Gold Coast is moving forward after an unprecedented year of challenges and we’re buoyed by the continued interest and confidence from associations choosing the Gold Coast for future conferences.
Gold Coast has won the bid to host the World Federation of Chiropractic Biennial Congress in March 2023.
Come 2023, the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre will welcome more than 1,000 chiropractic association leaders and executives to its shores, and the event expected to inject A$2.4 million (US$1.9 million) into the economy.
Securing the event is a milestone after the city endured months of hardship impacting both tourism and business events as a result of Covid-19 shutdowns and travel restrictions.
Destination Gold Coast’s CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said kickstarting the recovery of business events is a priority for the Gold Coast as interconnected industries are set to benefit from a pipeline of upcoming domestic and international conferences.
“Prior to the pandemic, Gold Coast’s business events market share increased by five per cent to generate a staggering A$570 million in economic impact,” she said.
The bid was secured by Destination Gold Coast in partnership with Tourism Australia support by the Business Events Bid Fund Program (BFP), and Tourism and Events Queensland
Gold Coast is buoyed by the interest and confidence from associations for future conferences
Tourism Australia’s managing director Phillipa Harrison said securing the conference on the Gold Coast provides the local business events industry with some confidence in the pipeline of future events as it recovers from the impacts of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
“Lucrative business events require significant planning and by winning events such as this one, we are helping to drive the long-term recovery of our visitor economy while also ensuring Australia remains front of mind among decision-makers as a world-class events destination,” Harrison said.
The original World Federation of Chiropractic was established at the World Chiropractic Congress in Sydney in 1988 and represents members and the chiropractic profession in the international community, encompassing 90 national associations of chiropractors in 95 nations.
Global convention industry consulting firm, GainingEdge, now has a new internal unit, GainingEdge Analysis & Research (GEAR), where its mission is to expand and improve the quality of research available to international convention destinations.
GEAR will focus on issues of destination competitiveness, new forms of market intelligence, and new insights into the dynamics of the global meetings industry.
GainingEdge hopes GEAR can make a difference for the meetings industry and associations
GainingEdge CEO, Jon Sivertson, said the vision for GEAR is to fill a research gap in relation to both the convention industry and the association community.
“Our industry has never really had a dedicated research unit. We were struck by the lack of real quantitative analysis available to support quality decision-making processes.
“We want GEAR to be the go-to when people are focused on facts-based decision making,” Sivertson said.
Long-time GainingEdge consultant, Milos Milovanovic, has been tapped to helm GEAR. Milovanovic further shared that GEAR came out of a journey that began in 2018 with the publishing of the first annual International Convention Destination Competitive Index, the 3rd edition of which was released in December 2020.
He added GEAR’s next contribution will be “cutting-edge” research into the “intellectual capital” of convention destinations around the world. For instance, the next report will have a big impact on destinations, and how they go about pursuing international conventions.
“We’ve done a deep dive on the leadership of 3,500 international associations and developed a database of association board members and the cities where they live. From this research, we will be helping cities to understand how well they are doing in terms of the number of their local leaders who are active members in governing bodies of international associations.”
Milovanovic said the upcoming report would also help cities understand how well they are leveraging their influencers to secure conventions.
“We want to help them in their recovery strategies as they pursue future growth. Intellectual capital is a main driver of how conventions decide where to meet. We want to help destinations to understand how well they are harnessing that intellectual capital and to find quick pathways to the people they need to engage in the process of securing conventions.”
Australia’s first business exchange event for 2021 was successfully staged in Adelaide despite lockdown and quarantine setbacks impacting some delegates.
Destination South Australia was held February 10-13 after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic. The event aimed to demonstrate to participants its ability to organise a business exchange, gala dinner and famil programme using its end-to-end Covid Safe health and safety plan for visitors, billed as unique to the state.
Adelaide is the first city in the country to host a 2021 face-to-face business exchange event
The event was also significantly seen as a reboot of business events in the city after a year that saw many tourism trade businesses crippled financially.
“Our Safe SA campaign is one reason I’m sure (how) Adelaide Convention Bureau (ACB) has managed to lead Australia for business events,” said Damien Kitto, CEO of ACB, the programme’s organisers.
“The world’s best venues and accommodation in 2021 stand for nothing unless they’re healthy and safe. We’re really proud that 85 per cent of events (booked) in 2020 have been rescheduled to either 2021 or 22, which is a phenomenal effort.”
Destination South Australia welcomed 24 delegates in-person, with additional participants joining virtually.
This is as delegates from Western Australia were unable to join after a state lockdown, while some from Victoria cancelled after new quarantine rules required them to fly in a day early for Covid-testing and hotel quarantine until test results were available.
“Everything you plan early in 2021 means you have to stay nimble and adroit at reconfiguring,” Kitto said in an earlier press release. “You simply have to accept (that) clusters, snap lockdowns, border restrictions are our unfortunate new normal for now, and work around them. For Destination South Australia we have done exactly that”.
Delegates were shown the city’s new hotels, including the Crowne Plaza, Oval Hotel and the much-anticipated Eos by Skycity, part of Adelaide’s integrated entertainment complex.
“There’s an awful lot of choice and we have a lot of quotes coming our way,” said participant Dale Gilson, CEO of the Austin Funeral Directors Association. “But it’s been great to see people face to face. The funeral industry is all about relationships and Covid made a tough job even harder. (Our members) really enjoy coming together (to) learn from each other so being face to face is invaluable,” he continued.
At the time of publishing, South Australia has just three active Covid cases from overseas travellers who are in hotel quarantine.
Marriott International’s president and CEO, Arne M Sorenson, has passed away unexpectedly on February 15. He has been battling pancreatic cancer since he was diagnosed in May 2019.
Sorenson became the third CEO in Marriott’s history in 2012, and the first without the Marriott surname.
Recognised as a visionary leader, Sorenson put the company on a strong growth trajectory that included the US$13-billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. During his tenure, Sorenson was tireless in driving the company’s progress, creating opportunities for associates, growth for owners and franchisees and results for the company’s shareholders.
Known for his leadership on difficult national and global issues, Sorenson steered Marriott to make significant progress on diversity, equity and inclusion, environmental sustainability and human trafficking awareness.
“Arne was an exceptional executive – but more than that – he was an exceptional human being,” said J W Marriott, Jr., executive chairman and chairman of the Board.
“Arne loved every aspect of this business and relished time spent touring our hotels and meeting associates around the world. He had an uncanny ability to anticipate where the hospitality industry was headed and position Marriott for growth. But the roles he relished the most were as husband, father, brother and friend. On behalf of the Board and Marriott’s hundreds of thousands of associates around the world, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Arne’s wife and four children. We share your heartbreak, and we will miss Arne deeply.”
A four-part video series that sheds light on Switzerland’s best business events and leisure offerings will debut on February 19, with a fresh episode out every Friday.
The Travel Spark with Switzerland series, hosted by TTG Asia Media group editor Karen Yue, will feature speakers from Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau, Switzerland Tourism and Swiss Travel System, who will take the audience through the sought-after destination and inspire travel ideas for when travel is possible again.
Travel Spark with Switzerland video series will inspire event ideas in the destination
The first episode, Travel Spark: Inspiring incentives in Switzerland, will be presented by Dominique Oi, MICE manager for Southeast Asia, Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau. Oi will discuss how various sights, experiences and venues in the destination can elevate a corporate incentive programme.
Travel Spark: Weaving around Switzerland, to be released on February 26, will see Melanie Brunner, sales & marketing manager for Southeast Asia, Swiss Travel System, sharing tips on how to make Switzerland’s comprehensive public transport network work for leisure and corporate groups.
This will be followed by Travel Spark: One big Swiss playground on March 5. Presented by Oliver Guggisberg, project manager for South East Asia, Switzerland Tourism, the episode details various fun experiences that can be found across Switzerland.
The series concludes on March 12 with Travel Spark: A taste of true Switzerland, presented by Jennifer Chin, project manager, Leisure & MICE for Southeast Asia, Switzerland Tourism. Chin will discuss Switzerland’s rich history and the resulting opportunities for unique destination experiences.
The Travel Spark with Switzerland series is part of TTG Asia Media’s Travel Spark by TTG programme, which aims to spark off travel and events desire and ideas, and show how trade buyers and their customers can return to travel and events in this new era.
Tokyo is well-known as a multi-faceted metropolis, complete with old and new aspects, from its centuries-old Imperial Palace, Buddhist temples and tea gardens to futuristic skyscrapers, cutting-edge technology and modern food scene.
Now, business event stakeholders in the city are encouraging groups to see another side of the destination – rural Tokyo. And, with rising interest among events planners for incentives and excursions in less congested places that allow easier social distancing, work is accelerating to whet appetite as international travel resumes.
Hachijojima, Tokyo
Efforts to promote rural Tokyo for business events is led by Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Tamashima, focusing on the mountainous and heavily forested Tama area in the west and the subtropical island chain (shima) that stretches 270km south. A new website under the Tamashima brand lists recommendations and model courses for day trips and overnight or 3D2N stays, each designed to help visitors enjoy the best of the two areas.
Despite being far from central Tokyo, the islands are well connected by high-speed jet boat and airplanes. Travellers can even depart central Tokyo on an overnight ferry to arrive in the morning.
Each island has unique characteristics that could appeal to excursions and incentive programmes. Oshima is a geopark with unique volcanic scenery; Nijima is a renowned surf spot; Shikinejima is filled with coastal inlets, coves and hot springs; and Hachijojima is popular for aquatic sports including scuba diving.
With the Tama area located about a 90-minute drive from central Tokyo, Hironobu Fujimura, director of the business events team at Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB), said it has become “a real hot spot.”
“The Tama area allows visitors to see another face of Tokyo. Located in the foothills of the Okutama Mountains south-west of Tokyo is an oasis blessed with an abundance of nature and filled with fascinating cultural spots.”
Fujimura and his team at TCVB provide tours of Tama including Mount Takao, which was designated a three-star mountain by Michelin Green Guide Japan. The mountain has chair lifts and cable cars, allowing participants to prioritise hiking or viewing the scenery, and is recommended as a teambuilding activity.
Options for incentives include soba making, where participants learn about buckwheat before making and eating their own handmade noodles, and sake brewery tours. At the Ishikawa Brewery, guests can pair sake and locally-brewed beer with dishes at Japanese or Western restaurants. The facility can also host private parties for up to 100 people.
In 2021, Tama became more viable for conferences and exhibitions, too, with the opening of Green Springs in Tachikawa. The innovative, well-being-focused site includes the largest multipurpose hall in Tama, featuring indoor and outdoor stages with combined seating capacity for 2,500 pax. The adjacent Sorano Hotel has 81 guestrooms, each offering park views, as well as various dining options, an infinity pool and a spa. There are also extensive F&B offerings, shops and a 10,000m2 park at Green Springs.
Such new spaces boost the existing event facilities in the area. Nearby Hachioji has 18 convention facilities, 50 banquet halls and 1,768 guestrooms within walking distance of a train station.
However, industry experts admit that central Tokyo may still remain a bigger draw for business events, particularly those that are large or whose participants are new to Japan. In recognition of this, Tokyo Metropolitan Government offers a one-day tour of Tama as part of in-kind support for a large-scale conference held in Tokyo. But Tamashima could see growth in the coming years among repeat visitors or those seeking a quieter stay.
James Kent, general manager of The J Team DMC, said the ability to explore “rural delights within the boundaries of the metropolis will most certainly be an attraction, especially for incentive travellers who like to be treated to short transfers and (have) the next inspiration…just a stone’s throw away”.
Kent predicts the area will grow in popularity in the next few years along with “the delights that the Tokyo rural areas offer, such as farming experiences, cooking the locally-grown produce and the sublime sake that is brewed from the rice and water in these areas”.
More work may need to be done, however, to both raise awareness among industry players of what rural Tokyo has to offer and to compete with areas around Tokyo, according to Jarrod Stenhouse, managing director of Destination Asia Japan.
“We would need to see better options for lunches and activities (to include these areas),” he said, adding that a visit would need to be a “very special experience” in order to be included in schedules given “there is so much to fit in both inside and outside Tokyo – Nikko, Hakone, Kamakura, Yokohama.
Stakeholders call for Singapore government to also address the larger MICE ecosystem
Tourism, aviation and aerospace sectors – worst-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting travel restrictions – will get a further six-month extension to the Singapore government’s Jobs Support Scheme (JSS).
Through the programme, the government will cover part of the wages paid out by qualified companies, with subsidies ranging from 10 per cent to 30 per cent.
Tourism and aviation firms will continue to receive wage support from the government this year
Payout for 30 per cent of wages paid from April to June 2021 will be issued in September, while another 10 per cent paid from July to September will come in December.
The wage support will apply to the first S$4,600 (US$3,476.42) of gross monthly wages paid to each Singaporean or permanent resident employee.
In addition, schemes in support of career growth, training and attachment opportunities will be extended. There will also be continued access to trade loan assistance and grants for self-employed individuals and workers who have lost their jobs or are placed on involuntary no-pay leave for at least three consecutive months.
The extended JSS is part of an S$11 billion COVID-19 Resilience Package announced for Budget 2021 this afternoon. It is also the fourth extension for the scheme since its introduction in February 2020.
Deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat said the extended JSS will cost the government S$700 million, and adjustments will be made based on the projected recovery of the different sectors. Other sectors that qualify for the extended JSS include food services, retail, marine and offshore as well as arts and entertainment.
Since its launch, JSS has subsidised 25 to 75 per cent of wages paid for 10 months and supported over 150,000 employers for up to 17 months.
In all, JSS has cost the government more than S$25 billion.
Aloysius Arlando, president of the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS), said in a public message to members and industry colleagues that that government’s recent budgets and COVID-19 Resilience Package all aim to “safeguard lives, jobs, supply chains and core economic capabilities”.
“From 2021, our focus will be on Emerging Stronger, Together,” Arlando said, and urged members and industry colleagues to seek opportunities to “do things differently and collaboratively for the betterment of our business and people”.
Arlando said: “We encourage SACEOS members to not waste this lull period; work on hybrid event models, build up future-work-ready capabilities as outlined in the Event Industry Resilience Roadmap, adopt the certified practice to construct, conduct under the Safe Event Framework, and apply these permitted event parameters to test out business models, partnerships in pilot events.”
Commenting on the latest JSS arrangements, Singapore Airlines (SIA) CEO Goh Choon Phong said the government measures, which include vaccination priority for the aviation industry, “will help to bolster the SIA Group’s plans to navigate the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, while remaining nimble and flexible to seize all opportunities as international routes re-open and travel sentiments improve”.
Goh added: “The initiatives will also help our employees to retain their knowledge and competencies, and acquire new skills if necessary, ensuring that they are future-ready during this critical period.”
Editor’s note: The original post has been updated to reflect further details on the JSS extension and to include a statement from the SACEOS president.
All parties will promote Qantas services via Singapore
Australia has suspended quarantine-free travel with neighbouring New Zealand after three new community cases of Covid-19 were detected in Auckland over the weekend.
The travel bubble was set up so that New Zealanders could get to Australia without needing to spend 14 days in a hotel, although quarantine was mandatory for people travelling in the other direction.
Australia suspends travel ‘bubble’ with New Zealand
On Sunday, Auckland’s residents were plunged into a new three-day level 3 lockdown through Wednesday, shutting public venues and prohibiting gatherings outside homes, except for weddings and funerals of up to 10 people. Schools will stay open for children of essential workers but others were asked to stay home.
The Covid-19 alert for the rest of New Zealand was raised to Level 2, with all gatherings limited to 100 people, including at restaurants and cafes.
The source of the new cases is still unknown as results do not link directly to any other positive cases detected in New Zealand to date.
Over in Australia, the state of Victoria is currently undergoing a five-day snap lockdown that began on Saturday, as authorities similarly raced to prevent a third wave of Covid-19 cases sparked by the highly infectious UK variant.
Indonesia’s the Ministry of Tourism will host the seventh Bali & Beyond Travel Fair (BBTF) in Bali from June 8 to 12 this year, taking on a hybrid form with health protocols in place for the in-person programme.
As with its pre-pandemic editions, BBTF 2021 will gather both international and domestic trade buyers to meet with tourism sellers from Bali and other priority Indonesian destinations.
Bali & Beyond Travel Fair was last hosted in 2019 and will return to Bali this June
Tanto Ruwiyadi, vice committee chairman of BBTF told TTGmice that international buyers will participate at the show virtually while domestic participants will meet offline.
BBTF 2021 will focus on the theme, Exploring Sustainable and Wellness Tourism. A number of activities and forums led by reputable speakers will address new opportunities, trends and industry insights, as well as highlight the diversity of Indonesia’s regional cultures as a strategic asset for responsible tourism growth.
Recognised as the country’s leading international travel and tourism fair, BBTF is part of Indonesia’s strategy to promote new business opportunities and facilitate the industry’s recovery from the current crisis.
BBTF 2020, which was scheduled for June last year, was called off due to the pandemic and resulting restrictions on travel and mass gatherings.
Asia-Pacific’s meetings industry has swiftly adopted technology to adapt event formats to pandemic restrictions, and innovations in the events space are continuing today.
In this new episode of TTG Conversations: Five questions video series, Ashwin Gunasekaran, chairman of the ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Executive Commitee, shares his observations on where Asia’s meetings industry stands today on the recovery track.
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
The five-star property excels in backing its expansive facilities with seamless service and personalised attention, setting the benchmark for luxury in Bangkok.
