Live events and broadcasting technology specialist, InEvent, has integrated ChatGPT into its event platform, allowing its clients to fulfil event marketing communications with advanced conversational AI (artificial intelligence).
Users will be able to generate invitation emails, interactive text for Q&A sessions, polls and quizzes, and content for event landing pages with greater ease.
To write an event invitation, for example, the user only needs to insert a command of key details to be communicated, and leave ChatGPT to do the rest.
InEvent claims that the solution is able to produce error-free content, and can also make recommendations for budgeting, scheduling, lodging, and other logistical tasks.
“For years, it has been our continued goal to innovate and fine-tune the event management process to be as easy as clicking a button, and we believe that ChatGPT moves us closer in that direction,” said Pedro Góes, CEO at InEvent.
Travellers from several countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and New Zealand, will no longer need to take a PCR test prior to entry to China from today.
Eligible travellers flying directly to China will only need to take an ART 48 hours before boarding.
Travellers from select countries flying directly to China will no longer need to take a PCR test ahead of their flight
A positive test result would still hinder entry to China, and travellers are required to declare their negative test results on the China Customs website or through its app.
With the updated procedure, airlines will no longer check a passenger’s negative PCR or ART results.
PCR test results are still required for travellers from other countries like the US, South Korea and Japan.
On February 27, Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) launched its 10th BE Mentored Programme with a one-day meet-up for 50 participants in Auckland.
The six-month programme will see 25 mentee/mentor pairings taking part, the largest group since BEIA – then known as CINZ – started the programme in 2014.
Mentees warm up with a Team Up Events session
Mentees come from a broad range of event management, tourism and hospitality backgrounds and are looking to develop their careers, build valuable relationships and broaden their experience within the business events industry. Mentors, all of whom volunteer their time, are experienced practitioners within their fields and hold senior management positions.
On the launch day, joined a collaborative session with Team Up Events, while mentors took part in a learning session with Angela Lim, CEO and founder of Clearhead, a specialist in mental health support for workplaces and individuals.
Mentors also took part in a leadership summit, where they had the opportunity to hear first-hand from industry colleagues located in the areas devastated by the recent weather events.
BEIA’s chief executive, Lisa Hopkins, said: “New Zealand’s business events capacity and its people capabilities go hand in hand. With New Zealand in high demand on the world stage, it is more important than ever to be nurturing and developing our business events talent.”
The BE Mentored programme runs from March to August, with mentors and mentees meeting six or more times during that period. BEIA will hold a mid-point online get-together for participants to share experiences so far and provide any advice and support to each other, and be available throughout the programme for support and advice. The programme will conclude with a recognition event held during the BEIA’s annual conference from September 18 to 21, 2023, in Marlborough.
The conference aims to facilitate collaboration and exchange of ideas among business leaders; a photo from the 2022 edition
After the success of the inaugural event last year, the annual Asia CEO Summit will once again convene leaders and executives from the event industry throughout Asia and beyond.
Taking place from October 4-6, 2023, in Singapore, the summit will focus on exploring the growth potential of business events in the region, which is expanding rapidly due to increased business activity and demand for platforms to engage with businesses.
The conference aims to facilitate collaboration and exchange of ideas among business leaders; a photo from the 2022 edition
The summit highlights the importance of this industry in driving economic growth in Asia and encourages businesses to invest in the Asian markets, bringing high-quality conferences, tradeshows, and exhibitions to meet the demand of Asian businesses.
The Asia CEO Summit is co-organised by the Association of Event Organisers, Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers, Society of Independent Show Organizers, Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board.
Participation in the Asia CEO Summit is for companies that are currently producing shows and are C-level or have Division Head responsibilities.
Singapore-based events and media production company Aux Media Group has been certified as the only virtual production space in Singapore for the Virtual Production Accelerator Program by disguise.
First launched in October 2022 by Emmy award-winning virtual production (VP) technology pioneer, disguise, the Accelerator Program combines traditional classroom training with real-world on-set experiences to give trainees a true representation of the demands of virtual production.
Designed to provide training to individuals of all skill levels – from student novices to seasoned professionals – the programme will help participants hone their skills in volume control operations, virtual art department integration and hands-on practice shoots.
The programme is taught in three phases – Learn, Classroom and Accelerator. In the Learn Phase, students can access online courses to learn real-time fundamentals in Unreal Engine. Next is the Classroom Phase, which involves hands-on, instructor-led training for more advanced concepts. The final stage, the Accelerator Phase, involves a four-day immersion experience where trainees participate in a pre-planned film shoot. This stage allows participants to experience various roles on set, including disguise operations, game engine integration, practical lighting and cinematography.
The Virtual Production Accelerator Program will start in 3Q2023, with classes scheduled tentatively every quarter.
In 2020, the company unveiled its Aux Immersive Studio, which combines Extended Reality (XR) technology and game engine systems to merge physical and virtual events.
“We are thrilled to expand the use of our immersive studio further and become the only certified training facility for disguise’s Virtual Production Accelerator Program,” said Choong Chyi Kei, CEO and founder of Aux Media Group.
“Our studio and training programme is designed to bring people together, even when they are physically apart, and provide an unforgettable virtual experience. We have also dedicated ourselves to fostering future talent in the next generation with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.”
After successful runs in Europe and the US, the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience has finally made its way to South-east Asia marked by a debut in Singapore.
Held at Resorts World Sentosa, this immersive art experience harnesses a blend of artwork replicas, digital projections, Virtual Reality (VR), and atmospheric light and sound to take visitors deep into Vincent van Gogh’s world.
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
1 of 3
Immersive Room
VR Experience
Sketch and Post
Leading into the exhibition venue is an enormous façade of cobalt blue and stunning yellow blooms – an amalgamation of Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Sunflowers – which hints at the visual fest that is to come.
Passing through hallways of artwork replicas, including the Dutch artist’s many self-portraits (keep your eyes peeled for a surprise), visitors will soon find themselves in multiple galleries that convey stories of his growing up years and family, his move into art, his struggles, his inspirations and his dedication to perfection.
Art aficionados may appreciate the exhibition for its innovative showcase of more than 300 vivid artworks, but this is also an attraction that will engage and enchant even those unfamiliar with the artist and his creations.
There are many fun highlights here, including The Immersive Room, which presents a mesmerising 40-minute digital projection mapping showcase of Van Gogh’s most famous artworks; the Japonisme gallery, which provides insights into Japanese art influences on Van Gogh’s work and where matcha tea demonstrations are offered to visitors; and the A Day in the Life of the Artist in Arles VR Experience, where visitors don VR headsets and walk through stunning landscapes that depict some of his iconic artworks.
Besides the visual awe, there are nuggets of Van Gogh fun facts to take home too, thanks to excellent storytelling.
MICE application
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience can be hired for private showcases, and the organiser, Hustle & Bustle, is open to discussions on corporate hospitality applications.
Planners can also make the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience a stop within a larger destination experience itinerary, or design a standalone event here. The Black Market is a space reserved for private events, but planners can also host their gatherings in the main exhibition spaces.
Multiple galleries in this exhibition provide the venue with a sense of space, as guests of up to 200 can be spread out. The cavernous Immersive Room, with its digital projection mapping capability, is ideal for business gatherings that require strong sensory stimuli, like keynotes, product launches and opening/closing parties.
Verdict
The experience is both enlightening and entertaining, and can inject plenty of fun into any business event that decides to use the immersive art exhibition as its stage for guest engagement.
Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium has appointed Jonathan Lim as director of food & beverage.
Lim possesses over three decades of experience in F&B management and operations. He has worked with hotels such as The Sheraton Towers in Singapore, Hotel Cambodiana in Cambodia, Rendezvous Hotel in Sanya, and Millennium Wuxi, as well as taken up roles in independent restaurants.
The Gold Coast is surfing on a new wave for business events, with a growing swell of new products and experiences it has been proud to reveal to event planners over the last year since Australia’s borders reopened.
“People who have been here before don’t know the Gold Coast of today because there’s been so much development with new or cool things to see and do,” revealed Destination Gold Coast’s head of business events, Selina Sinclair.
New buildings have joined Gold Coast’s skyline, like The Langham, Gold Coast, and Jewel Residences
“We spent A$1 billion (US$671.6 million) on new products and experiences for the city. There are new tour companies, bars, venues, restaurants and some 3,000 new hotel rooms constructed (during the pandemic). We’ve also seen a lot of investment by the theme parks.”
“With that, I feel we definitely stand out in the incentive travel space. But also when you look at the associations sector, the city has invested a lot in some major infrastructure developments,” she added.
For instance, the Gold Coast now boasts a new health and knowledge precinct, which brought in 1,000 new researchers and more than 20,000 students to the city.
In addition to hospitals, the precinct includes Griffith University, ranked in the world’s top two per cent of universities, and Lumina, which is a 9.5-hectare site designated for start-ups and established businesses nurturing bright ideas and collaborations.
Inventions to transform cardiology and spinal cord rehabilitation are among its current projects.
“Association sector events looking for a city where they can tap into speakers’ content, and developments in their field whether in education, health, or medical science technology can now find it on our doorstep,” said Sinclair.
“It’s really opened up our ability to host association events even more than before in the Gold Coast and it’s just one of the things that will only elevate the credentials of the Gold Coast to host associations and corporate meetings moving forward,” she continued.
GCCEC can host events of up to 6,000 people
Elevated experiences were certainly highlighted in June at This Is Gold Coast, the destination’s annual industry showcase. On one evening, event planners enjoyed a new sophisticated rooftop entertainment space in Cali Beach Club featuring an igloo bar, hot tubs, open fire pits, and a fire show.
The next day, the planners were transported by helicopter into the Gold Coast’s lesser-known asset – its hinterland, where they had lunch in a beautiful white-themed marquee at the top of the mountains at the Bower Estate.
It was also no coincidence that of the 80 guests, more than 30 per cent were international event planners from the Gold Coast’s top overseas markets of Singapore, Malaysia, the US, UK, New Zealand and Japan.
“International markets represent, in some ways, an untapped opportunity for us. What we’ve also seen (since borders reopened) is a huge influx of requests, particularly from the Asian markets, all looking for an incentive travel destination, with a high percentage coming from direct selling companies, and we are catering for that change,” said Sinclair.
“And now we’re starting to see the big associations coming back, saying their rotation is all mixed up and they’re looking for a destination, and they’re rebuilding for future years from 2023 and beyond,” she continued.
Big events also see an advantage in the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC), where a complete buyout is possible.
“We’ve always been highly successful with our size, because big conventions like the fact that they can take total ownership of our venue,” said general manager of GCCEC, Adrienne Readings.
“They can brand externally and internally, which is important to both associations and corporates. The centre’s design also allows us to open and shut as small or as large as we need, so we’re a multipurpose centre, not just a convention and exhibition centre,” she said.
Building on the spirited legacy of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the much anticipated World Expo 2025 in Osaka is now setting the stage for overseas visitors to experience Japan as an ideal incentive travel destination.
Etsuko Kawasaki, executive director of Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Japan Convention Bureau, told TTGmice that since the resumption of incentive travel last October, several corporate groups from Europe and Asia have already visited Japan. Currently, she is also seeing strong interest from Asia, especially the Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore markets.
Various surveys also revealed Japan as the top destination travellers prefer to visit after borders reopen and incentive travel is also expected to recover strongly in the future.
Expo highlights
1 of 2
Artist Yoichi Ochiai's null2 features sculptures that use mirrors to "distort" the surrounding landscape (Credit: 2023 Yoichi Ochiai / Design:NOIZ All Rights Reserved.)
Future of Life by Hiroshi Ishiguro presents a world where the boundary between humans and robots does not exist (Credit: FUTURE OF LIFE / EXPO 2025)
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai as stellar showcase and launchpad Come April to October 2025, over a total of 184 days, the world expo will be held for the second time in Kansai since 1970.
Apart from catapulting Kansai to global attention, it will allow the region to act as a tourism hub to encourage visitors to venture out to explore other parts of Japan, according to Yoshikazu Tanaka, director of MICE Policy, director of World Expo 2025 & Integrated Resort Projects, Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau.
In line with the expo’s theme of Designing Future Society For Our Lives and based on the concept of People’s Living Lab, key highlights include a flying car display, an AI-based translation service for expo participants and visitors, as well as a virtual reproduction of the Yumeshima site of the expo in the online space, using augmented reality and virtual reality to interlink the real and virtual worlds.
A spokesperson for the Osaka World Exposition told TTGmice: “The Osaka-Kansai Expo aims to explore the operation of flying cars with an exhibit which allows visitors to ‘travel’ in and out of the venue via a flying car. The (virtual reproduction) project is to realise an inclusive expo so that people with disabilities, the elderly, people from overseas and distant places who cannot visit the venue in-person, can participate.”
One of the signature pavilions, Future of Life, produced by leading expert in robotics, Hiroshi Ishiguro, presents a world in which the boundary between humans and robots cease to exist, and enables visitors to learn more about the possibilities of this “new life”.
Another one, null2, by media artist Yoichi Ochiai, features mind-boggling sculptures that use mirrors to “distort” the images of the surrounding landscape.
Tanaka added: “The expo will not only showcase Japan’s world-class cutting-edge technology, but also various initiatives to achieve the SDGs, as well as the charms of Japan, such as its culture and cuisine. There will be a Japan Pavilion and eight theme parks. We would also like to welcome visitors to visit the places where some of our culinary delights originated (in Kansai) to savour the food on-site.”
Unique appeal of Japan’s spiritual and cultural capital Tanaka believed that Kansai region’s appeal is multi-faceted and offers the right invigorating mix as an attractive incentive destination of choice.
For a start, there is ease of accessibility with the Kansai International Airport in operation 24 hours and a well-developed efficient domestic transportation network. Neighbouring cities – Kyoto, Nara, Kobe – and other well-known tourist hotspots are less than an hour away.
The social situation is stable and safe with the depreciation of the yen being another draw.
With 70 per cent of temples and shrines concentrated in Kansai, it caters to the rising trend of the SBNR (Spiritual But Not Religious) group, who prefer their travels centred on rejuvenating activities, not unlike zen meditation sessions and outdoor adventures, Tanaka noted.
Wakayama prefecture in Kansai, home to World Heritage sites of Mt Koya and Kumano Kodo, provides the natural travel backdrop for this new breed. Delegates can engage in a group meditation on Mt Koya, trek the pilgrimage route of ancient courtiers on Kumano Kodo, or visit the breathtaking Nachi Falls nearby.
Kawasaki also updated that JNTO is currently engaged in a project to compile exciting incentive travel options from all over Japan – this will provide ease of reference for corporate planners and organisers keen to curate one-of-a-kind programmes.
In addition to the 42 attractive experiences collated last year, 12 new packages have recently been added.
Fun team-building ideas include having delegates in Hokkaido attend an exclusive party at an ice lounge or for corporate groups to enjoy a memorable stay at awe-inspiring Ozu Castle in Ehime Prefecture.
Japan's incentive travel options
1 of 3
Corporate groups can enjoy a stay at Ozu Castle in Ehime Prefecture
Corporate planners can organise an exclusive party at an ice lounge in Hokkaido as part of team-building activities
Delegates can visit the breathtaking Nachi Falls in Kansai as part of their incentive travel itinerary
Tanaka concluded: “From Osaka, we will showcase the charms of all of Japan. Even now, foreigners come to our information centres in Osaka city and ask about Nagano Prefecture or Hokkaido without hesitation, and I believe this trend will accelerate in the lead-up to World Expo 2025, so we are working hard to create a showcase for Japanese tourism.”
Ready to plan a rewarding incentive travel itinerary in Japan? From must-visit places and unique off-the-radar locations, corporate organisers and planners can find inspiration here.
For assistance with your tour, find out more here.
Carina Toh has been named director of sales & marketing at Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium.
An experienced hotelier with over a decade of experience in sales and marketing, she has worked in China since 2008 and was most recently director of sales & marketing at W Xi’an.
The newly-opened Ritz-Carlton, Bangkok anchors the One Bangkok development with cosmopolitan elegance. Featuring the city's largest ballroom and a spectacular new penthouse suite, it delivers exceptional hardware and deeply authentic, soulful service for business and leisure travellers alike
Behind the imposing, Brutalist concrete that defines Zurich’s Oerlikon district lies a surprising secret. While its exterior honours the neighbourhood’s industrial roots, stepping inside Mama Shelter reveals a vibrant, neon-soaked world that is a far cry from its rigid shell
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
Designed to provide training to individuals of all skill levels – from student novices to seasoned professionals – the programme will help participants hone their skills in volume control operations, virtual art department integration and hands-on practice shoots.
An experienced hotelier with over a decade of experience in sales and marketing, she has worked in China since 2008 and was most recently director of sales & marketing at W Xi’an.
Travellers from several countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and New Zealand, will no longer need to take a PCR test prior to entry to China from today.
Eligible travellers flying directly to China will only need to take an ART 48 hours before boarding.
A positive test result would still hinder entry to China, and travellers are required to declare their negative test results on the China Customs website or through its app.
With the updated procedure, airlines will no longer check a passenger’s negative PCR or ART results.
PCR test results are still required for travellers from other countries like the US, South Korea and Japan.