Cygnett Hotels & Resorts has appointed Amit Mahajan as chief growth officer.
He is responsible for spearheading the business and product development efforts at Cygnett by implementing new growth initiatives, products, and programmes.
With over 23 years of progressive work experience, he takes on his new role after having served as director of development with InterGlobe Hotels.
The Westin Singapore recently welcomed its new director of sales and marketing, Jenny Lim.
In her new role, she will oversee the hotel’s sales and marketing strategies.
Previously director of sales and marketing at Parkroyal on Beach Road, Singapore, Lim brings with her two decades worth of knowledge and expertise in sales and marketing.
Travel buyers feel that traveller satisfaction and well-being is the second most important travel programme priority after duty of care, according to a recent BCD Travel survey of 118 travel buyers worldwide, with 92% of survey respondents listing the topic as extremely or very important.
Despite this emphasis, only 62% of the travel buyers surveyed said their companies provide traveller well-being support and only 14% said their companies plan to increase their budget for traveller well-being in 2022.
BCD previously also conducted a well-being survey of 875 business travellers in February. The surveys reveal similarities and differences in buyer and traveller sentiment:
Travel buyers can address the differences above by increasing traveller awareness of well-being programs and aligning policies and well-being measures with traveller values and needs.
“This survey reveals a significant gap between well-being supply and demand, as well as differing views on which measures most support traveller well-being,” said Mike Janssen, global chief operating officer and chief commercial officer for BCD Travel.
“Travel buyers should align their policies to what their travellers value and need. At the same time, they may also need to put more time and effort in clearly communicating the benefits of mental support, which is currently valued less than physical support.”
For the complete survey results, please click here.
Double-bill trade event, IT&CM Asia and CTW APAC, will return as a hybrid event this September.
Organised by TTG Asia Media, the in-person event will be held September 20-22 in Bangkok, while the virtual version will run from September 20-28 for international delegates who chose to attend remotely.
Delegates to the three-day physical event will be treated to Brand Engagement sessions that feature the latest highlights and developments; face-to-face Scheduled Meets; get to attend social events like the opening ceremony and welcome reception; as well as participate in a pre-show or post-show tour of Thailand.
They will also have bonus virtual meeting slots for in-person delegates to connect with remote attendees at timings friendly to those based outside the Asia-Pacific region.
Virtual attendees meanwhile, will be able to access exclusive content such as corporate travel discussions during the CTW Asia-Pacific Conference; Brand Showcase Presentations featuring the latest highlights and developments by MICE destinations, suppliers and corporate brands; and Buyer Procurement Showcases shared by MICE, Association and Corporate buyers.
Conversations with delegates can be initiated anytime during the virtual event run, and live hosted sessions with interactive games – and prizes to be won – will also be held. There will also be sessions for exhibitors and buyers to expand their networks and contacts.
All buyer registrations are complimentary, while a confirmation fee applies for all hosted buyers. More details will be released soon.
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) has expanded its portfolio with the official opening of SMX Convention Center Clark.
The second standalone convention centre after SMX Manila, the property boasts a gross leasable space of more than 4,000m2, comprising two-level event venues and a mezzanine floor for offices. Function spaces comprise three trade halls, three function rooms, and 14 smaller meeting rooms.
“SMX Convention Center’s presence in this vibrant district of the North solidifies SMHCC’s unprecedented growth and optimism as Clark Freeport is poised to become the preferred MICE and tourism destination in the Asia-Pacific region by 2030,” said SMHCC executive vice president Peggy E. Angeles.
Located adjacent to Park Inn by Radisson Clark – also owned by SMHCC – SMX Convention Center Clark is a 16-minute drive from the airport via Manuel Roxas highway and approximately a 20-minute drive via Gil Puyat Clark East Perimeter Road.
In total, the SMHCC portfolio is comprised of nine hotel properties with a combined inventory of more than 2,200 rooms and over 41,000m2 of leasable convention space.
Asia-focused event technology company EventX has acquired an undisclosed amount of virtual land on the decentralised digital real estate platform The Sandbox to gear up for a metaverse shift.
The purchased virtual land will be used for building an event-focused digital world. It will allow event organisers to hold conferences and events, create virtual experiences to shift from Web2 to Web3 in light of the metaverse’s emergence, and prepare for a more digital future.
This move is in response to its EventX Metaverse & Event Trend Outlook 2022 report, which found that over 80 per cent of those surveyed agreed that holding events in the metaverse would bring a positive impact on their organisation’s revenue.
In total, EventX surveyed 1,500 event organisers and experts across large enterprises and small-to-media businesses in Asia about their views on event setting.
Other report findings include 70 per cent of those surveyed were planning to host hybrid or virtual events in the coming 12 months; and digital footprint for analysis, enabling digital transformation and provision of flexibility and variability being the first three most important elements needed for online experiences.
Respondents also rated Education & Learning, Employee engagement, Showcase, Entertainment streaming and E-commerce as the top five beneficiary sectors from running virtual events.
“Hybrid events are likely to overtake in-person events even in the post-pandemic world, and the world will expect more advanced technology to enhance the experience of going to an event. Striving for continuous growth, we will be ramping up our metaverse strategy to get our clients prepared for the new digital age,” said Sum Wong, CEO of EventX.
Sydney-based culinary and events experts Laissez-faire Catering and supplier of modern Australian native products Indigiearth have brought the first-ever Indigenous degustation menu to The Calyx.
The Calyx, a venue in the heart of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. has a capacity of 400, boasts contemporary architecture, a large-scale living green wall, and indoor and outdoor event space options.
Event planners will be able to select a full Indigenous degustation menu starting from A$240 (US$172) per person, or tailor their cuisine to include individual native flavours mixed in with Western tastes.
Sara Flaksbard, general manager, Laissez-faire Catering said winning the contract to be the sole caterers at The Calyx for 10 years, meant being inventive and embracing what the venue represents.
“We wanted to provide something truly unique for The Calyx, a food experience in harmony with the beautiful organic space. It’s the perfect location to fuse gastronomy of native flavours and produce with the venue’s stunning flora life,” said Flaksbard.
Founder of Indigiearth, Sharon Winsor, added: “This is such a fantastic opportunity to showcase Australian Indigenous food and it’s a privilege to be involved. Not only do I get to share knowledge with other chefs, but I have the opportunity to inspire a new way of approaching menu collaborations and creations by including Indigenous philosophy.”
As well as catering for the venue’s functions, Laissez-faire Catering will also manage the café – in partnership with co-founder of the hugely popular Fishbowl, Side Room and Fish Shop, Nathan Dalah – within The Calyx which is set to re-open in July with a new kitchen and a botanic-inspired concept.
Event brief
Pre-pandemic, Switzerland Tourism – Switzerland’s national tourism promotion agency ¬– would conduct seven or eight events every year in various South-east Asian cities where Asian travel trade buyers could meet and do business with top Swiss destination representatives and suppliers. Such events were part of the Switzerland Travel Experience (STE) series.
However, against a backdrop of Covid-19 and travel restrictions, the annual STE had to be conducted virtually for the past two years.
The twice-yearly virtual STE events were able to generate thousands of one-on-one business meetings. While this format was a practical way for the destination to stay connected with Asian travel trade buyers, Batiste Pilet, Switzerland Tourism’s director for South-east Asia, told TTGmice that the team was always looking forward to resuming face-to-face events.
As more Asian governments begin to ease their strict border closures, Switzerland Tourism saw an opportune moment to revive STE as an in-person event.
“Since October 2021, travel restrictions have been gradually easing up on all sides and the need to catch up with trade partners became even stronger,” said Pilet.
“Electing Singapore as the event’s central location was a pragmatic decision, as Singapore had established Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) with all the countries (that needed to be) involved, including Switzerland, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia,” he recalled.
The VTL with South Korea was essential, as some Swiss partners had to use it as a transit to access South-east Asia.
At the end of January 2022, when Omicron fears were settled and Singapore moved to lift the Omicron-induced freeze on the VTL scheme, Pilet’s team made a swift decision to begin planning for a March gathering.
Event highlights
STE 2022 was envisioned to fulfil an additional objective – and that is to “reconnect and show our confidence in and support to South-east Asia’s outbound travel recovery”, said Pilet.
As the event progressed, Switzerland Tourism discovered that STE fulfilled another important but unexpected objective.
“Most of the travel trade (buyers) from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia took their first international trip in two years to attend STE. We are proud that Switzerland triggered this opportunity,” remarked Pilet.
The event was also momentous for Switzerland Tourism’s South-east Asia team, as it was also their first gathering since the pandemic.
STE 2022 featured 24 important Swiss tourism organisations, such as Jungfrau Region Tourism, Matterhorn Region, Schilthorn Cableway, Swiss Travel System and The Dolder Grand. A total of 30 representatives met with 233 buyers from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The programme featured two days of meetings and workshops at Fairmont Singapore’s function rooms, as well as a dinner event at the hotel’s ballroom.
According to Dominique Oi, MICE manager, South-east Asia at Switzerland Tourism, the programme was focused on facilitating critical meetings and destination workshops, and had to be planned as such to comply with Singapore’s Safe Management Measures (SMM) for events.
Challenges
Batiste identified three main challenges his team faced in designing and delivering STE 2022.
The first was the short timeframe of just five weeks to conceptualise and execute the event. To resolve this, Switzerland Tourism chose to host all events in a single venue. Supervised antigen rapid tests were conducted by Fullerton Health at Raffles City Shopping Centre, which is physically connected to Fairmont Hotel, where delegates were accommodated and business activities were held.
At the same time, overseas buyers were asked to organise their own travel to Singapore. This took the pressure off the organisers and helped to speed up the preparation process.
The second issue was the need to understand and comply with the SMM.
Pilet said the event needed the approval of the Singapore Tourism Board to allow it to be run under the MICE Pilot Event scheme.
The only solution for this was to “read, read and read” the many requirements and then be ready to revise the event should the need arise, said Pilet.
The approval process took 21 working days and came with some five rounds of amendments.
“Thanks to Singapore Tourism Board’s careful review, our event was executed smoothly in accordance with SMM,” he said.
A third challenge was the number of last minute changes.
“We faced more than the usual number of last minute changes that came with cancellations as well as new registrations,” he said, explaining that some attendees had to drop out due to Covid-19 infections and be replaced by others. There were also cases of incomplete travel documents that must be resolved quickly.
In resolving the pressures of last minute changes, Pilet learnt that a flexible venue was critical and that digital documentation – instead of printed materials – allowed for quicker changes.
Both Pilet and Oi are proud of STE 2022’s accomplishment.
“One must be willing to take up challenges with a positive mindset,” said Oi, as she recalled the process of delivering STE 2022.
“It’s good to be busy again for tangible projects that make our suppliers and our trade partners happy. This positive energy is only possible with offline events,” concluded Pilet.
Event Switzerland Travel Experience 2022
Organiser Switzerland Tourism
Venue Fairmont Singapore
Dates March 7-9, 2022
Attendance 269
Emmanuel Menanteau is the new President for Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific’s Regional Board, commencing June 1, 2022 to end of 2024.
Having served ACI Asia-Pacific as the first vice president, Menanteau has also been appointed to the ACI World Governing Board.
Four new Regional Board Directors were also named for a three-year term, commencing June 2022: Iskandar Mizal Bin Mahmood, managing director of Malaysia Airports Holdings; Kyung Wook Kim, president and CEO of Incheon International Airport Corporation; Cheok Kuan Kan, executive director of Macau International Airport Company; and Hyeong Jung Yoon, president and CEO of Korea Airports Corporation.
Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) has released programme details for their upcoming conference, Evolve 2022.
Happening from June 29-30 in Melbourne at Sofitel Melbourne On Collins, the theme of the one-day event is Building confidence through best practice.
Speakers from both within and outside the industry include the former head of innovation & creativity at Disney, Duncan Wardle, who will kick off the conference with Think Different – The Disney Way! keynote; followed by retired commodore Martin Brooker’s Leadership Under Fire presentation; and Holly Ransom, one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women will deliver a keynote on empowerment.
Other wisdom to be shared from beyond the sector will come gained in the context of brands including QANTAS, R U OK?, and Salesforce.
The plenaries will be complemented by breakout sessions across the three pillars of Building Confidence, Best Practice and Future Leaders featuring industry experts. Sector leaders such as Julia Swanson (Melbourne Convention Bureau), Simon Baggs (Lateral Event Management), Kate Smith (WALDRONSMITH Management), Nicole Walker (Arinex), Ian Whitworth (Scene Change), Belinda Doery (Solterbeck Events) and Damien Hodgkinson (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) are some of the speakers delegates can expect to learn from.
Supported by major partners Melbourne Convention Bureau, Accor and EventsAIR, the conference will also include a Welcome Reception on June 29, and a networking event the following night.
The full programme, registration and pricing details are available from the event website.