A new luxury resort, Alma, has opened on Vietnam’s Cam Ranh, a peninsula on Vietnam’s south-central coast.
Event planners will be able to consider the 400-seater outdoor Alma Amphitheatre for corporate functions, or the Alma Convention Cente with its 300-pax ballroom and selection of meeting rooms. There is also a 70-seat cinema that can be booked, but when not booked out, will have three screenings daily.
Alma Resort, Cam Ranh, Vietnam
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Accommodations here range from the 71m2 suites – housed inland – to the 224m2 three-bedroom pavilions complete with a private swimming pool. In total, there are 196 pavilions and 384 suites available.
Recreational amenities include a gym and yoga room; art gallery; 18-hole putting green; Le Spa with 13 treatment rooms; and 12 pools cascading down to the beach which include a 75-metre beachfront pool for laps and an adults-only pool. There are also 14 F&B options ranging from an Italian restaurant to a local seafood option; and includes several bars.
Business travellers with families will be entertained at more on-site facilities such as a 6,000m2 Splash Water Park; Kids’ Club; a variety of watersports such as kayaking; dry activities such as an outdoor archery range; as well as a Science Museum.
AUSTRALIA Sunshine Coast Convention Centre
Located on a beach in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Convention Centre (SCCC) offers a conferencing venue that inspires plenty of ideas and possibilities with its immediate connection to nature.
Sunshine Coast Convention Centre
The centre is situated at the Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort, which means events can be hosted in spaces that provide more of a resort feel than a closed-in conference room.
When combined with the resort’s facilities, seven areas are offered for meetings and events, including the main Minyama room which caters for 1,500 delegates in a theatre setup or 1,100 for a gala dinner.
The Minyama room itself is divisible into four rooms. A second main conference space is the Wandiny Room, designed for large scale plenary, trade and gala functions and seats up to 1,200 delegates theatre-style.
Few convention centres can rival SSCC’s outdoor offerings. They include a sandy beach on a lagoon for 400 banquet-style, a bush venue with a bonfire for 200 in a cocktail-setting, or a lagoon experience where 180 guests can dine floating across the water. – Adelaine Ng
CHINA Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center
Shenzhen World is located in the city’s Baoan District, close to Shenzhen Airport, and is within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.
Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center
With the completion of its Phase 1 at the end of last year, the venue offers 400,000m2 of flexible exhibition and meeting space. Event planners can take their pick of 16 20,000m2 column-free exhibition halls; three speciality halls, one of which can hold 12,500 people; and more than 130 meeting rooms. There is also a 35,000m2 outdoor exhibition space on the South Plaza.
Once Phase 2 is complete, the venue will boast a total of 500,000m2 of exhibition space, making it the largest in the world.
Built with sustainable green principles – think largest rainwater collection system and efficient energy consumption – there are also four rooftop gardens with views of the city that can be booked by event organisers.
Other facilities include restaurants, convenience stores and coffee shops. – Caroline Boey
JAPAN Nara Prefectural Convention Center
Designed to bring tourism and exchange to the heart of Nara, this new facility is located in the centre of the city on its two main roads.
Nara Prefectural Convention Center
It is surrounded by UNESCO World Heritage buildings as well as popular tourism sites, including Todaji Temple and Nara Park to the east, and Heijo Palace and Yakushiji Temple to the west.
At 2,100m2, the centre’s Convention Hall can accommodate 2,000 pax in theatre-style, while 14 small- and medium-sized conference rooms span the first and second floors.
Tempyo Square, a roofed, multipurpose outdoor space, offers flexible, tiered seating for concerts or other performances. Nearby is the Tourism Promotion Building, which features a multipurpose hall suitable for 500 pax, as well as F&B outlets and stores.
A bus centre is located on the west side of the facility, from where it is a 90-minute ride to Kansai International Airport. – Kathryn Wortley
Pacifico Yokohama North
At 22km from Tokyo International Airport and 100km from Narita International Airport, Pacifico Yokohama North is highly accessible.
Pacifico Yokohama North
It is located in the popular waterside district of Yokohama, a city famed for its bustling Chinatown and cultural blend of East and West.
Pacifico Yokohama North’s 6,300m2 multipurpose hall is the largest of its kind in Japan. Column-free and carpeted, it can accommodate 6,000 pax in theatre-setup, or 2,000 pax for a seated banquet.
There are 42 meeting rooms totalling 6,185m2, which can be separated or joined for various-sized conferences, seminars and parties. Four waiting rooms on the first floor are also available.
The new complex is connected to the Exhibition Hall and Annex Hall of Pacifico Yokohama by a second-floor pedestrian deck. The facilities of Pacifico Yokohama North and Pacifico Yokohama can be used concurrently for large-scale events. – Kathryn Wortley
NEW ZEALAND Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre
Christchurch’s most anticipated new convention centre is scheduled to open in early 2021, more than nine years after the city’s devastating earthquake in 2011.
Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre
Part of the ASM Global group, Te Pae sits in the heart of Christchurch CBD in the centre of New Zealand’s South Island, surrounded by much of the country’s famed natural beauty. It’s also just 20 minutes from Christchurch International Airport.
The boutique-style centre features a 1,400-seat auditorium that can be evenly divided to offer two theatres, 24 meeting rooms and a 200 booth exhibition hall. It can accommodate up to 1,800 for banquet-style dining, and offers a 1,000-seat banquet space that overlooks the Õtãkaro Avon River.
Te Pae’s architectural design was inspired by the region’s natural landscape echoing the local rivers and mountains.
Initially scheduled to open in October this year, Te Pae postponed its launch due to government-imposed lockdown restrictions on construction activity to manage the spread of Covid-19. – Adelaine Ng
MALAYSIA Sabah International Convention Centre
Located in the heart of Sabah’s capital, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) is a 20-minute drive from Kota Kinabalu International Airport. It sits on a six-hectare plot, with a gross built-up area of 60,504m2.
Sabah International Convention Centre
The multifunctional complex is spread over five levels and set against a backdrop that is the South China Sea.
Its floorplan comprises exhibition halls 1, 2 and 3 on the second level with 5,200m2 of space, and direct access to the loading docks. VIP rooms and luxurious VVIP lounges are situated on Level 3, leading to the grand foyer of the state’s first, world-class Performing Arts Hall.
On Level 4 sits an expansive column-free convention hall which is divisible into three halls. When combined, it offers 5,200m2 of flexible space and can seat 4,000 people in theatre style comfortably.
Lastly, the topmost floor is dedicated to 12 state-of-the art meeting rooms and an Executive Meeting Suite. A 7,000m2 outdoor plaza is also available for hire, and that is connected to the main lobby. – S Puvaneswary
Six Senses Hotels & Resorts has appointed Eric Hallin as general manager and Hannah Loughlin as director of sales and marketing of Six Senses Con Dao.
With more than 40 years of international hospitality experience, Hallin’s management expertise spans an impressive list of countries, including France, Greece, Maldives, Spain and Thailand.
From left: Eric Hallin; and Hannah Loughlin
Aside from contributing to the success of properties such Six Senses Samui in Thailand, Hallin has also held leading positions in PATA, chambers of commerce and Skål.
On the other hand, Loughlin began her sales and marketing career in 2002 at London’s Grosvenor House before moving on to join Design Hotels, and spearheading the field team of prestigious hotels including Sofitel London St James, InterContinental, and Anantara Angkor Resort & Spa.
The British national was most recently leading the sales, operations and finance team in Cambodia as general manager for Trails of Indochina, a luxury inbound agency across Indochina.
Recent years have seen the meteoric rise in large industrial warehouses, museums and libraries pivoting as venues, spurring convention centres across Asia-Pacific to stand out in an increasingly competitive business events sector.
What has resulted are both hardware improvements – such as innovative modular spaces and the addition of a go-kart circuit – and software upgrades such as sustainability policies and a locally-focused menu offering.
VERSATILITY EDGE
IMPACT – a commercial complex in Bangkok, Thailand comprising an arena, convention centre and exhibition halls – hosts over 490 events and 15 million people annually, but Loy Joon How, general manager of Impact Exhibitions Management, told TTGmice that sometimes creativity meant taking events outside.
“In keeping up with creative requirements from event planners and clients, we are constantly looking beyond our private function spaces, especially at outdoor or non-conventional indoor venues that we can use to support unique meetings,” said Loy.
Aside from its 140,000m2 of indoor space, the complex is also home to an outdoor waterfront area, sports club, tennis academy, and electric go-kart racing circuit. These spaces can be arranged for private use.
Over in Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has chosen to bring the outside in. Its junior ballroom now sports a zen garden patio.
A number of its medium-sized function rooms have also been reconfigured, and can now be combined into a junior ballroom, with a capacity of 420 guests in a round-table setup.
Such enhanced spaces will cater to an emerging style of “experiential business-leisure events”, accompanied by “more demand for inspirational ‘TED Talk’ style conferences over conventional technical content or keynote sessions”, described an RWS spokesperson.
TECHNOLOGY BOOST
As the Covid-19 pandemic forces events online and encourages hybrid online/offline events to take root, it is no surprise that venues are boosting their technology capabilities.
As part of RWS’ ongoing transformation into RWS 2.0 – a S$4.5 billion (US$3.2 billion) mega expansion project, the Resorts World Convention Centre has welcomed Singapore’s largest 270-degree projection screen in the Resorts World Ballroom, and state-of-the-art large venue projectors with the widest colour spectrum in the industry.
Also in Singapore, SingEx Venues – the venue operator of Singapore EXPO and MAX Atria – introduced a suite of new facilities and services in January 2020.
These include smart, sustainable and acoustically-treated modular spaces FleX; as well as high-tech plenary hall ApeX with customisable audiovisual and digital elements, telescopic seating and a 54x5m configurable screen. The venue’s F&B has also been upgraded with research and development capabilities, while its central production kitchen able to cater for more than 1,000 guests concurrently.
SingEx Venues has also evolved beyond its initial function as a venue provider to provide Xpert, an in-house event planning service for event organisers.
Across the causeway in Malaysia, Angeline van den Broecke, director of global business development and marketing at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, shared that technology adoption and integration has always been a “major investment priority”.
She indicated this commitment to remaining agile has been “particularly advantageous in current times”, where there is a growing demand for virtual audience participation and remote access to content, event programmes and digital communication tools.
MULTISENSORY PUSH
For years, convention centres have realised that they have to be more than just venues, and intensified competition from unique spaces has made this reality even more true.
Darwin Convention Centre has chosen to find its way to delegates’ heart via the belly. It launched its Seven Seasons menu, based on cultural practices by the traditional owners of the Darwin region. The concept moves beyond Aboriginal food to include a visual and sound experience for a sensory cultural immersion.
Similarly, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has also evolved its dining to offer EAT stations that theatrically displays food options so that charcuterie can “literally fall on your plate”.
The stations are a more sophisticated version of elevated food platters that echo cafe or street food, with a goal of transporting guests to Chinatown or Melbourne’s laneways.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre serves up a Malaysia on a Plate culinary experience, featuring authentic local flavours both on its events menu as well as at its F&B outlets, Parkview Cafe and Cafe88.
In addition, Van den Broecke shared that the Centre is part of the Malaysia Iconic Experience in Kuala Lumpur with KLCC Property Holdings, which “promotes the integrated precinct as a tourism destination with several attractions and recreational facilities”, helping to expand the visitor experience beyond a conference programme.
RWS too, is aiming for a similar integrated precinct selling point. As part of RWS 2.0, the resort is enhancing its existing attractions such as Universal Studios Singapore and S.E.A Aquarium, and will be introducing a new waterfront lifestyle complex with two new destination hotels and an adventure dining playhouse.
GOING EVEN GREENER
In terms of sustainability, Australia’s convention centres have pushed the boundaries by having more than sustainability policies in place.
MCEC and ICC Sydney both appointed a full-time sustainability staff to demonstrate their commitment to the cause.
“Sam’s brief is simple,” said MCEC’s CEO Peter King of his recently-appointed sustainability manager Samantha Ferrier.
“To seek out best practice in green, eco-friendly options and make it easier and more cost-effective for customers to incorporate eco-friendly practices into their events.”
To that end, Ferrier shared that MCEC has appointed Australia’s first 100 per cent tree-to-cup carbon offset coffee company as their official supplier. “We’ve (also) installed 36 permanent Food Cubes on our courtyard that will become an event focal point. Each cube can grow 25kg of produce and will be used to grow herbs and other food for (our cafe),” she elaborated.
Meanwhile, ICC Sydney’s commercial kitchens are being serviced by solar hot water, while event planners are given a Sustainable Event Guide checklist that helps them work towards environmental goals, such as a plastic-free event.
Adelaide Convention Centre and Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre have made their environmental credentials known by becoming joint winners of the first venues in the world to achieve the coveted EarthCheck Platinum Certification.
Adelaine Ng, Pamela Chow, S Puvaneswary and Anne Somanas contributed to this article
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday (June 3) that gatherings of any scale can start taking place in the country starting from next week.
Conventions and Incentives New Zealand chief executive Lisa Hopkins said the industry is pleased to be accelerating the return to business, starting with a domestic audience.
The New Zealand government has lifted number restrictions on business events; Auckland pictured
“We want people to understand business events are the safest type of event you can hold, because they are highly organised and managed by professionals who work under strict codes of practice.
“Our message is it is safe to hold a conference, seminar, workshop, incentive travel event and gala dinner under already-developed and enhanced track, tracing, health and hygiene standards. We will also be working with the broader events sector to develop a voluntary code, to support New Zealand’s efforts in the key area of public health,” ,” Hopkins said in a statement.
Industry heads have also spoken positively about the move.
Brett Jeffrey, general manager, Australasian (NZ) Society of Association Executives, commented: “This is a positive step forward and will go a long way to providing much needed reassurance that planning for association conferences can begin in earnest.”
Arna Wahl Davies, chair of the CINZ Approved Professional Conference Organisers (PCO) Group added: “As accredited event professionals, we will be voluntarily working to ensure the highest possible standards of hygiene, tracking and tracing to ensure business events are safe now and in future.”
Dragon Trail Interactive is IT&CM China & CTW 's first Official Virtual Partner
Organiser of IT&CM China and CTW China, TTG Asia Media, has partnered with Dragon Trail Interactive (DTI), as it prepares to host its first fully virtual tradeshow this August.
DTI’s The Next Travel Market (TNTM) platform will have an English-Mandarin interface that can be accessed via a PC, mobile or a WeChat mini programme, providing a single-entry access for both international and China-based delegates.
Dragon Trail Interactive is IT&CM China & CTW China’s first Official Virtual Partner
Delegates visiting the exhibition section will be able to meet suppliers from across China and the world. Users will be able to download sales resources, view product presentations, swap e-business cards, leave messages, schedule an appointment or even hop onto a walk-in meeting. Video calls, text, and voice chat will also be made available. Each exhibitor or buyer will receive up to 24 x 20-min pre-scheduled appointment slots over two days.
There will also be a new Buyer Procurement Showcase segment, which will see business, association and corporate buyers sharing their procurement requirements with relevant and interested destination and supplier leads. Each showcase is 20 minutes in duration.
Participating destinations and corporate brands will also be giving updates and developments in 20-minute presentations under the Brand Showcase section, and there will be daily opportunities to engage with prolific industry experts to talk about this year’s hot topics.
After a hard day’s work, delegates will be then able to stretch their social muscles and participate in virtual conversations, ice-breakers and interactive games.
Swire Hotels has appointed three members of its senior management team into new roles.
Brian Williams, Toby Smith, and Dean Winter have all worked with the company for over a decade, each contributing to the launch and growth of EAST Hotels and The House Collective brands.
From left: Toby Smith; Dean Winter
Toby Smith will replace Brian Williams as deputy chairman, while Dean Winter will take over from Smith as managing director. Following 14 years at Swire Hotels, Williams will take up the role of senior advisor to the brand on a part-time basis from his new base in the UK.
As deputy chairman, Smith will lead Swire Hotels’ growth strategy for both Swire Properties-owned developments and hotel management agreements with third-party owners.
Smith joined the Swire group as a management trainee in 1991, and has since held positions within the group’s shipping and aviation sectors, taking him to countries across the globe including Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Australia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, France, Singapore and Hong Kong.
On the other hand, Winter has over 25 years of experience as a hotelier and restaurateur across London, Hong Kong and Singapore, and will oversee the day-to-day operations of the hotel and restaurant businesses.
Winter came onboard Swire Hotels in October 2006 to concurrently manage operations and pre-opening preparations for The Opposite House in Beijing, The Upper House and EAST in Hong Kong, before opening The Upper House as general manager in 2009.
Williams originally joined Swire Hotels as managing director before becoming deputy chairman, and will now relocate to the UK to take on his new role. He will continue to support the development plans of the group, as well as act as a brand ambassador to raise the profile of EAST and The House Collective globally.
The Ian Potter Queen’s Hall offers a unique event space inside Victoria’s historic State Library. Both regal and glamourous, the venue is one of Melbourne’s newest for events after being closed to the public for 16 years, following a redevelopment last December as part of an A$88.1 million (US$57.8 million) project.
State Library Victoria
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The Ian Potter Queen's Hall
La Trobe Reading Room
The space now functions as a 1,019m2 public reading room by day and is home to the library’s Australian literature, chess and bridge collections. After 17.00 daily, it offers events a special space rich in heritage architecture and 19th-century design featuring Corinthian pillars, ceiling skylights and 1920s murals.
Its high ceilings and timber floor have been carefully restored to reveal the original grandeur of the hall that first opened in 1856. The overhead skylights have also been revealed after temporary measures to protect it following a dramatic thunderstorm that shattered its glass in 1901 blocked out the light.
Now hailed as the crown jewel of the State Library, the reactivated Ian Potter Queen’s Hall is also connected to the stunning La Trobe Reading Room, a reopened space surrounded by a panopticon of six tiered levels topped with its famous dome. Around 220 guests can be hosted within at the long oak tables, which surround a raised platform that emcees can use. The reading room can also serve as a breakout room with wow impact on entry or a space for mingling, good for 450 in cocktail-style.
• Complex custom clearance may now take three hours prior to flight
• Technology can speed up processes and encourage people to fly again
• Destinations with efficient immigration clearance will be most favoured among travellers
As governments begin to lift barriers to cross-border movement during the pandemic, attention to immigration clearance procedures at airports come to the fore.
In Malaysia, passengers have been advised to arrive at the airport three hours before their flight – compared to the usual two – to complete new safety and clearance procedures, which include temperature screening.
Travellers departing from airports may need to begin custom clearance three hours ahead of their flight
The extent of security and health screening processes to be expected at Singapore’s Changi Airport remains uncertain, as the citystate begins its phased resumption of business and public activities only today (June 2).
Manila in the Philippines has more tedious immigration clearance procedures for arrivals than for departures, but as of press time, it is yet unknown whether these procedures will be retained once the airport is reopened to commercial flights.
Departing passengers are only required to have their temperature taken, while arriving passengers must undergo a swab test and a 14-day quarantine which could be shortened to three to five days should the test result prove negative.
In an online joint business assembly of PATA Philippine Chapter and Philippine IATA Agents Travel Association (PIATA), Ed Monreal, general manager of Manila International Airport Authority, said it could take passengers three hours now to be cleared for international flights.
There have been talks in the travel industry that airport security clearance in a post-Covid-19 world could take between four and six hours. A Forbes report published on May 10 suggested that the process, which could in the near future include sanitation of passengers and luggage, would take up to four hours.
Monreal emphasised that milling around the pre-departure area must be prevented, as that violates social distancing requirements. As such, a three-hour airport security clearance should suffice and be made possible by fully-manned check-in counters and reliance on online processes to minimise interaction between passengers and airline staff.
Grifton Medina, port operations division chief, revealed that paper arrival cards would be replaced with digital versions, allowing the Philippine immigration system to see in real time when the passenger checks in from the port of origin and use the data for faster contact tracing.
It isn’t just the responsibility of airports and immigration authorities to develop smooth clearance procedures for passengers. Airlines have a role to play too, at the ticketing and check-in as well as embarking and disembarking stages.
To minimise cross-contamination during airport check-in and clearance processes, AirAsia has implemented a fully contactless check-in procedure that allows passengers to use their smartphones to interact with self-check-in kiosk via QR codes to print their boarding passes and bagging tags.
Santisuk Klongchaiya, CEO of Thai AirAsia, said: “We’ve also made it possible so that after immigration, travellers do not have to come in contact with anything else before they get on the plane; at the boarding gate, they only need to show the code on their smartphones to the staff.”
Tech assistance
Digital technologies and automation deployed by airports and airlines for arriving and departing passengers may well be the key to a smoother return to travel in the post-Covid world.
Real-time data, biometric check-in and other contactless solutions may climb in priority, as they could shorten total passenger clearance time; a much-needed compensation when aviation hubs may have to account for lengthier health and safety protocols.
Patel: passengers will demand easy-to-use solutions from airport operators as custom clearance gets complex
Sumesh Patel, SITA President, Asia Pacific, predicts that when faced with increased complexity in customs clearance, passengers will “increasingly demand easy-to-use solutions” from airport operators, who should be ready to harness real-time data that includes “knowledge of where a ticket was bought, the nationality of a passenger, purpose of travel, past travel, transit and embarkation information”.
Not only will automated and contactless processes be able to fulfill the new need for social distancing in airports, but they will also serve to shorten what is likely to become a longer journey for passengers.
Patel described: “Digital technologies and automation will play a critical role in meeting these new requirements. Contactless, self-service technologies at every step will facilitate passenger flow, cutting queues while ensuring a social distancing-friendly passenger experience.”
A possible obstacle to travel rebound
While industry players are unanimous about the need for safe and efficient measures at airport clearance to encourage travel recovery, they baulk at possible lengthy waits to clear immigration procedures.
Laurent Kuenzle, CEO of Asian Trails, said lengthy processes would “not be conducive for travel”.
Should this become the norm, he predicts people will travel less and stick to annual holidays.
Kuenzle said: “Personally, I think four-hour airport clearances are ridiculous and there must be a more efficient way to make passengers feel safe.”
Stephan Roemer, CEO of Diethelm Travel, said how destinations handle the immigration and clearance procedure would play a huge role in revitalising their tourism sector.
He noted: “Those who are able to handle tourism adequately will be the ones where tourists will like to travel to. It is in the hands of the countries how they want to welcome tourists.”
Kuenzle agrees, and said that tourism authorities must lobby for the most efficient airport clearings.
He said: “The challenges will come if one country handles procedures fast and efficiently, and another doesn’t. The efficient airport and country will have a clear advantage. People will want to feel safe or they won’t travel, but there must be an efficient way to implement it.”
Roemer added that clear communications, timelines and outlooks from authorities are also essential for recovery, while Raaj Navaratnaa, general manager, New Asia Holiday Tours & Travel believes that travel agents will also be expected to detail to customers the health and safety measures enforced in destinations they sell.
A poll conducted among the audience at the Aviation Discussion for Business Events Industry webinar, organised by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau on May 21, found that respondents were least looking forward to the longer airport procedures (55 per cent) and the requirement to wear masks throughout the flight (25 per cent), no food or drinks served throughout the flight (11 per cent), and not being able to select seats due to social distancing requirements (10 per cent).
At the same time, 50 per cent voted overall hygiene standards as the key factor that will revive air travel the fastest.
A majority (48 per cent) said their next fight would be for a domestic leisure trip while only 19 per cent would take a domestic business trip right away. – Additional reporting by Anne Somanas, Rosa Ocampo, Marissa Carruthers and S Puvaneswary
Nang yai is a form of shadow play found in Thailand
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has helped local event organisers stage virtual events over the past few months since the onset of the pandemic which has decimated MICE activity.
TCEB’s assistance comes in the form of tools such as the TCEB MICE Intelligence Centre’s Virtual Meeting Space, a platform that accommodates up to 10,000 online participants in a single session.
Nang yai is a form of shadow play found in Thailand, one of the performances hosted by the Harmony World Puppet Channel
Nichapa Yoswee, senior vice president – strategic marketing and business development at TCEB, said: “TCEB is on hand to provide continuous support as events make the temporary transition from physical to online. The support includes a virtual platform for webinars as well as one-to-one engagement for exhibitions, so that attendees and audience can stay engaged, stay active, and also stay entertained with business events and world festivals.”
Beneficiaries of TCEB’s support include the Harmony World Puppet Channel (Harmony of World Puppet Festival), which addresses social issues through the art of storytelling. The online event attracted 6,164 participants from Thailand, Japan, India, Bangladesh and Laos. The audience tuned in remotely, clocking up 201.5 total watching hours over four days in April and three in May.
Fungjai and Nylon Thailand, the co-founders of The Bangkok Music City, also invited its audience to stay entertained while at home, by providing artist content online. Renamed the At Home Festival, the event reached a domestic audience of 120,757, as well as 1,828 people from 45 countries across the globe. Through live streaming on platforms like Facebook and YouTube, the event was able to reach concerts, pubs and theatres that are currently deprived of primary revenues and contact between content creators and the audience.
Another event, Thailand Toy Expo 2020, offered a new type of online experience through Virtual Tour 360 and Live Stream from May 28 to 31. More than 50 international and local artists used the online platform to present their latest collections, enabling fans to get in touch with their favourite toy brands and designers.
Meanwhile, mass participation mobility event Move Asia is working towards a virtual transformation that will be called the Home Marathon 10KM.
The newly-opened Ritz-Carlton, Bangkok anchors the One Bangkok development with cosmopolitan elegance. Featuring the city's largest ballroom and a spectacular new penthouse suite, it delivers exceptional hardware and deeply authentic, soulful service for business and leisure travellers alike
Behind the imposing, Brutalist concrete that defines Zurich’s Oerlikon district lies a surprising secret. While its exterior honours the neighbourhood’s industrial roots, stepping inside Mama Shelter reveals a vibrant, neon-soaked world that is a far cry from its rigid shell
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
