New event space in Singapore embraces Wabi Sabi concept
Designed by the people behind ANDSOFORTH and Warehouse16, Haus217 is a brand new venue in Singapore that takes on the Japanese lifestyle concept of Wabi Sabi, which is to embrace imperfection.
Haus217 is located within a 60-year-old shophouse, and its interiors feature meticulously-crafted stained wood accents, reminiscent of European travel homes.
Natural light floods the hall through seven large double door windows, sweeping arched passageways provides spaciousness and for texture, cement plastered walls. There is also a dedicated bar, which can serve up speciality coffee, tea, cocktails, wine and champagne. Event planners also have a free rein to decide on a suitable caterer.
Haus217 is also fully equipped with Two 5000lumen Panasonic projectors (PT-VMV50), a Yamaha Surface white sound system, 2 SENNHEISER Premium Wireless Handheld Microphones, and full spec Mac
mini.
Based on current Safe Management Measures, the space is able to hold up to a maximum of 100 people, good for product launches, networking sessions, and corporate meetings. Rental rates start at S$5,800 (US$4,315) for a half-day booking, and include the usage of the AV system, as well as tables and chairs.
Contact hello@haus217.com.sg for more information.
Ovolo Hotel Group rolls out Plant’d initiative
Ovolo Hotels has adopted a plant-based philosophy by making a commitment to vegetarian-lead offering, Plant’d, across its hotel restaurants globally.
Billed as the first hotel brand globally to do so, this move towards ethical eating and conscious cuisine follows the success of its Year of the Veg campaign which launched in October 2020, where venues transitioned to a vegetarian and plant-based cuisine offering for an initial 365 days.
“Meat is being removed for a second year in a row at Ovolo Hotels. With a number of our Ovolo venues already serving plant-based cuisine, we have decided to go the full 100 per cent… we want to ensure we are doing our bit to help preserve our environment, promote healthy eating and enhance the image of amazing vegetarian and plant-based dining,” said Ovolo Group’s founder and CEO, Girish Jhunjhnuwala.
Ovolo’s Group creative culinary partner, Ian Curley has worked with the hotel’s restaurants across the group including Hong Kong, Australia and Bali to take the Plant’d veg pledge.
On transitioning to a vegetarian-lead offering, Curley, stated: “A key focus for us has been ensuring we are creating something that still appeals to everyone – from vegans to flexitarians, and those who are simply keen on expanding their palette.”
The Ovolo team has also developed a Plant’d Playbook whitepaper which includes information on the reasons Ovolo has made the switch with their F&B offering; what to know before you go veg; tips on defining F&B menus; and learnings along the way. The whitepaper is publicly available via Ovolo’s Plant’d webpage on ovolohotels.com.
Singapore Airshow 2022 takes flight today
The biennial Singapore Airshow 2022 kicked off today at the Changi Exhibition Centre with a strong optimism for industry recovery and a focus on sustainability.
Happening until February 18, this eighth edition welcomes more than 13,000 trade attendees and almost 600 participating companies – such as Airbus, Rolls-Royce, and Lockheed Martin – from more than 39 countries/regions; representing more than 70 per cent of the top 20 global aerospace companies.
“We are heartened by the support and participation of the most influential aerospace and defence companies worldwide. Their presence displays the industry’s resilience and confidence for blue skies ahead,” said Leck Chet Lam, managing director, Experia, organiser of Singapore Airshow 2022.
“The stage is set for strategic conversations, exchange of ideas and significant partnerships that will catalyse the recovery of the industry in Asia.
In line with the global agenda on climate change, Alton Aviation Consultancy will be presenting the inaugural Sustainable Aviation Forum on February 16 and 17. Experts from both the public and private sectors will discuss challenges and opportunities within sustainable aviation, including the topic of sustainability of future technology in areas of air mobility and aviation operations. Focus areas include the roles of regulators, innovations in engine technology, sustainable aviation fuel, and maintenance, repair and overhaul.
The recovery of the aviation industry will also be addressed this year. Top executives from Avolon, BOC Aviation, CFM International, Malaysia Airlines and Rex Airlines, will discuss and debate the pace of market recovery, business resilience and sustainable aviation solutions at the Aviation CEO Forum. Organised in association with FlightGlobal, this platform provides leaders with the opportunity to exchange views on the optimism in Asia Pacific’s projected growth and how industry players can come together to build a better future.
All attendees have to be pre-registered, fully-vaccinated with the World Health Organisation Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) vaccines and adhere to the prevailing safe management measures. These include mandatory mask-wearing, safe distancing protocols, designated F&B zones, and regular disinfection of event spaces.
There are no public days for this edition, but members of the public will be able to catch the acrobatic flying displays via the livestream on Singapore Airshow’s Official Facebook page.
Taiwan plans shorter quarantine for travellers by March
Taiwan aims to ease her blanket on-arrival quarantine requirement for people entering the island from March, in recognition of the need to resume normal life and reopen to the world, the government said yesterday.
While Taiwan has never implemented a full border closure during the pandemic, arrivals have generally been limited to citizens and foreign residence permit holders and with a compulsory two-week quarantine on arrival.
The government now intends to cut on-arrival quarantine to 10 days before the middle of March. Health minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters that infections could be detected within that period with testing.
In an interview with Taipei Times, Chen said the new measures would also permit the entry of foreign business travellers and that the Central Epidemic Command Center might establish business travel bubbles to facilitate shorter quarantine periods for such travellers.
However, a complete removal of on-arrival quarantine before the summer holidays was unlikely, according to Chen.
Standing alongside reopening plans is an acknowledgment that Taiwan will need to reopen safely. Conditions for Taiwan’s reopening include sufficient medical supplies and preparations, as well as a continued expansion of Taiwan’s vaccinated population. Some 30 per cent of Taiwan’s 23.5 million residents have obtained a booster shot. The government wants the figure to hit 50 per cent before easing entry requirements.
News media reported that premier Su Tseng-chang expressed confidence in the government’s ability to cope with rising local infections that might come with the reopening.
“The government must also take into account livelihoods and economic development, gradually return to normal life, and step out to the world,” stated the office of premier Su Tseng-chang.
MACEOS calls for full border reopening in March
The Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS) has urged the Malaysian government to consider the National Recovery Council’s (NRC) recommendation on February 8 to reopen Malaysia’s borders as early as March 1 without the need for mandatory quarantine.
However, the final reopening decision remains with Malaysia’s cabinet. As of February 11, prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob indicated that the Cabinet had yet to discuss NRC’s recommendation. The Ministry of Health of Malaysia has yet to provide feedback on the recommendation as well.
MACEOS president, Francis Teo, stressed that the reopening of the borders will allow the restart of in-person business events with international participation. Instead of quarantines, Teo sought stronger precautionary measures if needed, to ensure the hassle-free entry and stay of business events travellers.
He said Malaysia’s business events cannot sustain on local participation, which contributes just 30 to 40 per cent of attendance – a level below break-even point.
Yap Sook Ling, managing director, Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel, opined that for foreign tourists to enter the country, entry requirements should not be too restrictive as it would turn travellers away, especially if they are short-stay event attendees.
Earlier in June 2020, MACEOS submitted a comprehensive health and safety framework with best practices from around the world as guidelines for organising business events and meetings in the new norm. Measures included the sanitisation of venues, health checks of delegates, crowd control, procedures for contact tracing, and social distancing measures.
As such, he was confident that Malaysia and the business events community were more than ready to receive international visitors.
Universal Holidays Travel and Tourism founder and CEO, Zahira Tahir, shared that she has received interest from agents based in India and Pakistan to bring incentive groups to Malaysia in 1H2022, but pointed out that this would be highly dependent on the opening of borders as well as the entry requirements.
Constellar appoints Luke Han as group M&A Director
Luke Han has been appointed to the newly-created position of director, group mergers & acquisitions (M&A) at Constellar.
In this role, he will drive Constellar’s acquisition and growth strategy to achieve the company’s goal of becoming a leading business events player in Asia and beyond.
Han has 18 years of experience in investments. Prior to Constellar, he covered investments in the business events, financing platforms and clean energy sectors as a director in Temasek’s Enterprise Development Group from 2019 to 2021, identifying and developing new business enterprises.
He started his career at Temasek in 2004, and also covered the natural resources and technology sectors previously.
NZ’s MICE sector welcomes fresh government support
Business events in New Zealand with over 200 attendees have been included – for the first time – in the country’s Events Transition Support Payment scheme (ETSP).
Under ETSP, the New Zealand government will underwrite costs so that organisers of an eligible event will be able to claim 90 per cent of unrecoverable costs if the event cannot be held due to public health measures for events. It will be valid for events scheduled from April 4, 2022, to January 31, 2023.
Business events must have been publicly announced or have been active in the market prior to January 23, 2022, for events scheduled to begin before July 1, 2022; or at least four months prior to the event date for events scheduled to begin on or after July 1, 2022.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment will have a new eligibility form online by March 1 and the changes take effect on April 4.
The original ETSP scheme was introduced in November 2021 to give event organisers financial certainty to host large-scale events such as festivals over summer, but did not include business events then.
Business Events Industry Aotearoa’s chief executive Lisa Hopkin welcomed the timely announcement, adding that the New Zealand government recognises the high value of business events industry and gives long-overdue certainty to organisers, venues and clients to help plan ahead.
“When a business event is held, it not only brings much-needed contribution to the tourism and hospitality sectors, but also impacts positively on the community. It supports a highly skilled and dedicated supply chain, who have really felt the impact of restrictions over the past couple of years,” she stressed.
UFI launches inaugural Asia-Pacific Week
UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, will kick off its first UFI Asia-Pacific Week, taking place from March 28 to April 1.
The week-long programme comprises a series of local events across the region, allowing UFI members and the wider community in Asia to gather in person where they are based, as travel within the region remains highly restricted.
The UFI team in Hong Kong is working with UFI Ambassadors in 12 countries such as China, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan, where members will be responsible for organising a variety of local gatherings – from charity runs to cocktails, dinner and cultural events.
Led by Mark Cochrane, UFI’s regional director in Asia-Pacific, the event will offer all industry professionals the opportunity to network and share ideas.
“The aim is to bring our members and all industry professionals together for networking, content and some fun. The industry in the region has not had the chance to come together since 2019, at the UFI Asia-Pacific Conference in Tokyo and UFI Global Congress in Bangkok.
“The pandemic has encouraged us all to think more creatively, and the UFI Asia-Pacific Week will be a great way for our community to gather locally and look ahead to better days,” said Cochrane.
CWT invests US$100 million in tech, innovation and product investment plans
CWT has committed to a US$100 million investment in the myCWT travel management platform, as it moves forward with the implementation of its previously announced recapitalisation plan.
The first tranche of investment is allocated towards new capabilities coming to market in the next six months.
These include responsible travel initiatives helping travellers and travel managers achieve more purposeful travel and travel programmes – in response to 67 per cent of CWT global customers stating that their company’s sustainability goals are more important since the pandemic.
Platform connectivity will also be enhanced to ensure a seamless and productive digital experience for travel managers and their travellers – reflective of the increased role technology plays in increasing traveller confidence as they resume travelling. There will also be broader content to further expand the breadth of travel choice and trip options – ensuring greater flexibility, to fit evolving travel program needs.
On the back of new features released in the myCWT platform late last year, the new investment plan this quarter includes the introduction of carbon footprint indicators. The rest of the platform’s new capabilities will be delivered throughout the rest of this year.
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The PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2022-2024 Full Report released on February 15 is predicting international visitor arrivals (IVAs) growth rates of 126 per cent to 84 per cent for mild, medium, and severe scenarios in 2022 versus 2021.
The increase in the absolute number of IVAs is predicted therefore to range from 72.5 million to 175.7 million under the severe and mild scenarios respectively, lifting the total volume of visitor arrivals to between 159 million and 315 million, under those same scenarios respectively.
While it is a positive and welcome development after two years of extremely difficult conditions, the international travel and tourism sector of the Asia-Pacific region still has much to repair and revitalise.
The forecasted increases in 2022 arrivals, for example, still only return them to 23-45 per cent of the level of foreign arrivals received in pre-pandemic 2019.
Moving forward to 2024, IVA growth over the next three years is projected to be positive, with the volume of IVAs in 2024 being equal to, or better than that of 2019, under two of the three scenarios.
PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera said: “Our latest forecast report numbers, based on data as of November 2021 reviewed in conjunction with our recent research advisory panel updates provided on January 24, 2021, provide the definitive outlook for Asia-Pacific visitor arrival forecasts. As noted by our panel, the effect of the Omicron variant is projected to have a small incremental impact for now, with the key earlier assumptions still driving the forecast.
“Equitable access and deployment of vaccines plus a practical risk-based approach to health and safety protocols in travel is foundational to not only the travel sector’s sustained recovery but to the overall global recovery from the pandemic.
“We share the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) view that the pharmaceutical sector must address barriers to access and affordability for all destinations. Furthermore, as acknowledged by the WHO, travel bans will not prevent international spread. Instead, travel channels should remain open with clear, practical guidelines as recently shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and WHO.”
Ortiguera also noted: “Various research studies and early travel patterns indicate a heightened consumer interest in a pivot to the right side of travel – longer journeys, more authentic experiences, and nature-based, wellness-oriented, and socially-conscious travel offerings are among the key trends for today’s travellers.
“Destinations can expedite their recovery by staying top-of-mind with consumers, communicating requirements with clarity and consistency, and offering a sustainable, healthy destination experience.”