ICCA is proud to be launching this certification programme for its membership and the industry to meet the challenges of the need for new business models, enhanced professionalism and standards in the industry
ICCA has unveiled its latest business events industry initiative, ICCASkills, the association’s eponymous certification programme.
Courses are set to begin in 3Q2021, and the curriculum will be developed and delivered by industry experts – including inspirational business leaders, academics and ICCA members – through on-site and online learning environments.
ICCA hopes that the programme will be able meet the challenges of the need for new business models, enhanced professionalism and standards in the industry
The first two available courses will be the Certified International Convention Specialist (CICS), designed for member employees aiming for their first management position; and Certified International Convention Executive (CICE), created for managers with at least three years’ experience.
ICCA will grant recognition to an industry professional who has met certain predetermined qualifications specified by the association.
Certification will:
• Identify qualified professionals
• Ensure recognition of expertise
• Enhance credibility and prestige to individuals in the industry
• Provide a vehicle for professional development
The certification programme will be guided by a diverse Certification Committee, including implementing standards, requirements and course content approval. An Academic Curriculum Sub-Committee comprising university representatives and ICCA members will support these activities to guarantee relevancy and rigour.
GainingEdge, an ICCA member, has also come forward to provide logistical and operational support during the initiative’s preliminary phases. Other ICCA consultant members will be an integral part of the programme development.
Over the coming months, ICCA will be inviting members to contribute to the programme by submitting content and assisting in course delivery. Information on registration, fees, synopsis of courses, and assessment requirements will be available during 2Q2021.
IMEX Group has announced the cancellation of IMEX Frankfurt this year due to the pandemic.
The event was scheduled to happen from May 25-27 at Messe Frankfurt in Germany, and this is the second consecutive year it has been cancelled.
IMEX Frankfurt 2019
In a statement, IMEX said that they “still believe wholeheartedly that a resurgence will come”, but it will not happen in time for the organisers to “deliver a strong and successful event in May”.
This is because the tradeshow is reliant on international travel routes being open in coming weeks to allow buyers and exhibitors – hailing from over 150+ countries – to confirm their participation.
However, IMEX group remains “genuinely positive about the future”, with the rollouts of vaccines and improvements in rapid testing programmes.
As such, they are confident they will be able to deliver IMEX America in Las Vegas from November 9-11, 2021, as well as the IMEX Frankfurt 2022 from April 26-28).
Kimes: 2021 will be a challenging year for hotels in Singapore; Singapore skyline pictured
Kimes: 2021 will be a challenging year for hotels in Singapore; Singapore skyline pictured
The Singapore hotel industry will continue to struggle in 2021 or at least until border restrictions are fully lifted. Given that border restrictions are unlikely to be lifted until vaccines are widespread, it looks like a rather gloomy year ahead. Unlike most other countries, Singapore does not have a large domestic market, so having tight border restrictions have made it extremely challenging for hotels to maintain previous levels of profitability.
During 2020, stay-home notice and quarantine business, along with housing displaced workers, proved to be a godsend for participating hotels since it provided a base business (albeit at a much lower rate than usual) that allowed hotels to at least cover most of their costs. This, combined with government salary support, helped immensely.
During the circuit breaker, hotels were not allowed to offer staycations, but this restriction was eased in July for approved hotels. As you might expect, the demand for staycations varies based upon hotel location, with hotels in a more ‘resort-like’ environment experiencing higher demand. In addition, some hotels were able to benefit from the limited green lane travel and also by accommodating flight crews.
Many hotels also developed innovative ways of generating revenue such as restaurant delivery, retail sales and workcations. For example, Four Seasons, Regent Hotel, Holiday Inn, Pan Pacific Hotel and W Hotel, among others, all offer delivery from their restaurants. Other hotels such as Fairmont, Intercontinental and the Fullerton Hotel offer workcations in which customers who don’t want to work at home can go.
Given that Singapore borders are mostly closed for the foreseeable future, Singaporeans can’t satisfy their travel itch and are instead focusing on rediscovering Singapore.
Since (the launch of Singapore Tourism Board’s SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme on) December 1, more than 300,000 Singaporeans have spent their vouchers, and bookings have accounted for nearly S$36 million (US$27.2 million) in vouchers and payments. This has been a big help for struggling hotels and attractions.
Promising developments ahead Back in September 2020, Keith Tan, CEO of STB, stated “there is a long road to recovery ahead” and “frankly, I am not sure I see any light at the end of the tunnel”. Even though the outcome for 2021 still looks pretty grim, there are some promising signs including the World Economic Forum (WEF) in late May, the deployment of hybrid meeting technology, and the expanded green lane business initiative.
The WEF has traditionally been held in Davos, Switzerland, but due to the rapid spread of Covid-19 in Europe, the WEF organisers decided to move the event to Singapore. The WEF typically brings in about 3,000 dignitaries from around the world as well as a significant number of media representatives.
Hosting the WEF is a major opportunity for Singapore and is a recognition of the confidence that WEF has in the country’s management of the pandemic. It also represents a wonderful opportunity to highlight Singapore’s MICE capabilities. Hosting the WEF will bring in a substantial amount of business, receives very strong international media coverage, and will help build interest in Singapore as a place to do business and to visit once the pandemic is over.
The new Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) initiative for segregated travel lane arrangements for business travellers throughout the world is scheduled to begin in late January 2021, and is another promising development. This initiative will allow short-term business travellers from all countries (as opposed to the current limitations placed on approved green lane travel) to enter the country without facing quarantine restrictions.
These short-term business travellers will be transported to dedicated facilities which will be equipped with meeting facilities that allow the travellers to meet with local business people as well as other international business travellers, through specially designed floor-to-ceiling air-tight glass panels. Travellers will be regularly tested while in Singapore and at the end of their meetings, and transported back to the airport.
In a related area, several initiatives in the MICE industry are extremely promising. The MICE industry typically provides 32 per cent of tourism revenue, but with the closed borders, this has essentially gone away. The Event Industry Resilience Roadmap (IRR) – a joint initiative from the STB, Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) – has helped the MICE industry develop SafeEvent Standards as well as hybrid technologies that can be used to host virtual and hybrid meetings. Singapore has been recognised as a leader in this space.
For example, Marina Bay Sands, in conjunction with STB, launched a hybrid event studio at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in August and in November, adding mixed reality technology to the studio. Since then, a number of successful events have been hosted there.
Conclusion While 2021 doesn’t look particularly promising for the Singapore hotel industry, the pandemic has given the Singapore hotel and tourism industry an opportunity to reposition for the future.
As STB’s Tan stated in November: “Covid-19 is the biggest crisis we have ever faced in travel and tourism… The journey to reimagine travel has already started in Singapore, and we want to continue this journey with those whose voices matter – our community in Singapore, and our partners here and around the world.” I have every confidence that the Singapore hotel industry will emerge even stronger than it was in the past.
Sherri Kimes is a visiting professor in the Department of Analytics & Operations at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School.
Interprefy has made its new Interprefy Select desktop app available, which allows meeting and event organisers to add real-time interpreting to Zoom, GoToWebinar, Webex and any other web conferencing, virtual events or live streaming platform.
Participants just need to select their preferred audio language in the app alongside their event. As soon as the interpreter is speaking, the app will instantly auto-mute the original speaker to stream live interpreting with low-to-no latency, while the event is ongoing. When the interpreter stops, the audio will immediately switch back to the original event audio.
A screenshot of the app in action
“The new normal of connecting remotely offers an unprecedented opportunity for event organisers to attract a wider and more diverse audience. And for meeting organisers to democratise access to the conversation, by offering a truly multilingual experience, where everybody listens and speaks in a language they’re proficient in,” said Annett Polaszewski-Plath, CEO at Interprefy.
The Interprefy desktop app is immediately available via the Microsoft Windows app store and through the Interprefy website.
Domestic travel across Malaysia is prohibited from today until January 26 in a bid to arrest the rising number of Covid-19 infections, with potential for extension subject to risk assessments before the ban expires.
Besides a ban on interstate travel, social activities involving mass gatherings are also not allowed in all states except for Sarawak and Perlis – two states that have recorded fewer number of new infections. Social gatherings in the two states are subjected to strict standard operating procedures.
Face-to-face business events are temporarily impacted too.
Majority of Malaysian states as well as the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya will return to a lockdown as new infections surge
Residents of Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor and Sabah as well as the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya face further inter-district travel restrictions as these regions are regarded as “high risk states” and healthcare services are almost stretched to their limits.
The Movement Control Order (MCO) enforced on these states and the Federal Territories is similar to the strict conditions imposed from March 18 to May 4, 2020, where residents were only allowed to move within 10km of their home and only two people were allowed to travel to purchase groceries.
In a televised address to the nation, Malaysia prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the government had decided to take these strict measures to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19 infection, thus reducing the number of daily positive cases to a more manageable level.
He said that the country’s healthcare system was “at breaking point”.
“In the Klang Valley, the rate of ICU bed use for Covid-19 patients at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and the University of Malaya Medical Centre had reached 100 per cent while at the Sungai Buloh Hospital it has reached 83 per cent. The rate of use of ICU beds for Covid-19 patients in Perak, Selangor, Melaka, Terengganu and Sarawak has exceeded 70 per cent,” he elaborated.
Malaysia reported 2,232 new Covid-19 infections on January 11, 2021, and four fatalities, bringing the death toll nationwide to 555.
While travel and tourism leaders expressed understanding for the need to curb infections, they also urged the government to appreciate the resulting impact on an already distressed industry.
Malaysian Association of Hotels CEO, Yap Lip Seng, said: “We need to stress on the need for the government to make the right decision in balancing lives (and) livelihood. With the…MCO implementations, businesses are again expected to lose all revenue streams.
“The government must support the industry and its people. With little or no revenue, businesses will not be able to retain its people, will not be able to pay salaries, and will have no option but to let go of its employees.”
Yap underlined the urgent need for a wage subsidy structure of 50 per cent for employees within a pay structure of RM4,000 (US$988) and 30 per cent for those earning up to RM8,000.
Malaysia Budget Hotel Association national deputy president, Sri Ganesh Michiel, also urged government understanding and assistance.
Meanwhile, Uzaidi Udanis, president of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, advised members to adapt to the new situation, pivot their businesses towards digitalisation, and step up on hygiene procedures to rebuild customer confidence.
Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas has made four general manager appointments across its portfolio of luxury properties in Asia-Pacific.
From left: Sarah Moya, Pitak ‘Chin’ Norathepkitti
Taking the helm at Anantara Quy Nhon Villas and sister property Avani Quy Nhon Resort, both in central Vietnam, is Sarah Moya, who holds more than 25 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. Moya’s career started in her native Philippines where she climbed the sales and marketing ladder to lead teams for Hyatt, first in Manila and then on to Siem Reap in Cambodia.
Her journey continued at the Shinta Mani Luang Prabang hotel before joining Anantara in 2018 as general manager of Anantara Angkor Resort in Cambodia.
Meanwhile, Pitak “Chin” Norathepkitti, a Thai-born part-time university lecturer, joins Anantara Angkor Resort from Sofitel Luang Prabang and 3 Nagas Luang Prabang, both in Laos, where he rose through the ranks to become cluster general manager. Prior to his new role, Chin held various executive management positions in sales and business development at several luxury hotels in his hometown of Bangkok.
From left: Emanuel Grosch, Stephan Moonen
Over in Thailand, Emanuel Grosch has stepped into his new role at Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort. His journey with Anantara began in 2019 as resort manager of Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort in the Thai capital, before travelling south to Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort.
An international hospitality professional with 15 years’ experience in upscale and luxury hotels and resorts, Grosch has also spent time learning the ropes under Capella Group.
Finally, Stephan Moonen joins the flagship resort Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle Resort in Sri Lanka, after a 10-year journey with Marriott Hotels in the UK. Moonen started his 15-year career in F&B in his native country, the Netherlands, and has since taken on leadership roles for global brands in rooms and F&B, gaining experience in Europe, China and the Middle East.
Pilot use of the ICC AOKpass. Photo credit: Affinidi
Digital health passes and certificates can play a pivotal role in tourism recovery by boosting consumer confidence when travelling during the Covid era, highlighted a recent report by GlobalData.
The analytics company noted that several stakeholders of the travel and tourism industry, including destinations, airlines and associations like IATA, are exploring the option of digital passes and health certificates.
Pilot use of the ICC AOKpass. Photo credit: Affinidi
These digital passes and certificates intend to lower the risk of Covid-19 infection by providing accurate details on the health status of passengers.
Since May 2020, Singapore has been testing ICC AOKpass, a digitally verifiable Covid-19 health certificate for entrance to the country. It is backed by health and security services provider International SOS, International Chamber of Commerce and AOKpass. In line with this, all travellers from Indonesia and Malaysia can make use of the facility that will be made available to other international travellers in a phased manner.
AOKpass is also being used on flights between Abu Dhabi and Karachi/Islamabad as well as Rome and New York City/Atlanta. Another similar digital pass, CommonPass, has been tested on flights between New York and London. Additionally, IATA is also working on a Travel Pass.
Animesh Kumar, director of travel & tourism and automotive consulting at GlobalData, said: “Digital passes help passengers prove that they adhere to the health entry requirements of their destination and enhance the safety of international travellers. Since these can be stored in and used through a mobile application, they are easy to use. The app securely stores and authenticates the negative Covid-19 PCR test results. The passes can also facilitate faster clearances if airports have dedicated immigration counters, similar to Changi Airport in Singapore.”
Stressing the urgent need for a framework that brings the passengers, testing labs, local authorities, airlines and immigration authorities on a common platform, GlobalData said that such digital passes/certificates can facilitate that. The use of QR codes, blockchain and decentralised data ensures data accuracy as well as privacy, it added.
A large-scale rollout of such passes would reduce the lag created by the time-consuming processing of paper certificates, which are also susceptible to potential test result frauds.
Kumar concluded: “Digital health passes would help in boosting the consumers’ confidence as they would enhance efficiency, safety, security as well as data privacy and reduce the risks of in-flight infections. There is also a potential for expanding the use of such digital passes for domestic travel as well as entry in concerts and stadiums.”
The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) has launched a brand-new, one-stop virtual solution to deliver virtual and hybrid events.
This solution comprises brand new studios that have been fitted with production-grade audio and visual equipment, 400 Megabit of Internet bandwidth, two separate power supplies, a dedicated network backbone and a qualified team of technical experts to help in the setup, event production and technical design to live broadcast and streams.
A sample of a hybrid event setup
As part of the One-Stop Virtual Solution, the Centre also offers an interactive and immersive virtual platform that integrates livestreams and existing video hosting tools, including Zoom, YouTube and Vimeo, and is equipped with a systematic registration for attendees.
Depending on the event and client requirements, the Centre also offers other solutions such as a Command Centre.
Hybrid Studio packages start from RM23,200 nett (US$5,740) per day, while the Virtual Studio packages start at RM9,280 for a minimum of four hours.
The Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel in Lantau, situated a 10-minute drive from Hong Kong International Airport and Asia-World Expo, is now open.
The 218-key property offers 3,400m2 of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, comprising the pillar-free Graqnd Ballroom that can accommodate 1,300 guests and delegates, and divided into three independent areas. For smaller events, other function areas include four multifunction meeting rooms, as well as two outdoor terraces – one of which boasts 270-degree ocean views.
Deluxe King Oceanview
After finishing their event, delegates can retire to their rooms. Regardless of category, each living space has full-length windows that open up to the mountains and the sea, alongside modern amenities such as 49-inch LCD televisions, and high-speed Wi-Fi.
Other facilities include four dining venues ranging from a rooftop Grill restaurant to a modern Chinese diner, an Executive Lounge, a 24-hour fitness centre, and swimming pool. Business guests can also take advantage of the hotel’s community programme, where Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung Hotel has partnered with a local bee farm, Mui Wo Lychee Hill Holiday Farm to offer exclusive tours for guests.
As businesses maintain hybrid remote-working models and anticipate other potential disruptions in 2021 and beyond, the role of automation and AI use cases in the workplace will grow
Digital transformation has been the talk of the town for the longest time, but it is only during times of necessity that we see an acceleration of digital transformation in many organisations.
The pandemic in 2020 has seen many companies in the early and mid-stages of digital transformation adapt and speed up their transformation to address the unprecedented global disruption.
As businesses maintain hybrid remote-working models and anticipate other potential disruptions moving forward, the role of automation and AI use cases in the workplace will grow
Moving into 2021, as businesses maintain their hybrid remote working environment and anticipate other potential disruptions, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will play a greater role than ever.
What’s more exciting is that due to rapid adoption of technologies like cloud, AI and data analytics, the Asia Pacific digital transformation market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.7 per cent from now to 2025. This makes APAC the world’s fastest-growing region (global CAGR is 16.5 per cent).
Automation will therefore start to be an essential part of APAC organisations’ work processes in many aspects.
1. Improving workflow efficiency
The broader use of AI and ML allows businesses to eliminate manual processes, improve productivity, and get a competitive boost. An SAP Concur survey conducted earlier in 2020, for instance, has shown that as many as 38 per cent of employees are still processing claims manually in the Asia Pacific region.
The emergence of the digital business environment is expected to increase pressure on companies to manage budgets in real-time, increase compliance and eliminate errors.
The adoption of AI and ML also opens up new possibilities for travel and expense management. Prompt reimbursement, and reduced manual review and approval of claims, are some possibilities that finance teams in organisations can expect from AI and ML adoption.
Algorithms can be trained to pick up fraudulent claims, which can be missed by human beings. Automation allows mundane tasks to be eliminated from employees’ workflow, and finance teams can spend more time looking at expense reports that contain privacy violations and fraudulent expenses.
At SAP Concur, we use AI and ML to make everything from travel booking to expense auditing smarter, more automated, and easier for employees.
2. Adding intelligence to applications
AI and ML are not only useful in eliminating manual processes. Adopting automation into an organisation’s workflow can bring extra value to employees at a different level to grow, scale and improve employee satisfaction.
By introducing AI and ML to an organisation’s workflow, employees can receive recommendations for business travel and accommodation options based on their history, and yet still be compliant with company policies. ML algorithms can be used to analyse employees’ behaviours and recurring patterns for the system to provide the most suitable options. When the algorithms are properly trained, the perfect travel options can be provided with just the first few recommendations.
AI and ML are not limited to travel options, and automation can play a role in intelligently adjusting travel policies within organisations’ expense management systems based on the data mined. Employees booking flight tickets or accommodation at prices that exceed allowed limits would typically be flagged for violation, but the AI-analysed data can allow the system to automatically adjust travel policies to accommodate current prices so that employees would not be flagged for violation. This way, other departments will not have to intervene and slow down processes.
3. Empowering business leaders’ decision making
At a higher level, AI and ML can sieve through a huge amount of data and garner key insights from it, swiftly empowering business leaders to make important business decisions.
Finance managers are always on the lookout to cut travel-related costs, and often need to gather insights on which business processes are prone to cash leakages. With automation being the key driver in gathering and analysing data, key insights and recommendations can be delivered to business leaders to action on, while providing an overview of organisations’ travel and expenses domain such as employee behaviour, travel expenses, spending and travel patterns.
AI and ML can deliver decision making value at an even higher level when the system is tasked to deliver risk assessments on the next key business decision while considering all historical projects. Business leaders can then make informed decisions based on comprehensive insights rather than perspectives to maximise budget management and liquidity, increasing compliance and eliminating errors, and maximising profitability.
As we head into 2021, there’s no doubt that the clear business value AI and ML bring will increasingly see them being integrated into organisations.
Andy Watson is the senior vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific Japan and Greater China at SAP Concur, where he is responsible for leading the business for SAP Concur in this region. A 30-year IT industry veteran who’s been a CFO, Watson has also held global and regional leadership roles in SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Cloud.
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Andy Watson is the senior vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific Japan and Greater China at SAP Concur, where he is responsible for leading the business for SAP Concur in this region. A 30-year IT industry veteran who’s been a CFO, Watson has also held global and regional leadership roles in SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Cloud.
