Gearoid Lyons has been appointed general manager of Conrad Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lyons brings with him more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to this, Lyons most recent role was hotel manager at Waldorf Astoria Bangkok.
Joining Hilton in 2010, he has previously held various management roles in full service and luxury hotels across multiple markets including London, Sydney, Perth, Tokyo and Bangkok.
Brought to you by Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International (RCI) will deploy Quantum of the Seas for an additional three months in Singapore from March 22 to June 21, 2021, to cope with demands for the uptake in sail packages following Singapore’s implementation of enhanced safety protocols to support the return for safe cruising since November 2020.
Now available for booking, the 2-, 3- and 4-night Ocean Getaway packages offer up to 50 per cent off, with prices starting from S$199. Seniors enjoy an additional 10 per cent off, and kids under 12 cruise for free, subject to prevailing terms and conditions.
Enjoy pioneering entertainment options such as RipCord by iFLY, the first skydiving experience at sea; the North Star, an observation capsule transporting guests to an exhilarating height of 90m above sea level; SeaPlex; the largest seafaring indoor sports and entertainment complex; and Bionic Bar powered by Makr Shakr, the world’s first robotic bartending system.
Guests will also get to enjoy a landscape of 18 restaurant concepts as vast and varied as dining in the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, including specialty restaurants created with partner chefs such as Jamie Oliver.
RCI has in place a comprehensive set of health and safety measures that adhere to the CruiseSafe Certification standards jointly developed by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and DNV GL. Click here for a full list of health and safety measures enforced on board.
“Our close partnership with the Singapore Government has played an instrumental role in the success of these pilot cruises, and we remain committed to safeguarding the health and safety of our guests and crew during these additional sailings,” said Angie Stephen, managing director, Asia-Pacific, Royal Caribbean International.
She added, by reducing capacities in communal spaces on board (such as restaurants, theatres and activity areas) to 50 per cent – lower than the national standard of 64 per cent – coupled with no ports of call make it “no less safe” compared to other activities and settings that have already resumed on land.
Guests who book their sail-cation on Quantum of the Seas before April 30, 2021, can be assured of flexibility in their plans with RCI’s Cruise with Confidence programme, which allows for changes and cancellations up to 48 hours before the cruise begins.
For a greater peace of mind, cruise inclusions comprise of Covid-19 protections such as a 100 per cent credit towards a future cruise should a guest of any member of their travel party test positive for Covid-19 during the three weeks prior to their booked cruise; or a full refund if a guest, or any member of their travel party, tests positive during their voyage.
On Covid-19-related expenses, Royal Caribbean will cover onboard medical treatment, cost of any required land-based quarantine, and travel home for the guest, travel party, and any confirmed close contacts.
Contact the corporate sales team for more information:
Email: salessg@rcclapac.com
Global convention industry consulting firm, GainingEdge, has released the first annual report on Leveraging Intellectual Capital of convention destinations, based on an analysis of international association leadership.
The research underpinning the report identifies the relative strengths of 350 destinations via the presence of their local intellectual leaders in the governing bodies of international associations that organise large conventions. Intellectual Capital is described as a destination’s strength of representation in international association leadership.
Key findings of the report include:
Milos Milovanovic, head of GainingEdge Analysis and Research (GEAR), said: “Our Intellectual Capital research was conducted over the last half of 2020 and included reviewing over 3,500 international associations and their governing bodies, which organise large meetings for over 500 participants. Using the ICCA database, as well as international associations’ web sites, we obtained data for 350 cities and 145 countries around the world.”
This analysis looked at:
Milovanovic continued: “This research enabled us to develop key analysis ratios, such as our Harnessing Ratio and the market intelligence we gained can be applied in any of the 350 destinations.”
The report found a very high level of correlation between GainingEdge’s intellectual capital rankings and their International Convention Destination Competitive Index 2020 global rankings. The top 20 cities in terms of intellectual capital are all among the top 30 most competitive destinations in the Competitiveness Index.
“Our research shows London at the top, followed by Paris, Tokyo, New York and, Beijing, indicating these cities are true global knowledge hubs with strong influence in international associations,” Milovanovic said.
The report found that among the top 20 cities, three European destinations had high Harnessing Ratios: Berlin, Barcelona and Vienna. Among destinations with fewer local leaders on international association boards, high Harnessing Ratios are seen with Prague (highest in the world), Dublin, Lisbon and Copenhagen. In the Asia-Pacific region, cities with high Harnessing Ratios are Bangkok and Singapore, while North America has two Canadian cities, Montreal and Vancouver.
The Harnessing Ratio for the top 50 countries shows the UAE have a high level of intellectual capital engagement. Among European countries with a relatively high Harnessing Ratio are Czech Republic, Portugal, Ireland and Spain. Asia-Pacific countries with a high Ratio are Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea. Among the top 10 countries with very high Harnessing Ratios are Canada and the US. The US has the greatest amount of intellectual capital in the world and is clearly benefitting as a result.
Jon Sivertson, GainingEdge’s CEO, said: “We see our Leveraging Intellectual Capital report as the foundation for building advanced convention development programmes for destinations. We can now see the absolute, and relative, strengths of destinations with regards to their harnessing of their resident intellectual capital. Drawing on this analysis, we can now provide a Destination Intellectual Capital Study to convention destinations, eager to improve both their business development as well as destination marketing activities. This service will help them to identify associations where they have influence they may not have known about. It also allows a destination to understand which of its actual key business sectors and scientific fields are best connected in global association leadership, and provides them with a focused, deliverable and measurable, approach to securing large meetings.”
Sivertson continued: “Our GEAR unit continually tracks intellectual capital data to ensure that it’s complete and up to date, and as part of our analysis it can be provided to any destination on demand. This is the first report on Leveraging Intellectual Capital and we will be publishing updated reports annually going forward.”
Continued government limitations on in-person business event capacity have triggered a stronger appetite for small, flexible venues in Asian cities where such activities have been allowed to resume.
In destinations such as Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore, where approved business gatherings can take no more than 20, 100 and 250 people (across five separate zones) respectively, meeting organisers are finding the use of large venues irrelevant.
Sheryn Sethoe, commercial director for client services, 1000Meetings, a venues procurement specialist, said: “The cost of large venues (is) difficult to justify unless there is a requirement for more space to accommodate pre-event tests, such as the Antigen Rapid Tests that are done in Singapore under the business event pilot programmes.”
The use of small venues, which are likely exclusive to the event group, also enables safe distancing from general crowds and passers-by.
Sethoe observed that clients are leaning towards standalone event spaces, with a preference for unique venues within a hotel, raw event spaces or non-hotel venues. Location is no matter, as clients are open to suitable venues in the city or outskirts.
Anticipating an increased demand for small meeting venues due to restrictions on travel, group sizes and safe distancing requirements, CWT Meetings & Events last year launched CWT easy meetings, a direct-booking platform with a listing of over 250,000 meeting rooms in hotels as well as unique venues and event spaces around the world. Through the platform, meeting organisers can also source and book audiovisual equipment and F&B packages while monitoring cost, compliance and employee safety and security.
Petrina Goh, director, Singapore, CWT Meetings & Events, said: “Even as in-person meetings and events gradually resume in Asia, clients are naturally approaching this with a healthy dose of caution. In places like Singapore, organisers are required to have separate zones at events for batch registration, Antigen Rapid Test zones, waiting rooms etc., and so clients are moving away from the ‘bigger is better’ mentality, and are now looking at smaller venues with multiple spaces that they can design their event around.”
Goh finds that convention centres and business hotels remain a popular choice among her clients, as these properties come with multiple small function rooms that are compliant with government regulations.
“While unique, standalone venues remain popular with clients in the fintech industries, we’ve found that many clients are gravitating towards venues that are easily reachable via public transport as accessibility is taking precedence over the uniqueness of a venue,” she added.
Improved client support
Keen to support new meeting needs amid a pandemic, small venue providers have leveraged their agility in making quick decisions to revise their operations and price structure.
Goh said: “While larger hotels and convention venues sometimes struggle with pivoting quickly to meet clients’ needs and the ever-changing regulations, smaller venues with more autonomy in managing their pricing structure and partnership tie-ups have transformed themselves with new go-to-market offerings that are both price competitive and flexible enough to meet client demands.”
Some changes that have come in handy include ready floor plan configurations to guide clients on spacing arrangements, contacts for clinics that provide onsite Covid-19 swab tests and manpower, and new pricing structures in a la carte, add-on and all-inclusive formats.
Goh said these changes make a meeting organiser’s job much easier when considering both budget and logistics before confirming an event.
With the pandemic forcing meeting organisers to get creative with their in-person event delivery, Sethoe said venues that “provide a fresh new look to the workings of small meetings” will stand out.
She observed that venues are making an effort to differentiate their products. A good example, she said, was The Dutch Pavilion at the Shangri-la Hotel Singapore, which is a standalone space with a unique history.
When asked if small venues should go the way of larger competitors that have brought in broadcasting capabilities, so as to compete better for a limited number of business events today, Sethoe said: “Economically speaking, it will be more beneficial for small venues to work with established audiovisual and technology partners to offer more products and services for virtual and hybrid events. Such capabilities require specialised skillsets and operational expertise, and coupled with other associated costs such as storage, it might be better to finance other services such as a robust Wi-Fi network.”
Information clarity is critical
Given that meetings during a pandemic are subject to more considerations and potential disruptions, Sethoe suggested that organisers communicate with venue providers and obtain a good understanding of their cancellation policies, health and safety protocols, F&B arrangements, and existing infrastructure to support safe distancing measures.
“If there is an online component to the meeting, also enquire on network connectivity. There is a tendency to assume that Wi-Fi is never a problem but when it comes to streaming, the load on the network will differ as compared to simple web surfing, for example,” she added.
She recommended detailed pre-event discussions with the operations team to ensure that “everyone is on the same page for the day”.
“A simple case could be coffee and tea arrangements. These were usually self-served pre-Covid-19. Will the venue continue to do so, or will there be a contact-less ordering system in place? If so, how should attendees interact with it? Small as it may seem, such elements are part and parcel of the overall attendee experience,” she explained.
American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has changed the way it displays airfares – to an easier-to-scan consumer-inspired format – within its corporate travel and expense software, Neo.
Earlier February 9, GBT launched its New Fare Display (NFD) for all clients using Neo to book travel, making it the first TMC in the industry to display a complete set of fare attributes in a corporate booking tool.
NFD presents airfares in an easy-to-scan format with a view of all fare bundles offered in side-by-side cards, similar to the way they are presented on airline websites. Each card shows the amenities included within that fare including ticket features. Users can shop a complete set of attributes and see all the value a fare includes such as seat selection, priority check-in and boarding.
This includes the airline’s public offers as well as corporate negotiated, or GBT Preferred Extra air content.
This feature was developed to keep Neo in step with the way travellers prefer to shop for airfares as airline retailing evolves. To drive more adoption, Neo developers took inspiration from popular airline booking tools.
GBT’s strategy is to help travel managers improve compliance through a more consumer-like air booking experiences in Neo. This will also ultimately support all the goals of managed travel programmes, including savings and duty of care.
Currently, the Neo NFD feature includes fares from nearly 30 airlines around the world. More airlines will be added as they adopt the necessary technology standards. A similar feature for hotel content in Neo is in the works.
Anderes Fourdy Events Singapore (AFES), a PCO operating out of Singapore, was established this week in an agreement between The Travellers DMC (TTDMC) in Singapore and Anderes Fourdy Events (AFE) in Malaysia.
“We’ve always been looking at Singapore. It has always been one of the Top 10 BE destinations in the world,” Anderes Fourdy’s co-founder, Fu Kei Cheong, said.
“The Covid-19 pandemic was a catalyst. It jolted us sufficiently to relook at our plans and hasten our resolve”, said Yvonne Low, executive director of TTDMC.
“AFE is well-known in the Asia-Pacific medical and life sciences field as most of the congress they organise are within these sectors. Their client profile is exceptional and they manage a number of regional and national associations as their Association Management Company (AMC),” added Low.
AF has already started to put the Singapore team through the rigours of a very steep learning curve during the pandemic lockdown. Weekly meetings and trainings are filled with SoPs, knowledge, technical know-how and insights.
“AFES is a natural progression to keep the congresses and clients within the AF Group. Working closely with the Singaporean associations and Singapore Convention Bureau, Yvonne and I look forward to bring and deliver our first congress in Singapore very soon,” KC said.
AFE is currently committed to growing its Singapore operations and establishing AFES as a major PCO in Singapore before expanding its operations to other countries.
Australian event and conference management company, Arinex, has joined forces with ICE Australia.
ICE Australia staff transitioned to Arinex in the first week of February 2021, while the full handover of ICE clients happened at the end of February 2021.
ICE Australia’s director, Daryll Dorner, said that this move will “successfully and professionally fulfil the obligations and contractual commitments of ICE to their clients”, while allowing ICE to pursue other business ventures.
Over the last two decades, Arinex has integrated 10 PCO and DMCs.
Travel management data specialist, Travelogix, has partnered with sustainability expert Trees4Travel to provide a long-lasting approach to carbon offsetting.
The first phase of the partnership will go live in March 2021 and will see Travelogix automate the supply of trip data directly to Trees4Travel for subscribed TMCs and their corporate customers.
The data supplied by Travelogix will allow Trees4Travel to determine how many trees need to be planted to offset the carbon emissions related to each trip booked and report those values back to Travelogix for sustainability tracking purposes.
The second phase of the project will allow TMCs and their corporates to visualise the progress of their sustainability programme with Trees4Travel at an agency and client level.
Travelogix will make the Trees4Travel integration available free of charge to all users of the Analytix data management platform.
Nico Nicholas, CEO of Trees4Travel commented: “Our partnership with Travelogix, made possible by early adopter; Sunways Travel, means there is effectively no excuse or justification for any business to not be offsetting their travel carbon from today.
“Travelogix’s adoption of the Trees4Travel system means the calculation, purchase and ongoing monitoring of a company’s carbon footprint is all provided direct to its business travel manager and the corporate clients at the click of a mouse.”
Tanah Gajah, a Resort by Hadiprana, in Bali, Indonesia, has created a stay package to bring corporate groups, who have not seen each other for a long time due to the pandemic, together.
The Art of Reuniting package costs US$7,500++ per night, with a minimum stay of two nights. This price includes the bookout of the entire resort, which is 20 individual villas spread out over six hectares among the rice paddies in Ubud.
Meeting spaces are available on-site, alongside group activities such as rice paddy trekking, a hot air balloon ride above the resort, and fishing; as well as wellness retreats, with an open-air yoga pavilion and a head chef who can cater to all dietary needs.
Club benefits are included in the package, such as a personal butler service, daily a la carte breakfast, daily seasonal fresh fruits delivered to each villa or suite, daily afternoon tea, daily sunset cocktails, daily laundry, and yoga classes as per the property’s schedule.
The resort has had strict hygiene protocols in place over the course of Covid-19 and was recently given a 100 per cent score for its CHSE (cleanliness, health, safety and environment) certification, from the Indonesian government.
Tanah Gajah has also partnered with Garuda Indonesia on charter flights from around Indonesia and other international destinations the airline frequents. Groups after extra comfort and safety when travelling to the island can now have their own private flight. Rates and availability depend on the departure city and interested parties should contact the resort directly.
The Art of Reuniting is subject to availability and valid for stays booked until March 31, 2022.
The resort’s sister property, Dua Dari, has also launched a buyout package for smaller groups.
Formerly the private residence of Indonesian architect and designer, Hendra Hadiprana, Dua Dari consists of four residences in a valley overlooking the Petanu River.
Guests can take an art tour through the property, relax by the pool, take a picnic afternoon tea, or take the complimentary shuttle into Ubud. Package rates start at US$690++ per night (for the entire property bookout and for a minimum of two nights) including daily breakfast.
Hoshino Resorts has launched a fund and joint venture to help hotels and ryokan in Japan facing financial difficulty due to the novel coronavirus.
A 50-50 partnership by the fourth generation hotel management company and Tokyo investment bank RISA Partners Inc., the Hoshino Resorts Tourism Revitalization Fund will offer an initial 10 billion yen (US$93.4 million), with a maximum of up to 20 billion yen provisionally. It started operations on October 30, 2020, through joint venture H&R Asset Solutions.
According to Hoshino Resorts, the fund will ensure the long-term survival of hotels and ryokans that may be otherwise unable to weather Covid-19-induced financial troubles, particularly if the inbound tourism they rely on is slow to recover.
Japan’s tourism sector has been badly hit by measures to curb the pandemic in the country, which include entry bans on arrivals from more than 150 countries and regions. In January 2021, a four-week stay-home request was placed for residents of Tokyo and its three neighbouring prefectures due to a spike in cases. The detection of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus in four travellers who arrived in Japan has added to the concern.
While larger companies have proved better able to withstand cancellations and lost trade, privately-owned and rural accommodation providers are increasingly facing insolvency or long-term financial uncertainty.
As of end-2020, Tokyo Shoko Research reported that there have been 800 bankruptcies in Japan as a result of Covid-19. As of September 30, 2020, the most recent period for detailed data, about eight per cent of bankruptices (600 recorded at the time) were in the lodgings sector.
Hoshino Resorts believes it can prevent further cases and fulfil the needs of accommodation providers.
The idea for the fund came when the company began receiving enquiries from hotel and ryokan owners whose business continuity was at risk. They wanted Hoshino Resorts to step in and run their operations. When Yoshiharu Hoshino, CEO of Hoshino Resorts, considered the facilities, he believed they could be managed as a sub brand of Hoshino Resorts and began discussion with RISA Partners.
Under the fund, Hoshino Resorts will operate the property or aid in its management, dependent on the hotel or ryokan’s circumstances.
“In the short-term, Hoshino Resorts will support the facilities to keep their business,” said Hoshino, adding that in the longer-term, the businesses will be operated as Hoshino Resorts.
“Through the acquisition of property, this fund aims to provide a succession of business, assistance in the transfer of business, and ways of fundraising for hotel and ryokan operators that are facing a serious loss of demand,” he noted.
He added that the fund will also “contribute to the early recovery of the tourism and lodging industry after Covid-19 is brought under control”.
Although Hoshino Resorts has not determined how many properties the fund might be able to help, Hoshino shared “quite a number of facilities that are struggling at the moment” will be able to receive support.
Hoshino Resorts also aims to “cherish the local culture and community” of the properties’ respective areas, to promote the sustainability of tourism in regions across Japan.
