Frasers Hospitality, a member of Frasers Property Group, has opened Fraser Suites Akasaka in Tokyo’s Central Business District.
The 224-key serviced residence offers a range from rooms from the 32m2 deluxe up to the 60m2 one-bedroom apartments, larger than the average size of accommodation in the densely populated city.
Fraser Suites Akasaka
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Outfitted with kitchenettes, rain showers and bathtubs, and state-of-the-art home entertainment systems, the apartments also have large bay windows that let in natural light and offer unobstructed views of Tokyo’s city skyline, the Tokyo Skytree and Mount Fuji.
The property also boasts facilities including a Japanese-Italian restaurant, 24/7 gym, golf simulator and The Retreat, a conducive space for work and relaxation that comes with massage chairs.
The 22-storey serviced residence is strategically located near major transportation hubs, foreign embassies, the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) Television and is surrounded by major local and multinational corporations. It is also in the vicinity of the Tokyo Bay Zone and old Olympic venues from 1964 in the Heritage Zone.
Singapore’s buisness events and tourism industry is in a learn-and-grow mode to ride out the Covid-19 business depression
As Singapore undergoes a gradual reopening of the economy and with ‘fast lane’ business travel now a reality, the beleaguered business events sector can now breathe a small sigh of relief.
To help the sector make good use of the downtime, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has developed a three-step framework. Coined Learn Test Build, it features several new platforms, such as the self-diagnostic tool Tourism Transformation Index (TXI), upcoming physical space ThreeHouse, and the newly-opened Singapore Tourism Analytics Network (STAN).
Singapore’s business events and tourism industry is in a learn-and-grow mode to ride out the Covid-19 business depression
Under the Learn stage, TXI provides a holistic gauge of a company’s current state of digital transformation across six areas: leadership and organisation, process and operations, customer, innovation, technology, and data. Businesses can then identify the next steps that they should take to advance their state of transformation.
Under the Test stage, STB will launch ThreeHouse in 4Q2020. The new physical space at its headquarters will allow companies to collaborate and prototype new ideas and solutions. If successful, these ideas will be picked by STB to be scaled to a bigger platform.
Finally, under the Build stage, STB has opened its tourism data pool, STAN, to the tourism industry, which can now access 10 years’ worth of Singapore’s visitor arrival data broken down by market, region, visitor profile and mode of arrival. Businesses will be able to gain consumer insights, create visualisations, analyse datasets and collaborate with other players on data analytics projects.
This platform is essential for businesses to “identify where the pockets of opportunities are once the tourism industry shows signs of recovery”, said Quek Choon Yang, chief technology officer, STB, elaborating that “certain sectors and certain source markets will recover quicker than others”.
STB will soon conduct an industry-wide capability upskilling programme and engage stakeholders, including business events companies, hotels, attractions and travel agencies, on how to adopt STAN and data analytics in their businesses.
Learning never stops
The country’s private sector is also doing their part to help prop the industry up.
In April, Google and UOB announced a new curriculum under its SME Leadership Academy training programme, customised to help SMEs in retail, tourism and F&B respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. The curriculum has been expanded ten-fold and aims to help 4,000 businesses by end-2021, with new topics covering the use of digital solutions in managing businesses from home, effective management during crises, as well as financial relief assistance available for SMEs. Sessions are led by trainers from Google and UOB, and have moved from in-person seminars to hour-long webinars over several weeks.
Andrew Phua, executive director, Exhibitions & Conferences, STB, commented: “As we take steps towards embracing what a post-Covid-19 world holds for the MICE industry, we encourage our MICE industry partners to use this downtime to rethink event formats, explore new partnerships and upskill. We have to be well-positioned and ready to resume business when the time comes.”
Staying top of mind
Singapore has leaned on unique marketing campaigns to maintain its soft power in the tourism market.
For instance, business events destination Sentosa Island planted a flag in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a popular Nintendo Switch video game that was launched in March 2020 and sold 13.4 million copies as of May.
Game players can ‘visit’ Sentosa Crossing, a digital reimagination of the holiday island portraying a recreation of Sentosa’s iconic attractions and offerings, including Skyline Luge Sentosa, Capella Singapore, beach bars, nature trails and movies by the beach.
STB also partnered with Zouk nightclub to host Zouk Phuturescapes, a weekend virtual rave held in Asia, UK and US in May, featuring headliners such as Diplo, San Holo and Christina Novelli. The Zoom party drew more than 6,000 participants and more than 300,000 viewers on social media.
“Singapore has been featured in Hollywood movies and video games, all of which have garnered the world’s attention and curiosity. These activations are the perfect outreach channels to increase awareness of Singapore as a MICE destination in a more dynamic and entertaining manner,” said Vincent Yap, director, integrated marketing solutions, Pico Art International.
He expressed hope for more campaigns that can enhance Singapore’s image as a destination with the capability to organise hybrid meetings and tradeshows, as well as to help organisers expand their online footprint and engagement. “Think VR, AR or mixed realities, where someone can virtually walk into 3D tradeshow or conference,” he suggested.
Sean Xiao, director & president, Sino Elite M.I.C.E. Services, chimed in that local MICE businesses could benefit from more promotional activities on hotel rooms, conference venues, teambuilding programmes, and cultural experiences.
Fresh set of tools for the new normal
Industry stakeholders have also kept on going despite business challenges, getting creative in keeping in touch with and developing new products for their clients.
In end-February, Sino Elite M.I.C.E. Services started to develop tools for cloud conferencing that were rolled out at the end of March. The solution includes a small live broadcast room that can accommodate groups of 10, which has been picked up by several local hotels. It has also tailored special discounted packages for clients and offered free trials to selected partners.
Meanwhile, GlobalSign.in has taken the opportunity to develop a tool that can help its clients transition into online events.
Built on a pre-existing events management solution, GEVME Live can help companies run livestream webinars with multiple speakers and thousands of listeners interacting through chat and live Q&A, digital conferences with hundreds of speakers and multiple tracks, as well as online exhibitions with a 24/7 digital booth and one-to-one meetings.
The company has also started a Digital Events Series to address the knowledge gap event organisers may have regarding digital events.
Veemal Gungadin, founder and CEO of GlobalSign.in, shared: “Making the leap to digital events was a company effort that required everyone’s roles to be converted overnight, and we had to go beyond our comfort zone to acquire new skills.
“In the new world, a blending of technical and event management skills would be required to be able to deliver virtual events. We found that there is (also) a new role for this: the digital event manager.”
Launceston’s Peppers Silo Hotel in Tasmania is leading the local industry in the battle against food waste, by turning its kitchen scraps into compost, while working on a cooperative forward planning with local growers at the same time.
As one of the early commercial adopters of Launceston City Council’s Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) system, the hotel is on-track to divert around 24 tonnes of waste from landfill per year.
Its general manager, Paul Seaman, said: “We’ve been weighing the bins each day and our early calculations indicate that we’ll be sending about two tonnes per month to Council’s composting facility. We’re not just talking about veggie scraps, the system can also take dairy, meat, bones, coffee grounds and cardboard packaging, so in a large hospitality business like ours it all adds up.”
The collected FOGO material is sent to Launceston Waste Centre’s purpose-built Organics Processing Facility to be turned into compost, which is then used on local parks and nature reserves.
The hotel’s head chef, Thomas Pirker, said the operational simplicity of the FOGO system made it easy for businesses to implement.
“There’s not a lot of extra training or new processes involved, it’s really just a matter of getting the bins and getting started. Not only does this system reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, the compost helps to build up the quality of soils, making them more drought resistant and nutrient rich, which is another great outcome,” said Pirker.
According to the hotel’s food director, Massimo Mele – one of the pair behind the initial push for FOGO – it wasn’t difficult to get the rest of the team on board the sustainability train.
When asked where his inspiration hailed from, Mele shared that he has been an active part of the OZHarvest CEO Cook Off (a food-rescue organisation’s flagship annual event), and was made acutely aware of how much bread, dairy, vegetables and basic staples were wasted.
“I started to really look at my waste at home, and thought about just how much we waste in commercial kitchens,” he noted. Mele went on to attend a workshop at Parliament House, where he met some “very inspiring people” who were working towards reducing food waste on the national level. Australia currently has a roadmap for this, and aims to halve the country’s food waste by 2030.
Aside from FOGO, Pirker also shared how committed the hotel is to local supply chains and service providers.
“It’s still early days, but we’re working with some of our core growers on a system to better manage supply and demand. The growers provide us with seasonality calendars that show what produce will be available at different times of the year, and we provide them with a forecast of our anticipated orders of those ingredients based on seasonal menus,” he elaborated.
This cooperative forward planning offers a degree of certainty to both parties, and opens up conversations about what other ingredients a farmer might want to grow that can be used by the property, and vice versa.
“Participating in this information sharing also educates our chefs coming up through the ranks about how local and seasonal ingredients offer a superior flavour and quality along with social, economic and environmental benefits,” said Pirker.
Other sustainability initiatives include eliminating disposable packaging from produce deliveries. Local growers currently deliver vegetables unpackaged and in reusable plastic crates, which the hotels then unload and return to the suppliers ahead of the next delivery. There is no plastic waste or cardboard boxes to dispose of.
And these efforts have not gone unnoticed. Other hotels like Peppers Seaport and Mantra Charles in Launceston are also thinking of implementing the FOGO system after learning about its long-reaching impact, while local restaurants have approached the hotel to learn from its best practices.
Routes will be holding a hybrid event, named Routes Reconnected, from November 30 to December 4, 2020.
The five-day event will comprise three virtual days of meetings, on-demand content and virtual networking opportunities, as well as two full days of in-person meetings at the Hilton, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Routes normally holds five development forums a year, but this year it is going hybrid
More than 25 airlines have already registered including Air Belgium, Air Dolomiti, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, HK Express, IndiGo, Japan Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, KLM, Lion Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, SunExpress, TAP Air Portugal, Transavia, TUI Group, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Wizz Air and Volotea.
In excess of 50 countries are expected to attend and there will be over 30 hours of on-demand content delivered by 40 speakers.
Confirmed Speakers include Arik De, chief revenue & network officer, TAP Air Portugal; Dilhan Haradasa, group head of network & regulatory affairs, AirAsia Group; Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general, ACI World; Garry Wilson, CEO, Easyjet Holidays; and Jay Lingeswara, director, Commercial, VietJet Air.
The event programme will also include 10 airline briefing sessions offering direct insight into future network strategies and what information is needed to influence business decisions.
Steven Small, director of Routes, said that the event will bring the global route development community to stimulate recovery, and will deliver both physical and forums to drive the industry forward.
The flagship World Routes event will take place on September 5-7, 2021.
InterContinental Hotels Group recently opened a Crowne Plaza in Hobart, with another in Adelaide set to open on September 1.
Both Crowne Plazas will offer the brand’s new Plaza Workspace offering, a co-working space for guests who can expect wireless phone chargers integrated into tables, as well as access to free high-speed Wi-Fi.
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Crowne Plaza Adelaide
Crowne Plaza Adelaide Pool
Crowne Plaza Hobart
Crowne Plaza Hobart The Deck
The new-build Crowne Plaza Hobart offers event planners six versatile meeting and event spaces, which includes a ballroom with natural lightning, all of which come decked out with state-of-the-art AV and virtual conference capabilities.
It will have 235 rooms, alongside facilities such as a Club Lounge, a fitness centre, and two F&B options – the all-day Core Restaurant and Bar, and the farm-to-table eatery The Deck.
Over in Adelaide, the Crowne Plaza will be a bigger property with 329 rooms starting from 28m2. Alongside the in-room streaming app, the high-tech rooms will also feature a digital in-room compendium, Bluetooth-streamed music, and a 55-inch LCD TV.
Crowne Plaza Adelaide will also feature 450m2 of flexible meeting and conference space across four spaces on level two: The Visionary Ballroom and pre-function space; Elevate, Collaborate (these spaces combine to create one larger space); and The Think Tank.
Other amenities include the Luna10 bar; Pan-Asian influenced eatery Koomo, gym, and outdoor infinity pool.
One more Crowne Plaza, situated in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, is scheduled to open before the end of this year.
Hilton has launched its EventReady Flexible Offer for all its properties located globally, which aims to give event planners peace of mind when organising future events.
Events in the new normal
From now through December 31, 2020, for meetings or events taking place through to May 31, 2021, customers who take up this offer receive:
The Hilton EventReady with CleanStay elevated cleanliness and customer service standards for meetings and events, including meeting room seals, the EventReady Room Checklist and socially responsible meeting room sets.
Flexible Cancellation with the Hilton Express Meeting Agreement, allowing short term meetings and events, with up to US$50,000 budget, to cancel without penalty up eight days in advance of arrival.
Double Hilton Honors Event Planner Points, enabling planners to earn two Points per US$1 spent on guest rooms, meeting rooms and more on qualifying events at participating hotels within the Hilton Honors Planner programme.
Planners are struggling to budget for hybrid events as they try to find the balance between taking an event online and managing face-to-face attendee’s expectations, and 61% of planners and 47% of suppliers are only willing to travel within their country for a business event according to research conducted by the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA).
Forty-one per cent of planners believe smaller and regional events will come back sooner than larger international events, while 27% believe small in-person events will need to go hybrid, and large events wholly digital.
The survey discovered that many event organisers would prefer to travel domestically for now, while China will probably recover the fastest in APAC
The survey revealed most business event planners have no intention of travelling any time soon with almost two-thirds (60%) of planners saying they would only travel within their own country for a business event in 2020, while 10% would travel to another country in Asia Pacific.
The suppliers reported being more willing to travel; with 48% saying they would only travel in their own country, 17% would travel within Asia Pacific and 22% would go anywhere, “if it was worth it”.
Karen Bolinger, managing director of PCMA Asia Pacific, said this survey provides insights from the region, from which planners and suppliers can start devising their plans.
“Some of the results were as predicted, but the real impact Covid-19 has had on business revenue for 2020 was distressing. The suppliers have taken a bigger financial hit, with 66% of suppliers noting a decline greater than 75% in revenue, compared to 52% of planners. This is a massive impact and shows the vulnerability of many of the companies that deliver events.
“The recovery in China is a major indicator for business events post-Covid. The research reveals that the Chinese are expecting a ‘pent-up demand’ for face-to-face events, hence predicting a stronger recovery in 2021 compared to the rest of Asia Pacific.
“Not surprisingly, both planners and suppliers need new skills to survive in a post-Covid economy. The survey revealed the educational and skills-based training needed right now, and these results are helping to shape the educational program PCMA is rolling out across APAC.
“It is clear that the hybrid delivery of events, both large and small, will be with us for a long time however, we need to ensure the entire event ecosystem is taken along for the journey,” said Bolinger.
The research, a regional first, is the largest multicountry business event research conducted since the onset of Covid-19 and included 531 event industry professional participants – 342 planners and 189 suppliers. PCMA conducted its Covid-19 Recovery Dashboard survey in the Asia Pacific between July 7-15, 2020, across Australia, New Zealand, South-east Asia, China, Korea and Japan.
PCMA will conduct further research in the Asia-Pacific region over the coming months.
Hybrid or virtual events are the new normal, but experts caution that organising an online event is very different from a virtual one, with more to consider
Event technology, and the rise of hybrid and virtual events these past several months, has given the industry a lifeline by ensuring business still goes on in the pandemic.
According to GlobalSign.in CEO Veemal Gungadin, most clients are fairly new to virtual and hybrid events.
Hybrid or virtual events are the new normal, but experts caution that organising an online event is very different from a physical one, with more to consider
He said a recent survey the company conducted showed more than 90 per cent of event professionals have never organised such events before, but what was encouraging is that more than 93 per cent were prepared to organise one and are at the learning stage.
He commented GlobalSign.in was confident many clients will see the value in such events, even those who never believed in virtual and hybrid events but had to make the switch out of necessity.
Gungadin observed: “What surprises clients the most is that (moving events online) requires a whole new way of thinking. They have to think digital first and need a whole new set of skills.”
The organiser of the September 24 APACMed Virtual Forum, one of the first hybrid meetings to take place in Singapore where 50 on-site delegates will be joined by a larger number online, is sold on the concept.
Maryline Marquet, vice president, APACMed, which is working with Chab Events to produce the hybrid event, said she is able to expand her reach with five global CEOs speaking, compared to only one for its previous editions.
Marquet also noted costs will be reduced and she is optimistic of reaching at least the same attendance in 2019 with about 1,000 delegates from 31 countries, the event’s best showing to date.
She explained that as the Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association’s flagship event, all-out effort and high costs were involved in the past. With the 2020 cost being lower and the global reach better, future hybrid editions will more sustainable.
While seamless, powerful and flexible event technology is necessary, Oscar Cerezales, chief operating officer Asia Pacific and global executive president corporate division, MCI Group, pointed out that it is only an enabler and part of the whole equation.
He said: “We help our clients design the event without a full focus in technology as all platforms work. By design we mean applying our design methodology, applying neuroscience, defining new metrics, co-developing the business model, increasing engagement, and adding coding to connect the client’s technology with other technology.”
Prudential Corporation Asia, which formulated an all-digital engagement strategy to enable its agents to continue to learn and connect with customers during lockdown and social distancing in place, picked MCI Singapore to deliver broadcast digital experiences to more than 100,000 agents in markets it operates in.
As part of the preparations, MCI helped to set up a broadcast centre, conducted online speaker training and developed easy-to-use broadcast kits for speakers.
Cerezales said: “If you ask me what the main problem is for some online events, is the lack of engagement due to a lack of digital design.
“Digital event design and face-to-face event design are two different animals, where the content for the former has to be more interactive and engaging to overcome the lower attention span in the virtual space,” he added.
And while event organisers may have adapted to the disruption, as Kitty Wong, president, K&A International opined that virtual meetings are two-dimensional and cannot replace the five senses used in face-to-face communication.
Wong said: “Technology can support, but it cannot replace social interaction”, adding that online events can be costly with production, scripting, directing and rehearsals to create audience engagement, otherwise efficiency is low.
“In general, people do not know how to be on camera,” she observed.
Some components of corporate travel still require a human touchcompletely entrusting the travel management process to AI
As AI, chatbots and other smart customer service solutions flood the market, business travel proponents warn against the trap of leaning on automated tools, which cannot fulfil the complexities required of travel policies.
More than 50 per cent of consumers use automated chatbots to facilitate their queries, with the millennial segment of users shunning phone calls as an “outdated service”, shared Jonathan Kao, managing director, Greater China, BCD Travel.
Some components of corporate travel still require a human touch and cannot be completely entrusted to AI
“As a TMC, we receive trip requests for Shanghai to Beijing more than 500 times daily. Chatbots can help us with such low-value services so that we can focus on bringing higher value in our other areas of service,” he said.
AI solutions are useful for solving such “core problems that are simple to handle”, described Kelvin Hu, finance director, Shanghai Chicmax Cosmetics. The FMCG company has a partnership with Ctrip, under which it has customised a standardised travel policy, as well as a middle-tier system that allows travel managers to execute price comparison and expense management.
However, such technology “has not matured enough yet” to be employed across the entire travel management process, opined Hu.
He explained: “Right now, AI’s standing is like Taobao in 2003, when people were not comfortable with online shopping and saw a level of risk. We have to wait for further development that will force the industry to grow.”
Even high-end hotels in China do not have a complete grasp on adept chatbots that can process requests such adding an extra bed to a room, shared Li Lei, founder & director, Youli Hospitality Consulting Co.
He elaborated: “After wrestling with the torturous chatbot that didn’t understand our request, we eventually called the concierge and the matter was easily settled. Even with chatbots, a lot of guests still do not derive the same sense of security (as with human service).”
Frequent business travellers have also grown accustomed to having a secretary who knows their travel needs and preferences for flights and hotels, and such a “perfect solution” is the standard that AI has to meet in order to be fully accepted by the industry, said Leo Pan, GC travel counsellor, Greater China, Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
“Even though BCG has an online adoption rate of close to 80 per cent, we still have some hesitation in completely entrusting the travel management process to AI. It may not be able to handle some problems, such as a shortage of flight seats or hotel rooms, and those boil down to personal service. We still want to take a closer look at how the market develops before investing in a solution,” shared Pan.
From top left: Shanghai New International Expo Centre’s Michael Krupp; JCIM’s Jessica Chang; ICCA’s Noor Ahmad Hamid; and MadTech Event Service’s David Sun
In addition to abiding by guidelines and SOPs, an individual’s discipline, continuous education, and businesses putting people first are three other key requirements for business events to take place safely today.
As compared to some other countries where mask-wearing has not become the norm, Michael Kruppe, general manager, Shanghai New International Expo Centre, shared that a high majority of Chinese visitors to the venue kept their masks on.
From top left: Shanghai New International Expo Centre’s Michael Krupp; JCIM’s Jessica Chang; ICCA’s Noor Ahmad Hamid; and MadTech Event Service’s David Sun
Kruppe shared his views at IT&CM China’s online panel discussion, Reopening Business Events: What Can We Do Better? on August 5.
To reassure visitors that time spent on the showfloor is safe and secure, Shanghai New International Expo Centre has many measures in place, such as temperature taking, disinfection booths and ID checks.
Kruppe shared: “Our first show on June 27 saw 20,000 visitors, a 50 per cent decrease from last year. Our China Beauty show last week welcomed 160,000 people, 10 per cent less than last year. But people are gaining confidence and getting used to the current situation. If they trust us (to keep them safe), they will want to visit.”
David Sun, managing director, MadTech Event Service, said there are good examples set by the Australian government and venues in communicating the need for public consciousness in terms of health and hygiene.
For instance, the country has constant reminders on billboards regarding mask-wearing and personal hygiene, while ICC Sydney communicates the same throughout its venue.
However, industry leaders say the onus is still on the individual to be as hygienic as possible.
“We need to get people to understand that Covid-19 could possibly be around for years. Think about 9-11. Before that, security checks at airports were more relaxed. Now, (through education and reinforcement) we know that we have to reach the airport at least two hours before flying to go through the processes,” Sun pointed out.
Jessica Chang, managing director, JCIM, added: “We (stakeholders) also need to think about putting people’s safety first, before our own interests.”
Chang related how before Covid-19 became a full-blown pandemic, she advised her clients back in February – CVBs and travel agents – to pause their China campaigns, and change it to expressions of support instead.
When asked if a global set of SOPs would help, all three panellists said it would be a near-impossible task, as the guidelines are dependent on the transmission rate in an individual destination.
Sun brought up Australia as an example, where Covid-19 transmissions have remained relatively low in certain states but high in Victoria, which resulted in state borders remaining shut.
He also pointed to China, where places like Shanghai have reopened but not Tianjin.
Kruppe agreed: “I think this has to be micro-managed at local levels, and would not work country-wide.”
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.
