Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas has made its debut in Malaysia with the Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas, which opened on December 1.
The property offers a range of luxury accommodation and has 123 keys comprising 90 deluxe guestrooms in low-rise buildings that overlook the gardens, lagoon and ocean; 13 standalone luxury one- and two-bedroom pool villas; and 20 expansive three- and four-bedroom residences with its own an infinity pool, full kitchen, and chef and butler service.
Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas
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Facilities on-site include multiple dining options offering local Malay, Asian and international fare; an observatory bar; two swimming pools; the signature Anantara Spa; dedicated kids and teens clubs; and a conference centre.
The hotel joins other facilities and attractions in Desaru Coast, such as The Els Club Desaru Coast that comprises two golf courses that feature 45 holes in total; an adventure waterpark; a waterfront retail village; and another conference centre.
The five-star Andara Resort & Villas in Phuket, Thailand, has recently unveiled a meeting package promotion.
There are 63 villas and suites on offer here, ranging from the lead-in Terrace Suite all the way up to a seven-bedroom Pool Villa with an in-villa chef and villa attendant. Guests staying at the property will be able to hold meetings in common areas such as the living room, while still be able to enjoy privacy in their own rooms.
Andara Resort & Villas
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Resort facilities include the Silk Restaurant, spa, fitness centre and resort pool, daily fitness group activities and Kamala area shuttle services.
One- to four- bedroom suites start from 15,000+++ baht (US$675) per night, while four- to seven-bedroom villas start from 49,000+++ baht per night. Additionally, a full-day meeting package starts from 2,300+++ baht inclusive of lunch and coffee break. Meeting packages require a minimum six persons, up to a maximum of 20 people.
Coffee breaks and lunch will be served inside the villas, although guests also have the option of dining at Silk Restaurant. In addition, teambuilding sessions can be included, such as muay thai sessions and community outreach activities.
The Meeting Package Promotion runs from now until October 31, 2021. Rates are subject to 10 per cent service charge and 8.7 per cent government tax.
Simon Barnett has been appointed hotel manager at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore.
With more than 25 years of varied experience and hospitality expertise, he was most recently hotel manager at Four Seasons Hotel Sydney.
Prior to that, he served as director of catering and conferences services in Four Seasons Sydney, as well as director of sales and marketing at the hotel.
Barnett has worked for international hospitality groups across the globe, including five years as director of sales and marketing at Jumeriah Hotels & Resorts in London and New York, and tenures at Hilton Hotels in the UK.
Villa de Pranakorn, operated by Unicorn Hospitality, has announced that Erik Lannge will be joining the property as general manager.
Lannge has been tasked with handling the pre-opening stages, as the 47-key property prepares to open its doors at the end of next month.
He has over eight years of experience in the hospitality sector, having first joined Oakwood as a management trainee, specialising in F&B. Lannge then moved to Rembrandt Hotel Bangkok, and later became the director of F&B at the Novotel Bangkok Siam Square.
In 2017, Lannge was appointed general manager of X2 Koh Samui, before being promoted to the role of cluster general manager for X2 Kui Buri, X2 Le Bayburi, and Away Pranburi Beach Resort.
Authorities believe; an aerial view of Seminyak, Bali
The Bali administration, in conjunction with several private companies in the Indonesian province, has founded the Bali Convention & Exhibition Bureau (BaliCEB) at the end of October.
The independent, non-profit organisation will promote Bali as a MICE destination with the greater aim of bolstering MICE arrivals, as well as help to win bids for large-scale international business events to the island.
Authorities strongly believe in the appeal of Bali as a MICE destination; an aerial view of Seminyak, Bali
Around 50 companies in Bali have signed up as members of BaliCEB, among which are the owners of five convention centres and around 20 hotels equipped with event facilities.
I Ketut Jaman, managing director of Melali MICE – one of the eight initiators of BaliCEB – explained that BaliCEB was created because the local government believed that Bali held great potential to become a world-class business events destination, but it did not have an independent organisation to manage and promote itself. He also clarified that BaliCEB was also not a division within the Bali Tourism Agency.
“We will start promotional activities next year, and we have the intention to participate in MICE tradeshows, such as IMEX Frankfurt and America,” said Ketut.
Other tasks on BaliCEB’s to-do list include recording an inventory of convention centres, hotels with MICE facilities, as well as MICE players from across the island ranging from PCOs to DMCs; and preparing materials for international promotions, such as an official website and guide book.
From 2021, BaliCEB will actively approach its target markets, namely international organisations, corporates and associations, as well as join various bidding events overseas. To this end, Ketut shared that BaliCEB will form a special bidding team filled with professionals experienced in business negotiations.
BaliCEB’s activities will be partly funded by the central and local governments and industries.
“(In November), we held an audience with the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama Kusubandio, and he (voiced his support) for BaliCEB. But first, we need to formulate activities that BaliCEB will participate in. The allotted fund from the ministry will be determined later,” shared Ketut.
A partnership with the tourism ministry and various tourism promotion boards is also in the works.
On whether the formation of BaliCEB will overlap the role of Indonesia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (INACEB), Ketut said it will not and added: “Instead, BaliCEB and INACEB can support and complement each other.”
This is as INACEB has been tasked with promoting all MICE destinations across Indonesia, which is a large undertaking. BaliCEB therefore, will help relive some of the pressure by promoting Bali at tradeshows overseas.
From left: Culture Royal Group's Derrick Buntaran and IVENDO's Mulkan Kamaludin watching on as IPOS' Harry D Nugraha presents Indonesia's minister of tourism and creative economy Wishnutama Kusubandio with a proposal titled Indonesia First during the IPOS event in Jakarta
MICE has been placed at the forefront of Indonesia’s tourism policy, as its Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama Kusubandio has revived the directorate that manages the country’s business events industry.
During the Indonesia Professional Organizer Summit (IPOS) Vol. 6 held in Jakarta on November 25, Wishnutama said: “I ensure that events and MICE will get special attention from us. (As such), within the new organisational structure within the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MoTCE), we will appoint a special deputy who will focus on developing tourism products, events, and MICE.”
From left: Culture Royal Group’s Derrick Buntaran and IVENDO’s Mulkan Kamaludin watching on as IPOS’ Harry D Nugraha presents Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy Wishnutama Kusubandio with a proposal titled Indonesia First during the IPOS event in Jakarta
During the opening of the summit, the founder of IPOS, Harry D Nugraha, also handed the minister a proposal, entitled Indonesia First. The proposal, Harry revealed, contained a variety of thoughts and three recommended programmes by the participants of IPOS and members of the Indonesia Event Industry Council (IVENDO) to accelerate the development of MICE in Indonesia.
“These programmes are tactical and they can be implemented immediately,” he said.
The proposal also highlighted the importance of synergy between society, destination, and marketing. Society referenced actions to raise awareness around the importance of MICE, which would in turn help develop destinations, while marketing referenced efforts to strengthen Indonesia’s position in the eyes of the international business events market.
Wishnutama added that his decision to put MICE back in the spotlight was in line with president Joko Widodo’s belief in the industry’s important role in bettering the Indonesian economy. For one, it helps to create jobs while contributing to more foreign exchanges.
Under Joko’s leadership, MoTCE has also been tasked with creating a medium-term Integrated Tourism Masterplan that will be in effect until 2024, and a long-term plan that will be in effect until 2045. The masterplans will include the mapping of potential MICE events, among other issues.
Wishnutama has also voiced his commitment to prioritise not only quantity, but also quality, when it comes to developing the country’s tourism. “A business events delegate can spend three- to four-times more than a leisure tourist. The larger the amount they spend, the larger the contribution to the nation’s economy,” he pointed out.
Business events, Wishnutama added, would also open doors for local players from 16 subsectors of the creative economy industry, ranging from culinary to fashion, to promote their products on the international stage.
Large-scale international sporting events – such as the FIM Motul Superbike World Championship, MotoGP races, and the U-20 soccer World Cup in 2021 – are on Wishnutama’s mind too, as these will draw foreign tourists to Indonesia’s shores.
“We are also approaching (various companies to put ourselves forward) as hosts for big events, such as the MTV World Stage that we have proposed for Bali. (Also), the president has asked us to prepare Labuan Bajo as the venue for ASEAN Summit and G20 Summit in 2023,” he revealed.
IPOS’ Harry is confident that the country’s business events industry will have a bright future ahead, once the directorate of event and MICE is formed.
He hopes that the deputy who leads the directorate will be someone who has the willingness to prioritise mutual assistance in working to reach a common goal, and did not mind if the deputy was an official from MoTCE, but he or she had to form a team that also involved industry players.
“(Overall), the team must be experienced, and have the capacity and capability to immediately run, as Indonesia has a lot of catching up to do to be on par with other countries in the business events sector,” opined Harry.
Incentive travel traditionally dominates Myanmar’s MICE landscape, but industry players say its meeting and conference draw is growing.
Edwin Briels, managing director of Khiri Travel Myanmar, said: “Ten years ago, the focus was on incentives and offering real, amazing and unique experiences rather than having meetings or conferences.”
A fisherman on Inle Lake
He added the lack of basic infrastructure, such as Internet, reliable electricity and visa on arrival, and few facilities to host conferences and meetings meant this sector remained undeveloped.
But May Myat Mon Win, general manager of Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon, opined that recent years have seen the country’s meetings and conference landscape develop as more upscale hotels, attractions, activities join the scene. This includes the opening of several convention centres in Yangon and Mandalay.
However, Zarni Htwe, managing director of Adventure Myanmar Tours & Incentives, said that despite growth in the MICE market, a major challenge is competing with regional countries.
Zarni added: “Nowadays, the destination is well-known but due to the competitive environment, not only among local DMCs but also among destinations, it is more and more difficult to get business.”
The quality of events in recent years is another development in the market, noted Cyrus Pun, CEO of Memories Group. He said: “We have seen a significant increase in business activity in Myanmar, and this has led to rapid development in the MICE industry. This growth can be seen in the number, size and sophistication of events and much higher-level curated options now available.”
But due to infrastructure challenges, bigger groups remain limited to Yangon, while Pun noted that smaller parties can “easily venture to lesser-travelled areas of the country in search of a unique experience.”
Factors pushing the destination’s business travel landscape include the entry of five-star hotels with large meetings rooms and ballrooms, better flight connections, the introduction of an e-visa, and cheap and reliable mobile Internet.
Looking ahead, industry players believe the destination holds great potential, although infrastructure in Yangon and Mandalay has to be further improved, with Bagan’s potential – as a conference and sightseeing destination – be better developed.
Opined Pun: “I expect we will see more interest in MICE from abroad, as well as further development of the domestic MICE market.”
“Myanmar is a late-comer and we have the late-comer’s advantage. This is the place of transformation, which should produce more results in coming years. The future is bright and MICE market can only (continue to grow),” added Win.
The travel industry and its customers are increasingly the targets of cyberattacks as criminals seek to monetise highly valuable travel data
In light of recent cybersecurity issues, Singapore-based Global Travel has engaged global cyber artificial intelligence (AI) company Darktrace to help better protect confidential traveller information.
While the locally-owned TMC already complies with Singaporean data privacy regulations under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), Darktrace helps the organisation better secure its confidential information with the help of AI.
The travel industry and its customers are increasingly the targets of cyberattacks as criminals seek to steal and monetise valuable travel data
The AI, a self-learning technology, sits at the core of Global Travel’s digital systems, and watches for anomalies amid the noise of everyday activity 24/7. Should a potential threat slip through perimeter defences, Darktrace is able to isolate the activity, and notify the system user, who will then be able to suspend the activity and investigate the problem.
James Chua, general manager, Global Travel, called Darktrace a “necessary investment to better serve his customers, and differentiate the company from the rest of the field”, as he can reassure his clients that their data is absolutely safe with Global Travel.
When asked what security protocols there were pre-Darktrace, Chua said: “We relied very much on endpoint protection – better known as antiviruses and firewalls. But these did not have a round-the-clock monitoring system in place, and only prevented external attacks.” In comparison, Darktrace watches the goings-on from within.
However, cyber threats may not necessary be external, for data leaks are most likely to happen at the customer-facing stage, Chua pointed out, especially from staff members who obtain sensitive information from customers. And cyber threats can take the form of phishing emails that staff or clients unknowingly click, which will be able to retrieve and steal confidential information.
“In the unlikely event something happens, Darktrace will be able to isolate, track the source, and give us time to investigate without incurring any possible damage (in a matter of seconds),” said Chua.
“As for the traveller who’s had their data stolen, they should contact their assigned sales manager as soon as possible, so we can conduct due diligence,” he added.
But of course, it’s best that such cybersecurity issues be a non-event, he stressed. To lower risk exposure, Global Travel conducts IT education sessions on a monthly basis, where topics range from spotting potential security threats to training their staff on how to better secure data.
Chua: prevent measures to ensure no data leakage from the onset
In addition, Global Travel has also hired an assigned data protection officer, who has been tasked with being fully aware of the legislations and policies currently in play, and matching it with the company’s policy governance.
“As a TMC, we deal with many different nationalities. We can’t just comply with Singapore’s PDPA. IATA, and the various airlines, have their own set of regulations, plus we cannot ignore Europe’s GDPR. While there’s no mandate we need to follow, it’s all about putting a programme in place to serve our customers better.
“Our approach is simple, we just want to prevent any threat from happening,” concluded Chua.
Global hotel solutions specialist, HRS, and Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG) are extending their strategic partnership, enabling the Singapore-headquartered hospitality company to leverage an enhanced API (application programming interface) to bring enriched content to its target corporate travel market.
A HRS spokesperson told TTGmice that PPHG’s global growth has corresponded with HRS’ growth In recent years.
Pan Pacific Melbourne
“With more HRS corporate clients booking via the HRS portal or via partner online booking tools, PPHG’s ability to deliver more up-to-date content – targeted at a growing universe of business travellers and all via HRS’ enhanced API – holds promising potential for it to gain more incremental room night volume,” explained the spokesperson.
HRS’ continued and significant investments in its API technology allow PPHG to offer a greater variety of content – such as rate flexibility, packages for business travellers, and more flexible distribution levers for different properties – to the corporate audience.
“Furthermore, the enhanced API incurs lower distribution costs for PPHG versus legacy GDS models,” added the HRS spokesperson.
The extended partnership is said to create a win-win outcome for both, as PPHG expands its global footprint to offer properties across 29 key markets in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, and as HRS works to bring varied hotel content to more than 3,000 multinational corporations on their managed hotel programmes, including one-third of the Fortune 500.
Frédéric Dumoulin, senior vice president of HRS Asia Pacific, said in a press statement that hotels and corporations are increasingly seeking more automated, seamless processes that enhance distribution efficiencies.
“This ultimately helps make the traveller’s journey easier. Forward-thinking hotel management companies like Pan Pacific know that building win-win partnerships such as this are vital to staying competitive,” Dumoulin commented.
Cinn Tan, chief sales & marketing officer with PPHG remarked that the extended “partnership reinforces our ongoing goal to streamline vital processes to everyday hotel programme management”.
Tan also revealed that the hotel company will be “ramping up” its focus on front-end technology in the new year, with self check-in kiosks at its hotels and a mobile app currently in the works.
Accor has opened the doors to their six-storey, A$80 million (US$109 million) new-build Novotel Christchurch Airport hotel, which stands just next to the terminal of the eponymous airport in New Zealand.
Novotel Christchurch Airport
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There are 200 guestrooms within – including 10 suites and 10 accessible rooms – alongside facilities such as the Food Exchange restaurant on the top floor, lobby bar, fully-equipped gymnasium, and Wi-Fi throughout.
Event planners may avail the 10 conference and function spaces, which range from the rooftop Tekapo room with views of the Southern Alps accommodating up to 260 guests, to boardrooms with natural light. All meeting venues are pillarless and include broadband, Wi-Fi, and the latest in-built audio visual systems.
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.
