It was a reunion of sorts when Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau – in partnership with the Thailand Incentive and Convention Association – brought together more than 50 trade buyers and media from both short- and longhaul markets for the ongoing Thailand MICE Familiarisation Trip.
Thailand MICE Familiarisation Trip brings business event planners and the media from all over the world to Bangkok and Phuket
The long awaited international gathering kicked off on March 27 and will conclude on April 1.
The welcome dinner on Monday night was held onboard Saffron Cruise by Banyan Tree Bangkok. The latest culinary journey to float out onto the Chao Phraya River, this unique experience combines glittering views of the city with an authentic dinner that showcases Thailand’s rich culinary heritage.
Dusit International has appointed Nichlas Maratos as vice president – commercial, where he will be responsible for planning, developing, and implementing global commercial strategies and initiatives.
Maratos brings more than 20 years of experience working in senior sales and marketing positions for global hospitality companies such as Starwood Hotels and Resorts (and subsequently Marriott), and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.
Prior to joining Dusit, he was executive vice president – sales for Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. Before that, he served as vice president – sales, distribution & marketing for Asia-Pacific (Ex. China) for Marriott International, following a long career with Starwood.
Hideaway Beach Resort & Spa in the Maldives, operated by local operator Lily Hotels, has promoted Christophe Adam from resident manager to general manager.
With 27 years of hospitality experience, he brings a wealth of experience to Hideaway.
This French native has worked for LUX Resorts & Hotels in roles such as resident manager and regional director of sales and marketing before joining Lily Hotels.
Melbourne’s successful hosting of AIME 2022, Australia’s first in-person international travel trade gathering since the pandemic began, has inspired confidence in the industry’s recovery among participating Asian event planners.
The event, which concluded last Wednesday, hosted 27 buyers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and India, making Asia the largest represented region participating this year amid continued travel and quarantine restrictions.
AIME 2022 concluded on Wednesday with about 1,500 participants meeting with minimal restrictions
Many buyers told TTGmice they were inspired by seeing what was possible after two years of hard borders and gathering restrictions, and appreciated the flexibility shown by suppliers to adapt to new challenges as countries begin easing restrictions for overseas travel.
“I found suppliers to be really open-minded about ways to work with us, which is really important right now because everyone needs to adapt,” said Elaine Lau, managing director of La Global Travel in Malaysia.
“Coming to AIME has also given us an opportunity to start travel and business events again. We need to begin to show everyone else that it’s safe to get together and do events, and we need to kickstart quickly to recover from the last two years,” she added.
CEO of Indonesia’s Samasta Tour and Travel, Teguh Basuki, said attending AIME was like experiencing the “rebirth” of the travel industry. “For me, it was important for people to see events happening safely; even more important than the usual price and destination considerations,” he observed.
Hosted buyers also shared that they were surprised to find an abundance of new products and services despite the pandemic.
“The number of new developments (I have learnt about) has been very interesting. Singaporeans like visiting Australia, so for the next few months, I foresee a lot of travel to Melbourne and the rest of Australia,” said Joevi Tay, sales manager at Singapore’s EU Mice.
La Global Travel’s Lau and Samasta Tour and Travel’s Teguh at AIME 2022 in Melbourne (photo credit: Adelaine Ng)
Melbourne Convention Bureau CEO Julia Swanson told TTGmice that instilling confidence in organising events was the most important achievement for AIME. The event attracted about 1,500 participants, with some 900 people attending the Welcome Event on Tuesday night.
“Recovery will take a while and that’s okay. Event planners are rethinking their business models and exploring doing things in a slightly different way. We’ve now had the time to work with them to give them some new ideas or incorporate new things into their programme,” said Swanson.
Swanson also said interest out of Asia for small- to medium-sized groups is increasing, and this market is expected to return quickly now that air access has been re-established.
Melbourne is expected to host 97 business events between now and the end of the year worth A$195 million (US$147 million), attracting almost 50,000 delegates. Events include The World Block Chain Summit and the International Congress on Obesity in September and October respectively.
The demand for outbound incentives from India will continue to surge this year – buoyed by the Indian government’s recent decision to ease travel restrictions – and both tourism boards and travel consultants have taken notice.
“The lifting of restrictions on scheduled international flights has proved to be a huge booster to outbound travel intent, especially for MICE. We believe that groups are more than ready and are raring to travel,” said Neliswa Nkani, hub head – MEISEA, South African Tourism. “In fact, we recently booked a group of 800+ pax from a renowned pharmaceutical company in India.”
Australia is one of the destinations in demand among India outbound incentive groups secured by SOTC Travel; Melbourne pictured
The NTO recently hosted Indian buyers at the 2022 edition of Meetings Africa in Johannesburg – the African continent’s largest tradeshow for the business events industry. The NTO is also planning to host Indian travel buyers at Indaba 2022, a trade fair by the African Travel and Tourism Association scheduled from May 3 to 5.
Currently, about 28 per cent of all Indian visitors to South Africa are corporate travellers.
Iyad Rasbey, executive director, destination tourism development, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, has similarly noticed that incentive group travel from India is “ready to make a comeback”.
“Insurance, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and FMCG industry are sectors that are driving the demand for incentive travel. DMCs are creating programmes that include Ras Al Khaimah for activities and nature-based adventures for incentive groups,” he added.
The tourism board will be conducting two roadshows next month in New Delhi and Mumbai to raise awareness about its various tourism products and experiences for different verticals, including the business events market.
S D Nandakumar, president & country head – B2B & foreign exchange, SOTC Travel, concurred with Rasbey’s observations.
He said: “Over 85 per cent of our corporate movement is incentive-driven and we have multiple groups ranging from 40 attendees to over 4,000 lined up, from varied sectors inclusive of pharmaceutical, insurance, cement, textile, FMCG, paint, automobile, banking, finance, and agriculture.”
For these groups, shorthaul destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka and Australia rank the highest, while Europe remains popular for longhaul groups.
Joining the destination marketing frenzy in India is Tourism Australia, which held a Business Event Australia Showcase in Mumbai from March 10 to 11. India’s top 15 MICE agents were invited to interact with business events stakeholders from Australia.
On Australia’s event calendar this year is the T20 Cricket World Cup from October 22 to November 13, which the NTO expects to draw a strong incentive travel demand from India.
“This tournament is going to be a major game-changer from a MICE perspective as there are a lot of corporates that are showing interest to host their dealers and employees during the sporting event,” Nishant Kashikar, country manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia, told TTGmice.
Meera Charnalia, senior vice president and head – MICE, Thomas Cook (India), said: “Corporates are displaying a keen interest in outdoor and experiential activities for team bonding sessions, masterchef classes, and exploring hidden local gems, water sports, and exclusive sundowner events.”
She added that most companies have held back on spending for the last two years, resulting in a growing appetite for “exclusive experiences” along with an increased budget.
Thomas Cook (India) has also noticed keen interest in organising events at luxury hotels, with clients ready to splurge on Michelin-star dining experiences.
“We have a robust pipeline of group sizes ranging from 50 to 600. On average, budgets we are seeing this year range between Rs. 75,000 (US$983) to Rs. 100,000 per delegate for a stay of three nights at a shorthaul destination, to approximately Rs. 175,000 to Rs. 250,000 at a mid- or longhaul destination,” Charnalia revealed.
Popular shorthaul destinations Charnalia’s clients are keen on include Thailand, the UAE and the Maldives, while longhaul destinations include France, the UK, and Switzerland.
Companies in Australia seem to be completely abandoning virtual meetings for 2Q2022, according to events technology company Cvent.
This observation was made by Cvent Australia’s director of sales, Jack Ukil, who shared that 95 per cent of the meetings Cvent is supporting in the second quarter have gone in favour of hybrid or fully in-person events, providing insight into Australia’s appetite to return to face-to-face meetings.
Ukil: Cvent is doubling down on business development management team in response to surge in demand for face-to-face meetings
“It was eye-opening to see how fast our industry is recovering here in Australia, with people craving to get back to in-person,” Ukil shared at AIME in Melbourne on March 22.
“If I compared North America to Australia, I think we have a lot more in-person and hybrid events returning and faster right now, which is surprising to me because they were ahead of the curve. But while we had a few issues with lockdowns, I think overall we handled really well and as a result, we’re back to in-person and hybrid faster than anywhere else across the planet,” he added.
Cvent Australia has been experiencing “non-standard” business growth of 96 per cent year-on-year since the pandemic hit, as clients turned to technology solutions to engage their audience.
This surge in demand for a return to face-to-face meetings is expected to lead to new challenges and “substantial business growth” for Cvent.
“Compared to last year, I’m doubling down on my business development management team. That obviously has a ripple effect and impacts the account management team, which eventually grows as a result, and my client services team grows too,” said Ukil.
Cvent is also investing heavily in enhancing tech solutions for meeting planners further, with plans to offer “CNN-style webinars” that deliver higher quality production standards, more interactive capabilities and community-style functionality to give users the sense of being more connected to a broader group.
Hosting the World Congress of Neurology in Korea will contribute greatly to the recovery of not only the domestic MICE industry but also tourism and related businesses
The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Convention Bureau have set aside US$2.2 million in the budget to support the city’s battered business events industry.
Assistance will cover various areas of the business events industry, such as providing a safe and secure environment for events, where quarantine services, quarantine gates, and specialised sterilisation equipment will be provided at venues.
Seoul’s business events industry has been promised US$2.2 million in government assistance towards recovery
Other types of support include Experience Tour Program and Seoul VR Experience Booth for groups of 50 or more participants with in-person attendance; provision of necessary PCR tests for travel; as well as help in digitalising exhibitions.
Subventions for attracting, hosting, and organising international conferences – regardless of whether they are in-person or hybrid – will be enhanced, and a 3D virtual MICE platform will be offered free-of-charge to organisers.
For instance, the subventions for attracting international conferences will be doubled, and the maximum subvention for international conferences will also be increased when 20 per cent or more participants attend on-site.
The 16th edition of Food and Hotel Malaysia (FHM), Malaysia’s trade-only food and hospitality exhibition, will return next week with a physical edition – the first in two years.
FHM will take place at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) from March 29 to April 1. Organised by Informa Markets Malaysia, the event will mark the first trade fair for the hospitality industry in 2022.
Food and Hotel Malaysia last held its in-person event in 2019
The four-day event will feature 200 participating brands and is expected to welcome over 8,000 attendees during the week. Some of the multinational and Malaysian brands showcasing their latest products, services and innovations include FrieslandCampina Professional, Pastry Pro, Bidfood Malaysia, Golden Pacific Victory, DKSH Malaysia, Unox (Asia) and Bestari Sales & Marketing.
The key themes of FHM 2022 will reflect the latest industry trends, such as plant-based food, food technology, industry 4.0 advancements, pastry innovations and sustainable packaging.
Event highlights include a Pastry Innovation Lab, which will feature live cooking showcases by top chefs from the Professional Culinaire Association every day. The chefs will use innovative techniques, ingredients, and state-of-the-art machinery to craft unique desserts, pastries and showpieces infused with Malaysian and Asian flavours. A total of 15 demonstration sessions and six tasting sessions will be held at the Pastry Innovation Lab over the four days.
FHM 2022 will also herald the return of Culinaire Malaysia. In this year’s culinary competition, up to 1,000 professionals will compete for glory in seven gastronomic categories – Cold Display, Patisserie, Artistic, Butchery Skills, Individual Hot Cooking, Team Challenge and F&B Skills. Members of the public can witness the culinary showdown by paying an admission fee of RM10 (US$2.40) per person.
A series of educational seminars will be held concurrently with the exhibition. The programme lineup includes a Wine Features series by Entwine Consultancy, as well as a Crafted@Culinaire series by AYS Wine & Sake Consultancy, both of which will provide insights into key emerging trends within the regional wine, beer and premium alcoholic beverages industry.
The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) and the Congress Center Basel in Switzerland have signed an IAPCO Convention Centre partnership.
Back in 2019, IAPCO staged its Annual Meeting at Congress Center Basel which Martin Boyle, IAPCO president said had “easy accessibility, the state-of-the-art infrastructure”.
IAPCO’s Annual Meeting in 2019 was hosted at Congress Center Basel
Congress Center Basel is one of three convention centres along with KLCC in Kuala Lumpur and ICC in Belfast, to have formed a Convention Centre partnership with IAPCO of late.
Boyle added: “IAPCO is delighted to have Congress Centre Basel as a new Convention Centre Partner. The IAPCO Mission is to raise the standards of service among our Members but also across other sectors of the meetings industry and it is through partnerships with organisations that represent high levels of quality such as Congress Center Basel that we are able to do so. We look forward to collaborating together for the continued advancement of our industry.”
Nattinee McMillan has joined Meliá Phuket Mai Khao as director of sales and marketing.
She joins from Dream Phuket Hotel and Spa, where she served as director of sales and assisted with hotel operations.
The Thai national has 15 years of hospitality experience in sales, event management and operational roles. She started her hospitality career in 2006 with the banquet department at JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, and rose through the ranks to become an event manager. She also spent time at COMO Point Yamu as its sales and event manager.
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