Katerina Giannouka has been appointed as the new CEO of Jumeirah Group, effective December 2022.
A recognised professional in the international hospitality industry, Giannouka joins Jumeirah Group from Radisson Hotel Group, where she had served as president Asia Pacific since 2017.
She brings with her 20 years of experience in business leadership, operations, hotel development, asset management and strategic advisory.
Meliá Hotels International has appointed Ada Jian as general manager for the new INNSiDE by Meliá Kuala Lumpur Cheras, which opens in 4Q2022.
She possesses over two decades of hospitality experience throughout China, beginning with a front office role in 2001 at Hyatt Regency Xi’an China. She then spent eight years with Sofitel, before joining Meliá Hotels International in 2014.
At Meliá, Jian held roles at Gran Meliá Xian and INNSiDE by Meliá Zhengzhou, as well as worked for the corporate team where she was senior area director of operations Asia-Pacific covering 47 hotels in the region.
Asia’s key business events destinations, bar a muted China and Hong Kong presence, were at IMEX America (October 11-13) in larger numbers, compared to the show’s May edition in Frankfurt.
During the tradeshow in Las Vegas, buying domestically dominated. And while Asian booths were less busy, those TTGmice spoke to affirmed corporates and meetings groups were eyeing the region, albeit in smaller group sizes.
The US is one of the top markets for Singapore’s World Express (WE) with Darren Tan, its managing director, sharing with TTGmice that he had “good leads” and sees “growth and potential”, despite Asia lagging behind other parts of the world in opening up.
Tan, who also made sales calls in the US, commented life and the travel market were back to normal, and the strong US dollar was a plus, but recession fears created some “pullback”.
“The US was good for us in 2022, and 2023 is also looking decent,” he commented, adding that corporate meetings were doing better than incentives. Group sizes were below 100 people, and niche demand was from higher-level educational and special interest groups.
Noor Ahmad Hamid, chief operating officer, Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), also noted the strong US Dollar has made Malaysia and other Asian destinations more appealing to the US market. As such, he expects corporate and incentive enquiries to materialise in early 2023.
He added: “The association and exhibition sectors will work differently, based on the content of the association meeting and exhibition’s value proposition. We are anticipating growth for these two segments as Malaysia is a very attractive destination in terms of value for money due to the strong US dollar.
“There are a lot of enquiries and we need to work quickly on this increasing demand.”
To smoothen the entry process, one of MyCEB’s initiatives includes a Business Events Special Lane for arriving delegates, on top of providing financial support. MyCEB also includes sustainability, legacy and inclusivity in all of its business events activities, which Noor indicated that “many planners from the US find meaningful”.
Taiwan-based DMC K&A International, which sent a representative to IMEX America to test waters, said activity was slow and North Asia, in general, was “not receiving MICE (enquiries) yet”.
K&A founder and president Kitty Wong pointed to inflation, changes in flight schedules, and the conflict in Ukraine were reasons why association meeting delegates were not travelling.
After 48 years, Adelaide Convention Bureau has been rebranded and repositioned to Business Events Adelaide.
CEO Damien Kitto said in a press release that the new name better reflects what the organisation does and removes the ambiguity of it being erroneously related to tourism and major events, or, as has sometimes been the case, being seen as only interested in bidding for conventions.
“Business Events Adelaide is first and foremost an economic driver for Adelaide and South Australia,” he said. “Business events fill hotel rooms, venues, restaurants etc but our valued business delegates spend three times more each day (A$632; US$412) than a tourist or a major events visitor and that is an important differentiation. They also leave a strong economic tail from their visit.”
“These delegates are focused on returning home with tangible business results from their time with us, be it from knowledge transfer, research collaborations or business partnerships. And such economic results from business events deliver strong advantages for South Australia. Our new name far better recognises that effort, especially for the array of companies located in our globally recognised innovation districts,” said Kitto.
Kitto said Business Events Adelaide with its strong economic growth ethos, would continue as an independent not-for-profit economic driver using its strong capabilities. It will attract, across the broad sector, business events including; meetings, conventions, conferences, exhibitions, seminars, symposiums and corporate incentives.
“We deliver a high 40:1 ROI and last financial year we secured A$254 million for the South Australian economy. This was achieved despite the constraints of Covid and our small but highly effective team looks forward to bettering these numbers each year from now on,” he said.
The rebranding also reflects how the national business event sector is being positioned.
“Most of our interstate organisations have also moved away from being titled bureaux,” said Kitto.
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport will see the launch of a new mega hotel, comprising business events and leisure facilities, come January 2023.
Haneda Airport Garden will be directly connected to the airport’s international terminal and cater for both leisure and business events visitors, according to its developer Sumitomo Realty and Development Company.
It will operate 1,717 rooms and suites across two hotels (Villa Fontaine Grand and Villa Fontaine Premier), making it the largest airport hotel of its kind in Japan. Of those accommodations, 160 rooms are classified as luxury.
Meeting facilities include an event hall of 2,400m2, a 1,000m2 atrium with a 13-metre high ceiling and a range of conference rooms and banquet rooms, some of which can accommodate up to 1,000 pax.
The complex will also feature a shopping centre with some 60 retail stores, 30 F&B options ranging from a 280-seat restaurant to food courts, an open-air bath with views of Mount Fuji and a bus terminal for easy access to central Tokyo, regional cities and tourist attractions.
“The facility is designed to meet the diverse needs of the world’s travellers by combining the concepts of hospitality, community and convenience as Haneda Airport becomes a 24-hour international hub airport,” said a Sumitomo Realty and Development spokesperson.
In the long term, Haneda Airport Garden will “contribute to the growth of the Haneda Airport area into one of the world’s most advanced business areas and to the sustainable development of the local community,” the spokesperson continued.
Bookings are already being taken, with some hotel rooms and facilities available from December 21. The grand opening of the complex is scheduled for January 2023, almost three years after its planned opening, which was postponed since April 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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.
