William Costley has been appointed as Minor Hotels’ new senior vice president of operations for Asia.
In this role, Costley will oversee all Minor Hotels brands, including Anantara, Avani, Oaks, Tivoli, NH Hotels and NH Collection throughout Asia.
Based in Bangkok, he joins Minor Hotels after 32 years with Hilton Hotels, where he previously served in the same capacity overseeing the group’s Arabian Peninsula and Turkey region.
Brought to you by Paradox Singapore Merchant Court at Clarke Quay
Whether it is an event organiser seeking an ideal venue option or a business traveller looking for the perfect home base, Paradox Singapore Merchant Court at Clarke Quay, caters to their needs within its very own urban resort.
The 476-key hotel boasts spacious rooms and stylish suites featuring spectacular views of the city’s distinctive skyline, on top of calming riverfront vista.
Event organisers and planners will appreciate Paradox Singapore’s capability to accommodate events of all sizes.
From international conferences, private board meetings to lavish social celebrations, the hotel provides the perfect setting with complementary facilities, complete with professional support.
They include seven meeting rooms and a 680m2 column-free ballroom, which comes with an adjoining foyer ideal for a private reception.
Having the best of both worlds, business travellers, on the other hand, will also be able to balance work and recreation in a home away from home.
The hotel presents a sophisticated yet playful blend of traditional refinement and modern elegance, coupled with distinctive decor reminiscent of its heritage credentials. Altogether, this creates a quiet sanctuary for guests to relax and unwind.
At the Spa & Sport, guests can rejuvenate their body and mind, taking in the benefits of its holistic wellness and beauty offerings.
Completing its mix with various thoughtful amenities and personalised service, the hotel’s 24-hour two-level fitness centre, free-form pool and outdoor jacuzzi will no doubt leave busy delegates feeling refreshed and re-energised.
To tantalise guests’ tastebuds, the renowned chefs at Ellenborough Market Café will delight with their delicious concoctions featuring popular Peranakan (or Straits Chinese), local and international specialities.
Set amid a lush landscape and next to the swimming pool, the Blue Potato also serves up tasty western fare. A locally-inspired, handcrafted cocktail is always in order at the lobby’s classy Crossroads Bar for business delegates keen on a tipple after a hard day’s work.
Paradox Singapore was conceived following the April 2022 partnership between Canadian-born boutique hospitality brand, Paradox Hotel Group and leading property developer in Malaysia, TA Global to rebrand the former Swissotel Merchant Court.
Keen to organise your next event at Paradox Singapore Merchant Court at Clarke Quay?
Find out more about the hotel’s offerings here.
International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), managed by ASM Global, has welcomed a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) manager, Jess Zickar.
She has over 11 years experience in the environmental science industry, and brings with her in-depth knowledge of environmental impact, sustainability, and community engagement to this role.
According to Royal Caribbean Group, the demand for holding meetings and incentives onboard a cruise ship is gaining traction in 2023 and beyond.
This comes as the company’s Spectrum of the Seas, which sails from Singapore to Malaysia and Thailand, has already confirmed forward bookings for large incentive groups in 2023, with several planners exploring options for 2024.
Royal Caribbean Group’s vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Angie Stephen, added that the company is also noticing a rise in private charters, now that restrictions have mostly eased worldwide.
This is buoyed by the fact that Royal Caribbean Group offers planners and organisers access to a dedicated planning team, as well as a shipboard coordinator who will assist in the planning to ensure all of the corporate objectives are met.
According to Stephen, planners are interested in holding meetings and incentives onboard cruise ships as it will help them obtain a bigger bang for their buck, as it costs 30 per cent less when compared to conducting the same activities on land.
Aside from reducing overall costs, she pointed out that organising a corporate event within a ship also saves travelling time, as well as coordinating logistic efforts.
Due to Covid-19 regulations in China, organisers of IT&CM China and CTW China 2022, have rescheduled the Shanghai-based event to March 21-23, 2023.
The in-person event will be held at The Anandi Hotel and Spa Shanghai, followed by a virtual networking and conference segment on April 11-12, 2023.
Organisers TTG Asia Media and China-based CTG MICE Service Company Limited, in a joint statement stated: “We see positive indications towards the return of physical events, however, the situation is still very dynamic, and we have a responsibility to ensure our delegates have the safest and best possible experience.
“We look forward to reconnecting with everyone in March 2023 in Shanghai. The region’s industry has been waiting to be able to come together and meet with quality venues, destinations, suppliers, and buyers in person. IT&CM China and CTW China will provide a safe platform to do so, as well as also demonstrate the industry’s commitment to the resumption of Chinese MICE travel and events.”
For registration and more information, please visit www.itcmchina.com, or contact the relevant teams for assistance.
The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) has recently invested in a food composter machine in a bid to expand its waste management efforts.
This latest initiative also aims to develop a circular economy model for the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) precinct, to help transform it into a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) hub and create a sustainable meetings destination in Malaysia.
The Centre’s general manager, Alan Pryor, shared: “In our endeavour to manage event-generated waste responsibly, investing in our own composting machine is another significant step. Since including composting as part of our process, we have recorded a 30 per cent decrease in the overall food waste disposed.
“We are also collecting more data, through which we can better study delegates’ consumption behaviour. This enables us to plan food production more efficiently and cater to customer-based cooking, which results in reduced food waste and less food cost. One of the long-term plans of the composter is to also provide non-chemical-based fertilisers to the 50-acre KLCC park that is adjacent to the Centre.”
According to the World Resources Institute, out of 100 billion tons of resources that enter the economy every year, only 8.6 per cent is recycled. Since 1970, the use of resources has tripled and could double again by 2050 if business continues as usual.
“We understand how critical it is to move away from a linear economic model to a circular model. Our focus is on creating a regenerative system that helps us make better use of finite resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect the well-being of our biodiversity and boost the business of the various entities that make up the KLCC precinct,” continued Pryor.
The integrated KLCC precinct is a 40-hectare city-within-a-city development comprising the world’s tallest twin towers, a purpose-built venue, numerous four- to five-star hotels, a shopping mall and a recreational park.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and its charitable arm, the GBTA Foundation, have revealed new developments in its commitment, partnering and programming in sustainability to empower the global business travel industry to reduce carbon emissions and build a greener future.
Recently, GBTA became a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. Officially launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021, the Glasgow Declaration unites travel and tourism behind a common set of pathways for climate action, aligning the sector with global commitments and catalysing collaborative solutions to the many challenges facing businesses and destinations globally.
GBTA is among the 230 supporting organisations that have stepped forward to date to help accelerate climate action in tourism and take action to cut emissions in half by 2030 and achieve Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.
GBTA has also entered into a strategic partnership with the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance to enhance collaborative action to enable the hospitality industry to have a lasting positive impact. A key pillar for joint action will be to drive the uptake of a consistent approach to carbon measurement for the accommodation sector.
This is why GBTA recognises the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative, the carbon calculation methodology developed by the Alliance, as a go-to standard measurement which is included in GBTA’s revamped Sustainability Toolkit, a guide for corporate travel managers to track and improve the environmental performance on their travel programmes.
Finally, GBTA will be hosting its first Global Sustainability Summit on November 8, 2022, in Brussels, focusing on Driving Action to Net Zero Business Travel. This one-day, high-level event, will bring together speakers, experts, industry and policy leaders to outline concrete solutions to decarbonise business travel, in alignment with the Paris Climate Goals – and concurrently to the 27th UN Climate Summit in Egypt.
Speakers include Walter Goetz, head of cabinet for EU Transport commissioner Adina Vălean; Brune Poirson, chief sustainability officer for Accor and former French secretary of state for the environment; Paul Abbott, CEO, American Express Global Business Travel; Glenn Mandziuk, CEO, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance; and Kim Carnahan, head of the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance, among others.
Gabrielle Walker, founder and director of Valence Solutions and non-profit, Rethinking Removals, will also talk about The Climate for Change and what a low carbon future looks like for business travel.
Priority Pass has opened the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at Hong Kong International Airport.
The lounge is located in Terminal 1, West Hall, Level 7, Departures Level, near gate 40, and is also accessible for passengers departing from the East Hall via Shuttle or a 15-minute walk.
The lounge design and details are specific to that location, drawing inspiration from the host city through elements such as locally curated menus and art. It will include comfortable spaces for working and relaxing, fresh and seasonal dining options, signature cocktails, local beer and a curated wine list. There will also be complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi and plenty of outlets, televisions and more.
The space will also feature an in-lounge digital experience, where customers can use the service to order food and drinks, as well as access digital media and entertainment, including local newspapers and magazines.
Hours of operation will start at 08:00 – 20:00 and will be lengthened when passenger traffic picks up.
Business events specialists in Tokyo are juggling multiple RFPs that have swept in as soon as signs of reopening emerged for Japan earlier in August, with interest and enquiries surging further after entry barriers were lifted on October 11.
Speaking to TTGmice at a business networking event on October 28 in Tokyo, organised by the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB), Shinichi Sawa, secretariat of DMO Roppongi and a representative of Grand Hyatt Tokyo, said his hotel has been getting a daily average of 10 RFPs since the October 11 reopening was announced in September, while international meetings, conventions and incentives have resumed very swiftly.
The intense demand for Tokyo now is no surprise, opined Shota Fukami, a travel consultant with DMC Beauty of Japan (BOJ), as the capital region is often the first destination that comes to mind when companies and associations are considering Japan for their events.
“Many DMCs, not just ours, are very busy responding to client requests and enquiries,” Fukami said, adding that the bulk of RFPs received by BOJ come from the US and Europe, with some from Hong Kong.
Not only has BOJ confirmed several last-minute bookings, it is also in the midst of creating new programmes for 2023 pitches.
TAS Co., a Tokyo-based DMC, is working on confirming several projects with Indonesian clients that were postponed during the pandemic; these are likely to take place in 2023.
As halal facilities are easily accessible in major cities like Tokyo, TAS Co.’s sales and marketing officer, Agusta Dwi Lawriko Ridzwan, said the destination is a hot favourite among his Indonesian clients.
Fukami noted that present demand is blurring the lines between off-peak and peak travel seasons, creating a valuable opportunity for DMCs to demonstrate Tokyo’s year-round appeal to international groups.
While the peak seasons for inbound travel used to be March and April in spring, and October and November in autumn, events have returned since August when the progressive reopening of Japan kicked off.
He believes that it is up to DMCs to create itineraries across seasons to encourage clients to hold their events outside of peak periods.
“Offering a variety of itineraries different from what clients were used to pre-pandemic also creates a chance for us to introduce lesser-known areas in Tokyo,” he added.
“Most foreigners are not familiar with the regions beyond the Tokyo city centre. They may not have heard of places like Tama region or Hachioji city, so we can promote experiences in these areas and change their perception of the Tokyo metropolis as a MICE destination.”
The St Regis Goa Resort has appointed Satish Kumar as general manager.
Kumar was previously general manager at The Leela Goa and Conrad Pune.
He has over two decades of experience in luxury hospitality, having led hotel operations with The Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, The Taj Group of Hotels, and overseas properties like The Marriott Marquis Doha, The Westin & Le Méridien City Centre Bahrain, and JW Marriott Jakarta.
