.
“The number of temples interested in offering shukubo has been increasing, while more that have lodgings and want to expand (their services) to offer accommodation for tourists and corporate events are also asking us to provide consulting services,” she told TTGmice.
She pointed out that the experience at these Japanese temples is very different from “city hotels and bustling resorts”.
“The large halls, Japanese-style rooms and the magnificent traditional Japanese architecture of the temple are special features,” she said. “Visitors can experience the art of Buddhist statues, paintings and architecture – many of which are listed as national treasures.”
Melbourne-based developer and hotel owner Capital Alliance, in partnership with Australia’s International Hotel Group, TFE Hotels, has announced a mixed-use development in Melbourne Docklands, featuring two local hotel brands.
Capital Alliance’s two-tower, A$340 million project – slated for completion in 2026 – will feature the largest rooftop infinity pool in Australia and the first purpose-built 200-key Collection by TFE Hotels and 105-key A by Adina properties in Melbourne.
A 1,000-pax capacity event conference centre, located on a sky bridge that connects the two accommodation towers, day spa, retail shopping, and restaurant offerings, will complete the property.
Eleven of Western Australia’s researchers, academics and professionals have been recognised in Business Events Perth’s 2022 Aspire Awards.
Among 2022’s recipients is the University of Western Australia’s Dr Ben McAllister, whose work in the fields of quantum technologies and dark matter is helping solve one of the universe’s biggest mysteries; Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science Marzena Pedrini, whose research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of MS and the role of genetics, immune regulation, and environmental factors in disease susceptibility; and Murdoch University’s Bob Du, whose research is contributing to the improved production capacity and profitability of Australia’s grain industry and the effective management of biosecurity risk and insecticide resistance to the food supply chain.
These successful Aspire Awards applicants are outstanding candidates in their fields, and are able to receive travel grants to support their attendance at international conferences, allowing them to showcase their expertise on a global stage, network with like-minded professionals, and explore new avenues for collaboration, research, innovation and trade.
By attending international conferences, these award recipients will be able to “meet with other leaders in their fields and create opportunities to bring those conferences to Western Australia in the future”, noted Business Events Perth CEO, Gareth Martin.
He added: “The recipients of the 2022 Aspire Awards represent the diversity of Western Australia’s research and entrepreneurial strengths and exemplify the innovation that Western Australia is renowned for globally.”
Multilingual meeting technology and services provider Interprefy has released a new solution that aims to rid events of audio issues stemming from bad microphones and hard-to-hear speech.
Announced as an add-on to its event interpretation platform, Interprefy Clarifier applies the science of psychoacoustics to make crucial elements of speech more audible. Key parts of the sound are restored or boosted, ensuring words are simpler and quicker to decipher against factors such as poor-quality microphones and hard-to-hear speech.
Available for listeners and interpreters, Clarifier can be switched on or off by each user within their soft console or user interface. When enabled, each word becomes easier to identify from potentially confusable and similar-sounding terms.
This solution means that interpreters need to think less about decoding what they hear and can instead focus on the comprehension and translation of speech, increasing their speed and accuracy and ultimately reducing stress.
“The past two years have demonstrated to us all the value of flexibility and accessibility, but some speaker’s home or remote audio hardware is simply not up to scratch, while they themselves are not always trained in microphone technique and can find it hard to speak clearly and at a measured pace.
Oddmund Braaten, CEO at Interprefy, said.
“We’re focusing on the clarity of the spoken word. When an interpreter is trying to decode what a speaker is saying, we know that certain characteristics of the sound are absolutely vital. Clarifier is able to pick out the fleeting and fragile parts of speech – the sibilant, plosive and transient components – and maximise their audibility. The wonderful way the brain works is that with these key components secured, the other parts become clearer too,” Braaten said.
