Andaz Singapore gets new GM

March 2, 2021

Andaz Singapore has welcomed German hotelier Stephan Karl as its newly-appointed general manager.

With a career spanning over 24 years, Karl first started at Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Lindau as an apprentice. Over the next decade, he rose through rooms, F&B and banqueting roles at Carlton Hotel St. Moritz, Sheraton Suites Galleria-Atlanta and Castle Hospitality & Catering in Heidelberg, south-west Germany.

In 2006, his Hyatt journey began at Hyatt Regency Mainz followed by other luxury properties such as Park Hyatt Dubai, Grand Hyatt Beijing and Park Hyatt Sydney. In 2018, he received the Hyatt Leadership Award for Americas as a testament to his broad-based experiences, and for playing a pivotal role in the opening of Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya Mexico in 2016.

His tenure in the luxury hotel scene then led him to Vietnam. For close to two years, he was part of the pre-opening team for Hyatt Regency Nha Trang as general manager, before moving on to Andaz Singapore in the same capacity.

Change and collaboration will help industry overcome Covid-19 challenges: SACEOS

By Caroline Boey

March 1, 2021

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Singapore-CBD — ; Singapore CBD pictured

Ongoing efforts by the Singapore Association of Conference and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS) to build resilience in the industry hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, has seen an expansion in the destination’s MICE ecosystem and a rise in membership.

SACEOS’ membership has grown by around 15 to 20 per cent – rising from 110 in late-2018 to 130 since then, and 160 now – when its constitution was amended in 2020 to expand its outreach to include event technology; lifestyle and sports companies, and festival event organisers.

Local MICE players need to look into reconstructing their business model to survive this challenging period; Singapore CBD pictured

New members include interactive, digital and experiential company Trinax; Azeus Convene, whose clients include global universities and colleges for top-level council and campus-wide meetings; and Freeman, which provides event marketing and management services including content development, audiovisual setting and logistics.

According to SACEOS, new members see the “power of voice, community and networking” it provides, in particular for SMEs.

The October 2020 launch of the SACEOS Event Industry Resilience Roadmap (IRR) to guide the safe resumption of business events, supported by the Singapore Tourism Board and Enterprise Singapore, provided guidance on implementing safe business events, solutions for hybrid events and an overview of new capabilities needed to transform the industry.

The IRR, a “living” document that will be updated in line with the evolving pandemic situation and health and safety standards, is being developed into a “technical reference” for Singapore and will be launched soon, according to SACEOS.

Its president Aloysius Arlando, said the emergence of hybrid events is not the end as the impact of the pandemic on the industry is still evolving. “It will be a long journey and a jerky one,” he noted, adding that the effort has to shift “to build back stronger in enterprise development growth and capabilities”.

Arlando, who is chief executive, venues, SingEx-Sphere, said the whole industry had to level up and work closely with the authorities in piloting events; and not only those that have been badly affected.

He continued: “Even with the vaccine rollout, it is very clear it does not mean we will go back to normal. It will not be the pre-Covid-19 normal because the virus is evolving and vaccinations are only part of the arsenal. We still have to brace for pandemic X (should there be one) and the end is not in sight.”

Despite the low number of local daily cases, Arlando also noted Singapore, as of February 19, 2020, has been in DORSCON (Disease Outbreak Response System Condition) Orange, which indicates the virus is severe and spreads easily from person to person, for more than a year.

Describing this “lull period” as a “new model” Arlando said SACEOS had been helping members to change, but “change is tough” as pivoting to digital events is not providing the income players are looking for and there is also additional costs with safe event protocols that need to be put in place.

“The industry is changing, and changing at a different pace. It is important for different enterprises to take the first few baby steps,” the association head pointed out.

“Resources and assistance from various government agencies will help, but industry members must be willing to change, change soon to the new trajectory and learn what clients need and are hungry for.”

Arlando noted that a good number of members are “trying to figure out how to best pivot”, and cited examples of some investing in broadcast studios and green screen technology.

Calling the attempts encouraging, he stressed change has to occur throughout the industry.

“Some players are going to fall. For those who are uncertain, they must ask what they want to be, look at the support and schemes available or move to a new industry. We cannot sugar coat it,” he opined.

On industry-self help attempts, SACEOS executive director, Bita Seow, noted the association “can do with more participants” for its MICE webinars, acknowledging there are many options in the marketplace.

More encouraging, she noted, was the interest in its SG SafeEvent Ambassador programme, in partnership with NTUC (National Trade Union Congress), which has provided training for some 500 “freelancers” in the industry to help them pick up new skills and additional sources of income.

Seow is optimistic a target to double the number before the end of the year is possible.

And during last month’s webinar – Bring Back Events With Ease organised in partnership with Bona Technologies Systems and ADERA Global – SACEOS honorary treasurer, Don Tsai, again urged industry members not to “passively wait for the pandemic to blow over or to continue to expect more support from the government”.

Instead, he advised participants to do more to reconstruct their business models, to reach out to and collaborate with SACEOS, and other partners, to overcome challenges, and to familiarise themselves with the IRR SACEOS has crafted.

MACEOS applauds lifting of restrictions on MICE events; calls for modifications to travel bans

By TTGmice

March 1, 2021

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KLIA2 — offered to work closely with the government in coming up with guidelines that would facilitate the re-opening of business events according to reasonable SOP

The Malaysian government has agreed to allow meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions to take place in Movement Control Order (MCO) areas beginning March 5, but with a 25 per cent limit on the capacity of the premises, up to a maximum of 250 people in very large venues.

The Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS) voiced hope this will be the start of a more substantial recovery for the business events industry.

MACEOS wants to work closely with the government to develop guidelines that would facilitate the reopening of business events; passengers at KLIA 2 departure hall pictured

Its president, Francis Teo said: “We want to thank the government for giving us this lifeline. After months of lobbying for the opening of business events, we view this as the start of better things to come.”

The news was timely, he said, citing a recent survey done among members of MACEOS in which almost 64 per cent of respondents shared that they wouldn’t be able to survive another three months if the MCO was not lifted soon and events could not be organised.

However, he noted that the continued restriction on inter-district and inter-state travel since January 13 would limit the success of the reopening of business events.

He said: “As long as this travel restriction is not lifted, then the green light on business events will not be of many benefits to industry players. It is unlikely that events (will be limited to only) participants from only one district.”

He also voiced concern over the recent statement made by the Ministry of Health that travel restrictions would be extended until 70 per cent of the population was vaccinated.

Teo said: “The vaccination programme is only expected to be completed by early next year. If we are to wait until then, that may mean another year or so of the travel ban. The vaccination may save us, but it may be too late as the travel ban will kill us.”

He offered to work closely with industry players and the government to develop guidelines that would facilitate the reopening of business events safely.

One of the solutions Teo brought forth was asking the government to allow event participants to cross districts or state borders with proof of event registration while the travel ban is still in place.

He stressed: “Business events is an industry that supports all other industries in the economy. The re-opening of business events during these difficult times is the surest way to revitalise our local and national economy and lift Malaysia out of this economic slump.”

Four tips on how to develop a Covid-19 vaccination policy for corporate travel needs

By Industry Expert

March 1, 2021

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Covid-19 vaccine — Dr Low dishes out some advice as to how build a vaccination policy that is within their control, and addresses future business needs

Dr Low dishes out some advice as to how a vaccination policy can be built, while addressing future business needs

With Singapore’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign well underway, many of us have started wondering when we might travel again – for business or leisure.

Real-world data has shown that herd immunity is a distinct possibility in the near future and we may see large-scale events or business trips back on the calendar soon. Governments and authorities worldwide have already started planning for the resumption of travel, with adjustments in quarantine requirements and other border restrictions.

For example, Israel has announced deals with Cyprus and Greece to allow fully vaccinated citizens to travel within these countries without limitations, once flights resume. We are likely to see similar arrangements in Asia soon, which will require organisations to relook their corporate travel policies.

However, there are many steps before we get back to business as usual – and one key factor right now would be achieving herd immunity through vaccine uptake. Organisations can play a critical role in supporting the national immunisation campaign, and accelerating our progress in achieving herd immunity, by developing a corporate vaccination policy that supports employees and communities at large, and builds workforce resilience even beyond this pandemic.

With vaccine rollout plans drastically varying per country, how can organisations build a vaccination policy that is within their control, and addresses future business needs?

Here are four steps to get started on developing a robust and resilient vaccination policy:

1. Define your objective
Each country’s vaccine rollout plan differs and impacts the corporate vaccination policy. For example, in Singapore where the vaccine rollout is largely driven by the public healthcare system – the role of the business would be to support the national agenda and encourage employees to get the vaccine. In other countries, for example in Indonesia, private sector organisations may obtain and administer vaccines for their workforce.

2. Assess the threats
A vaccination policy provides evidence-based guidance to ensure three critical outcomes: consistency, accountability and efficiency. This ensures that the entire workforce is treated fairly, has ready access to vaccines, and takes into account the health, safety and wellbeing of each individual.

To achieve this, organisations need to take a holistic view of their operations and assess the various health and security threats that their workforce is exposed to, This will depend on the nature of your work and daily operations – some industries like aviation and healthcare will have far greater exposure to Covid-19 transmission, and require a more granular approach.

In an ever-evolving pandemic, having access to accurate intelligence is key to ensuring quality and consistency in your vaccination policy. With specific vaccine intelligence interrogated by a medical professional, organisations can uncover threats, risks and trends specific to their business, and make informed decisions on how this affects their policy.

This also ensures that your vaccination policy is based on country-specific information, government regulations and employee population.

3. Communicate openly and regularly
As with all organisational changes, communicate transparently and regularly with your employees. After disseminating the information to your workforce, constantly engage with them to uncover developing challenges, risks and goals which will arise at different stages of the immunisation campaign. It is important to be entirely transparent with your workforce and offer various channels for communication.

Education is also critical for employees to make informed decisions on their health and wellbeing. Proactively conducting educational webinars or engaging with health experts to answer common questions that employees may have will instil confidence and trust so that employees can share their concerns or hesitations, and encourage vaccine uptake. Employers should also be sensitive in delivering these messages, so that employees feel heard and understood.

4. Ready access, reporting and re-evaluating
Where possible, ensure easy access to vaccines through company-wide vaccine drives, or arrangements with healthcare providers can provide the needed push for employees to get vaccinated. In regions where vaccination is predominantly a public health initiative and vaccine supplies are controlled by the government, allocating time off work for vaccination appointments and making financial and leave provisions for possible vaccination-related side effects can go a long way towards resolving logistical and non-medical barriers.

However, companies must be careful to balance between encouraging, and mandating vaccine uptake. Vaccinations are a largely personal issue, and employees may refuse to take the vaccine for medical, religious, or other reasons – and such cases should be treated with empathy and fairness.

As part of the process, companies will need to monitor their vaccination programme’s progress, successes and challenges to make accommodations and changes to overall business operations. Notable challenges can then be proactively managed and brought back on course to ensure that employees remain protected from Covid-19 and other health threats, while organisations can uphold their Duty of Care.

A successful vaccination programme is flexible, and continually evolving to adjust and account for changes in the global situation. Ultimately, companies must ensure a safe and inclusive working environment for all, for long-term workforce and business resilience.

Strength of a woman, of a leader

By Adelaine Ng

March 1, 2021

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You’ve been described as a triple or quadruple threat in business tourism. What does that mean?
Great question. I guess from a business events industry, I think it’s actually about the network that you bring to the table. I think it’s your ability to source and deliver a piece of business and then also to actually make sure that you get your community heavily involved.

That’s interesting because a lot of CEOs are really good at one thing and then they surround themselves with people who have other strengths. It’s rare when you can be good at all those things.
I don’t know whether I’m good at all those things but I’ll tell you an analogy that I like to use when I’m thinking about building a team around me.

One of the things I learnt a while ago is that you actually have to have three components in your team to make it a successful unit. The first is the Inspirer and the Aspirer, so someone who’s got like that long term vision looking over the next couple of horizons. Then you need a Translator, so someone that actually translates that vision and the aspirations or inspiration, and then you naturally need an Executor, the one who actually gets on with it and delivers, and I’ve learned that I’m definitely an Aspirer / Inspirer. Can I deliver? Yes. But do I like it? Maybe not so much. So play to your strengths.

I actually think that your don’t-take-things-too-seriously approach might be the fourth thing in your quadruple threat. I suspect even your enemies like you.
I don’t know about that! But I think it is the fact that I take what I do seriously but I don’t necessarily take me seriously. And I say that with a little tongue in cheek. I like to deliver, I’m highly competitive and I won’t leave a stone unturned if I’m on a mission.

But I won’t do it at all costs. I will bring people along the journey and take opportunities to break the ice a bit. And once you’ve done that, you’ll find people are more relaxed around you and you’ll also get a lot more honesty and authenticity in a relationship.

A lot of people have watched you from afar and wondered, what did Karen do that made the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) so successful in pulling in business, taking it from A$84 million to its highest result of A$500 million? When you look back, what changes do you think you made that turned out to be the game changers to get those results?
Good questions. When I first went to the bureau I was given a few things to do. One of them was to retain the staff I had and build them. The second was to engage further with our stakeholders and our members. And then I had to deliver on those targets. Really big remit, right?

In my 7.5 years at the MCB things changed enormously. But it was really the approach that we would take of our business – building pipelines, identifying the right types of business that fits within your portfolio for your destination, where your government is investing their time and resources.

So that’s what we built around as we decided to develop a strategy that was aligned with our government priorities. As a result, it meant that we were able to really focus our team’s energy and efforts and deliver the results. To be honest with you, it wasn’t as hard as it sounds because we were so focused on what we had to deliver that when we were talking to our clients and our stakeholders locally, and everybody was on the same page.

The other piece was really also about positioning Melbourne. Destinations, in my opinion, have a lot of the same selling factors. if you don’t have a convention centre, a set of hotels and an airport that’s accessible, then you’re not in the game. That’s like basic 101.

So we came up with Melbourne, the intellectual capital of Australia, and that seemed to resonate really well but it also resonated globally so people started picking it up and using it themselves. We had to figure out the one thing that people can’t actually copy out of Melbourne.

That’s how we talked about our philosophy and how we actually approached our business because that’s really in the DNA of our destination. So we then pitched ourselves as team Melbourne and people would say to us, “oh my goodness, you actually really do work together as a unit”.

I remember things like when we did the Lions Convention bid to bring up to 20,000 people and we had this amazing, themed dinner on the stage at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center. And we had present, the Lord Mayor, the CEO of the airport, the CEO of the City of Melbourne, I had the GMs of nearly every five-star property in the city. You name it, people were there and the Lions representative who did site inspections around the world said: “I’ve never been to a destination that has actually had that many people out in force. You said you wanted it (and I’m seeing the proof).”

I think many outsiders were surprised when you left your role at the bureau in April 2019 because you were on this winning streak and were leaving while at the top of your game. The farewell press release hinted that a significant personal loss contributed to that decision. Can you tell us what happened?
More than four years ago my son took his life. It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to live with, which is why I say Covid is comparatively very easy to deal with, in my opinion.

If you’re a parent and you’ve ever lost a child, it’s not certainly something that you can ever accept but you’ll learn to live with it. He was our only child and the circumstances in which he passed away was just a double whammy. And being the very resilient person that I am, I went back to work pretty quickly because I had to stay busy and I just didn’t want to really think about what happened. So I think I only had a couple of weeks off and went straight back into work.

At the same time, we were merging Visit Victoria with MCB, so there was a huge, huge amount of pressure and I felt very obligated to deliver on all of the things that I said I would do in a business sense but quite frankly – hindsight is an amazing thing – I was actually probably running away from what I had to deal with. So I got through all of that and I knew in my heart that I probably wouldn’t have stayed with the merger because it probably wasn’t where I wanted it to be from a professional stance, as much as I’d loved everything I’ve done.

I had many conversations with my Chairman around this. And then I guess as time went on, I decided that I physically and emotionally couldn’t do this and I hadn’t had a holiday in a very long time, to the point where I think my board told me I was a liability on the books and I needed to go on a holiday, so I took one for five weeks.

We went travelling and I came back and told myself: “You know what, I need to re-think what this looks like for me and reform.” And it was there that I actually started the conversations with my Chairman which went on for about three or four months and I was incredibly fortunate that I had an amazing chair to steer me through that.

I didn’t really know what I wanted, to be honest with you. I thought I wanted a break. I thought I wanted further education and professional development. And he would keep pushing for an answer for what the change I needed would look like. So I went away on a holiday and then sought some external counselling from a career advisor, and of course all my cheerleader friends about what I should do. But I didn’t need cheerleading. What I needed was someone to tell me, if I walked away, would that be a career disaster?

My Chairman gave me options, for example, to take six months off, because I had so much sick leave it wasn’t funny. Eventually, we met again and we cried together, plenty of times. I can tell you one hundred percent, it was really awful because he was like: “I don’t feel like I supported you.” To which I responded: “Well, I don’t feel like I got the support from the business but I didn’t know what I needed either.” Also, I’m pretty resilient and that type of thing is not an easy thing to go and ask for support for.

In the end, I decided to leave because if I just took extended time off, I knew I would be thinking about the job the entire time and I didn’t want to do that. And I was very fortunate that my Chairman accepted that and he took care of me by staying in touch, ringing me every now and again to see how I’m going. And I stay in touch with my successor Julia Swanson at the bureau and I’m very proud of her for stepping up to the job.

In hindsight from my experience, I think when you’re a CEO sometimes you live for the title vs actual life. And I’ve realized that there’s so much more to life. If people want to be my friend because of my title, then they’re probably not my friend. So I’ve had to work through all of that stuff and related identity issues. But I’m in a good place now.

But the personal challenges haven’t stopped?
No. My husband was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in October last year. Hospital visits are obviously an emotional rollercoaster but I’ve decided to put a positive view on it. I did the same with my son as I’m naturally more positive than negative.

And I think that makes a difference in how you view the events of your life. But I’m not saying it’s easy. There are days when I do have a negative view and ask: “Why me? What did I do?”. I think in the first couple of days after my husband’s diagnosis I railed against the world and probably used a few swear words in there. But then I would get up and just go, you know what, you can live there, or you can choose not to. And I’m choosing not to.

How do all these life events give you perspective, especially when it comes to work-life balance?
I’m not a very good role model. I was born in this world to just be a worker bee and there is a satisfaction that you get from that. And I can tell you that when I quit work, I was super nervous about how I was going to stay busy because I just naturally have to be busy, even though I do know when to stop and relax.

But busy is my natural mode so I did go away for three months because I knew that would be the only way that I could stop working. We went to the States, travelling around there and it was really nice. We did sightseeing, we did the tours, caught up with family and read books.

When I got back I was emotionally in a better place to then start thinking about what (the future) could look like and create more balance. But with Covid, I think we’ve all dived straight back into that madness. This environment has been super intense but I’m fortunate with PCMA because I’m with them three days a week. They might be three very long days with overnight and early morning calls but I have the free days to compensate.

So if I want to go out for a walk or visit the hairdresser’s, I can do that without feeling guilty about having to get back to work. I’m not the best role model, but I do believe that you do have to have a balance and I think Covid’s really given me that. Also obviously my husband’s recent health issues have made me realize that I can say no to a 12 hour day. Instead, I’m actually going to get out and go walking and do something for me.

It’s rare to get such an honest and frank conversation in this business. Thank you so much for trusting us with your story. Do you think people can get better at becoming resilient?
Resilience often comes from a little bit of your personality and all of us are different. From a mental health perspective, they say it’s something you have or don’t have and it’s absolutely not a criticism. I think of my son, who was this beautiful, sensitive, young man and resilience was tough for him. This is even though both of his parents are super resilient people. We have to provide people with skills and tools and medication in a case like my son’s to build themselves into more resilient human beings. So it’s not a cut and dry answer. It’s really broad and very individualised.

If you think about it, even in a workspace, we all deal with different personalities. There are people who can take constructive criticism more than others… and that’s actually about resilience and about how you deal with it and handle it. It’s interesting, one of the things I’ve learnt a lot about is regarding judging and being less judgmental, more open to being understanding or empathetic. And I’ve always been fairly empathetic but even more so for probably more vulnerable people in our society, especially during Covid.

BCEC experiences positive start to 2021

By TTGmice

March 1, 2021

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BCEC_Truck_Show — The Brisbane Truck Show is slated for May

As one of the first Australian convention centres to reopen in 2020 following last year’s Covid-19 lockdown, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) has continued its strong performance hosting increasing numbers of events into 2021.

The Centre finished the 2020 year having welcomed 60,000 guests attending 165 events following the Centre’s reopening in August.

The Brisbane Truck Show is slated for May

Since the beginning of February 2021, the Centre has hosted 33 events including exhibitions, conferences, corporate luncheons and graduations with more than 22,000 people through the doors in the first two weeks of the month.

The Pregnancy, Babies & Children’s Expo held in February, yielded visitation with more than 9,000 attendees, while organisers of a public sector conference held at the Centre last week attracted 550 delegates.

A further 12,000 guests will attend events at the Centre this week, including the Business Chicks Breakfast with Julia Gilliard and The Brisbane Home Show.

This positive sign continues into March with five conferences, two exhibitions, sold-out International Women’s Day events, graduation ceremonies, cocktail functions and dinners including the Keno & Clubs Queensland Awards for Excellence 2021. The Centre also looks forward to hosting Queensland Ballet’s 60th Anniversary Season opening night post-performance celebration.

In May, it’s full steam ahead with the return of The Brisbane Truck Show, one of Australia’s biggest exhibitions.

All events are conducted in accordance with BCEC’s Site Specific COVID Safe Plan approved by Queensland Health.

BCEC general manager, Bob O’Keeffe, welcomed the strong start to 2021.

“Based on current bookings and the success of our February events, although not yet reaching event numbers of past years, we are cautiously optimistic that the industry is in the early stages of a post-Covid recovery and BCEC is one of the best-placed venues in the country to take advantage of the improving business environment,” he said.

KUDO makes inroads into Asia Pacific

By TTGmice

March 1, 2021

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KUDO_APAC-Partners-Honk-Kong-Indonesia_PR_02182021-800x500 — CMM and Expro Services and KUDO's two latest partners

KUDO – a cloud-based collaboration platform that enables web meetings and live conferences with real-time language interpretation – has announced two new partnerships in Asia Pacific with Expro Services and CMM.

Established in 2008, Expro Services has a wide portfolio of clients across a range of conferences and exhibitions in Hong Kong, China, and Macau. Partnering with KUDO gives Expro Services access to a new set of SI professionals and the opportunity to get more work done without a language barrier.

CMM and Expro Services and KUDO’s two latest partners

In reference to the new partnership, Cynthia Cheung, CEO of Expro Services said: “Heading to 2021, we remain in the distance, but with life-changing technologies of seamless communication, we are ahead of the field as we’ll be working with KUDO to enable meetings go live”.

Meanwhile, CMM was established in July of 2015 and provides reliable and professional language and conference services both locally within Indonesia and internationally. Their portfolio includes the Indonesian government, IHI, World Bank, OJK, The Linde Group, and other local and international associations.

“As a LaaS platform, we assure that together with KUDO we will be able to grow and innovate further to reach, connect, and service our clients better,” said Rika Agusmelda, managing director of CMM Translation.

This expansion has been a long-term goal for the New York-based KUDO as Asia Pacific is home to global economic heavyweights like Japan, China, Australia, Singapore and South Korea, broadening their global footprint.

IHG adds Chandigarh property to portfolio

By TTGmice

March 1, 2021

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IHG Hotels & Resorts has opened the Holiday Inn Chandigarh Zirakpur, the second hotel in Chandigarh, the capital of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana.

The 131-key hotel is able to cater to a host of MICE requirements, boasting several indoor and outdoor spaces. Function spaces include the 669m² pillarless grand ballroom and its pre-function area, and the 775m² rooftop pool terrace on the 14th floor with a panoramic view of the city.

Other facilities include a 24-hour business centre, an outdoor pool, and two dining options – all-day dining restaurant Viva; and Lounge Bar which overlooks the city.

The hotel is located on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway connecting the city of Chandigarh to famous landmarks and attractions in the northern belt. It stands 20 minutes away from the Chandigarh International Airport and 25 minutes from the Chandigarh Railway Station.

Tokyo and Fukushima: Ready to welcome back business events

By TTGmice

March 1, 2021

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Brought to you by Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau

Safe and secure

In 2021, the metropolis is poised for the revival of the industry. Venues have implemented strict anti-infection countermeasures including extensive cleaning and disinfecting, temperature checking of guests using thermal readers, usage of Perspex glass at reception desks, enhanced ventilation and promotion of contactless services such as automated check-ins.

Staff at the Prince Hotel’s four properties in Takanawa seal each of the group’s some 5,000 rooms with tape after each detailed cleaning and disinfection regime. The step is part of the brand’s “Prince Safety Commitment,” a new protocol for hygiene and disinfection applied to all Prince Hotels.

The heightened safety and hygiene steps at Palace Hotel Tokyo, near the Imperial Palace, have earned the venue a STAR™ Facility Accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council. This division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, applauded the hotel for establishing and maintaining a rigorous cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention program.

Tokyo’s venues have also been innovating in the past 12 months to offer new ways of enjoying business events with peace of mind. Many have boosted their digital capabilities to offer cutting-edge hybrid events with the latest equipment.

At Tokyo Port City Takeshiba, a building designed as a futuristic smart city, dedicated cleaning robots patrol the corridors and rooms to reduce infection risk. The headline event space, meanwhile, boasts state-of-the-art equipment including the latest flicker-free technology to reduce eye fatigue.

While Tokyo offers a remarkable mix of the historic and contemporary, a visit to Japan is best savoured by combining time in the metropolis with time in a dramatically different region. Fukushima, which is less than two hours away by Shinkansen (bullet train), is one such region and, in 2021, it will be a special place to be.

Recovery and Revitalization

This year marks ten years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, which devastated northeastern Japan, and the subsequent nuclear incident. Fukushima was among the worst prefectures affected but today it is a beacon of hope and an incredible display of Japanese resilience.

Interact with the locals who, despite the hardships they have endured, are some of the most optimistic and open-hearted people you will meet. The Decommissioning Archive Center of TEPCO (which runs the afflicted nuclear power plant) and the Disaster Memorial Museum are a sobering reminder of the suffering endured and offer perspective on how far recovery efforts have progressed.

Further inland in the Aizu region, an area that was less affected by the earthquake, you can see what Fukushima is like after a full recovery.

Experience traditional culture at Tsurugajo Castle, which dates from 1384. This venue hosts private outdoor tea ceremonies for groups, and you can even wear traditional Japanese clothing as you walk around the grounds. Another historical place to visit is Ouchi-juku, a 17th century post town offering scenic views of beautifully preserved thatched-roof houses that served as accommodation for samurai processions and travellers to modern-day Tokyo.

Hananoyu, a hot spring hotel in Koriyama, has meeting facilities for events large and small.

The national football training centre J-Village, which was used for recovery in the aftermath of the earthquake, has seven natural turf pitches and seven meeting rooms.

With the most stringent Covid-19 countermeasures in place, visitors to business events are sure to enjoy their time in Tokyo, Fukushima and the rest of Japan with confidence.

Venues in Metro Manila given green light to reopen under strict guidelines

By Rosa Ocampo

February 24, 2021

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Makati,-Manila — PACEOS calls for Philippine government to prioritise recovery of the business events sector

Convention centres and other standalone venues in Metro Manila and areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) – the second weakest level of lockdown in the Philippines – can now reopen.

This is a large improvement from several months ago when only ballrooms, function rooms and venues within hotels, restaurants, and mall atriums in GCQ areas were allowed to reopen for essential meetings and events.

Manila is now seeing the loosening of some restrictions and the reopening of venues for events

For essential meetings, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has indicated that venues are allowed a maximum capacity of 50 per cent and a duration of up to eight hours.

For social events like weddings, birthday parties, family reunions, and bridal and baby showers, venues should have 30 per cent maximum capacity and up to three hours in duration. The maximum capacity computation for venues includes the venue operator and employees, organisers and suppliers.

“Hotels or venues that are concurrently used as quarantine facilities may only accept bookings for essential meetings and social events under relevant guidelines to be separately issued by the Department of Tourism (DoT) and Department of Health,” tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said in a letter to the Tourism Congress of the Philippines’ president Jojo Clemente.

Attendees should at least be 15 years old and from areas placed under GCQ and modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), which is the lowest quarantine level.

Only those aged 15 years old and above from areas placed under GCQ and MGCQ are allowed to attend. Those from areas under the stricter form of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), and modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) are not allowed to attend.

Rules have also been laid out on hygiene and social distancing including the set up of meal tables, and conference and breakout rooms. Contactless registration and payment are preferred, hybrid events are encouraged, but live entertainment and buffets are strictly prohibited. There will also be separate loading and unloading bays for suppliers and a one-way entrance and exit for guest flow.

Orly Ballesteros, board member of PACEOS (Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers), said the gradual easing of rules is good news.

“It’s a move in the right direction in reviving tourism and business in the country,” he said, noting that the MICE sector lost 21 billion pesos (US$433 million) last year.

Non-essential events like corporate celebrations, sports events, cultural and music festivals, concerts, and beauty pageants, remain prohibited.

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