Minor Hotels has appointed James Hewitson as the new cluster general manager of two of the group’s Thailand properties – Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas and Anantara Vacation Club Phuket.
Prior to his Thailand move, he oversaw the pre-opening and running of the Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara in Oman for four years as general manager.
Born and raised in the UK, Hewitson has climbed up the ranks since joining Minor in 2010. He started in Koh Samui in Thailand, before moving to the Anantara Dubai The Palm in the UAE, and then onto a general manager position at Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas.
Philippe Cavory has been appointed to the helm of The Anam, in Cam Ranh, Vietnam.
The French national comes to the resort after four years with YTL Hotels, during which he oversaw a collection of five-star resorts in Malaysia as area general manager.
The seasoned professional possesses almost four decades of experience in the luxury hospitality industry across four continents. He has worked in senior management roles for companies including Cheval Blanc Randheli and Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, Banyan Tree properties in the Maldives, Morocco and Laos, and at Lux Grand Gaube in Mauritius.
In addition to Asia and Africa, his career has taken him across Europe and to the US. Along with hotel management, he has substantial experience with hotel openings and renovations.
At one point, Cavory was a sommelier based in Miami with Royal Caribbean Cruises, as well as an F&B consultant for the Eastern and Oriental Express in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, before rising through the ranks at various luxury hotels.
Token of appreciation between YBhg Datuk Zulkefli Haji Sharif, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau and YB Tuan Muhammad Bakthiar Bin Wan Chik, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
More than 220 delegates participated on the one day packed MBEW 2019.
Officiated by YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC), the flagship event of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), MBEW 2019 recently took place on the 28 August at Shangri-la Hotel Kuala Lumpur and saw nearly 200 local and international delegates attending the event.
Token of appreciation between YBhg Datuk Zulkefli Haji Sharif, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau and YB Tuan Muhammad Bakthiar Bin Wan Chik, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
The event was also graced by the presence of YBhg. Datuk Isham Ishak, Secretary General of MOTAC as the panelist.
“This year is special for us as MBEW is held in conjunction with the World Tourism Conference (WTC) 2019. The WTC 2019 is a signature event of Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) where tourism will have an even bigger voice to amplify its importance for the country and its people,” said Datuk Zulkefli Hj. Sharif, Chief Executive Officer of MyCEB.
He continued, “Business events is a major contributor to the country as a destination and its people in terms of economy. Last year, MyCEB together with our industry partners managed to secure 152 future events comprising of international conferences, incentive groups, association meetings, and trade exhibitions that will translate into an estimated economic impact of RM 1.58 billion and the arrival of 102,211 international delegates. It is an undeniable force to be reckoned with”.
The theme “Progressive Momentum” carries the significance of ensuring that Malaysia forges ahead progressively as Asia’s Business Events Hub. This momentum is powered by dynamic collaborations, the courage to constantly push limits and the constant need for every player to remind themselves that the industry professionalism bar must be continuously raised.
A line of business events’ formidable speakers was part of the MBEW 2019 includes Jonathan Low, Global Speaker, Leadership Success Coach of Global Success Learning Academy Sdn Bhd; David Fotheringham and Mark Stanley, both representing their organisation, Asia Ability.
MBEW is held annually and is a strategic platform built for industry stakeholders to converge, communicate and debate issues that impact the future growth and sustainability of the business events industry.
Among the objective can be achieved by participating MBEW 2019 include custom designed programme featuring series of talks by the professional industry experts. This will enable participants to get exposed with variety points of view, ideas and trends concurrently create better collaboration and networking opportunities. Hence, this will improve individual self-development which leads to new ways of conducting more productive business and a great way to maximise your brand.
Moving towards sustainable event practices to reduce the usage of plastic and non-recyclable item, MBEW 2019 featured a new initiative with the introduction of its new hashtag campaign #mbeNOWASTAGE. As the initiative highlighted, participants are encouraged to bring their own water bottle throughout the day.
To be part of this highly anticipated event in the future, visit www.mbew.com.my or email mbewsec@myceb.com.my. Interested parties can also be in touch with MyCEB at www.myceb.com.my or social media channels on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@MyCEB).
Ronan Henaff has been appointed general manager of Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li.
In this role, Henaff has been placed responsible for all aspects of Capella Shanghai’s operations, enhancing employee development and guest satisfaction, strategic planning and brand recognition.
The Frenchman joins Capella Shanghai from The Shanghai Edition, where he led the hotel’s opening.
Henaff has some 25 years of hospitality experience, having started his hospitality career in the US in 1994, before moving on to work for recognised brands such as Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood and Setai Hotel Group.
Hilton has appointed Feisal Jaffer as global head of LXR Hotels & Resorts, the company’s newest luxury brand launched in 2018 as a collection of independent hotels worldwide.
In his new role, Jaffer will be based in Hilton’s global headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and will report directly to Martin Rinck.
Jaffer possesses nearly 20 years of global experience growing businesses and brands across the hotel, real estate and technology sectors in Asia-Pacific, the UK and the US.
Prior to this, Jaffer served as senior vice president, business development, of Singapore-based Capella Hotel Group – which is part of Pontiac Land Group – where he was responsible for originating and executing new hotel management and investment opportunities. He was also part of the core team that incubated a new premium lifestyle brand and forged strategic partnerships to augment guest experiences.
In addition to this role, he also served as senior vice president, acquisitions & development at Pontiac Land Group to lead the international expansion of marquee hotel developments in Australia, the Maldives and the US.
Jaffer has also held investment and business development roles with Host Hotels and Fairmont-Raffles Hotels International respectively.
Poverty and tourism has long had an interesting and important relationship. Pro-poor tourism, common in many countries, has also featured prominently in South-east Asia.
Poverty is often a much-talked about topic that is also poorly understood. In its different aspects, poverty has different causes; besides referring to having little or no money, it also refers to the loss of cultural resources, lack of skills and knowledge, and absence of basic services, etc.
Corporate travel has certain features which may represent advantages for tourism to tackle poverty related issues. Corporate travel is often repeated, non-seasonal (sometimes), and may involve people travelling in numbers. The fact that higher-end hotels and resorts are favourite choices of accommodation for this travel segment, means they can put pressure on such businesses to look into having more corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives as part of their operations.
Business travellers and event attendees/organisers should demand for locally sourced products to support local communities
Corporates can and should pressure accommodation businesses to do more to support local producers, thereby creating demand for local supply of goods and materials. These products can range from embroidery and paintings in the guestrooms, to food reflective of the local cultures.
Ashley, Goodwin and Boyd (2000)1 argued that pro-poor tourism that happens on a community level with active participation from local people and the government can help reduce economic leakage in destinations. And so, the power that lies in corporate travel which can put pressure on accommodation and other travel and tourism industry businesses to explore creative ways to engage local people should be tapped, to make linkages happen and reduce leakages. This is especially important in developing countries where such initiatives are new and often not considered mainstream.
Ethical business increasingly espoused by corporates through their staff travels will bring about a chain effect of ethical, socially conscious way of doing business across the tourism industry’s numerous sectors.
As well, the events industry have a lot to offer in reducing multiple aspects of poverty.
Business events are often staged these days with increased pressure on tangible returns on investments. Event planners and organisers tend to take into account local issues when planning events – protecting dying cultures, using local materials, having topics in the event that revolves around local concerns and issues.
Enabling small local businesses to benefit from the staging of business events is a good start, even if it often comes with some challenges. These small businesses understand the local culture, employ local people and tend to use local materials. One of the challenges might be to meet quality standards required by many business events.
Tour operators can use their travel itineraries to bring about tangible benefits for the locals. Itineraries potentially can influence and shape how benefits can flow into local economies. Also, choosing to use local suppliers, and working with local businesses to overcome issues in standards and quality, is increasingly being seen as the responsibility not just of the bigger, more powerful tour operators, but the sector as a whole.
There is a need for corporates and business event groups to leverage their characteristics and advantages to develop creative solutions for poverty. As poverty becomes more complex to address and continues to be made worse by external forces, new ways of doing things need to be explored.
Corporate travels and business events should therefore embrace a new way of travel, as Mak (2004)2 argued, to distinguish the notion of efficiency from equality. More intentionally designed travel that puts the welfare of the locals first, rather than improved efficiency, will be consistent with equality.
2: Mak, J. (2004), Tourism and the Economy: Understanding the Economics of Tourism, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, in Croes, R. (2014). The role of tourism in poverty reduction: An empirical assessment. Tourism Economics, 20(2), 207-226.
Kevin Phun is a lecturer and occasional practitioner in the area of Responsible Tourism. He lectures in various private educational institutes in Singapore and is a regular adjunct lecturer for Murdoch’s tourism programme in Singapore, through Kaplan School of Higher Education.
Phun is occasionally involved in consulting work in ecotourism and community-based tourism work and writes for various organisations like Mekong Tourism and PATA. He supports training initiatives with the Asian Ecotourism Network.
He has been in the tourism industry for over 17 years, working in various sectors in his younger years and is now involved in the sustainability aspect of the industry.
Known for decades as a luxury holiday destination, the Maldives has now decided to pursue business events and is in the midst of creating a marketing plan to realise its new goals.
The nation’s Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) last week announced plans to diversify Maldives tourism to attract business events, as well as special interest groups keen on culture and sports.
The Maldives is welcoming more hotels and resorts with event facilities
“We are working with a consultant to formulate these strategies for the year 2020,” said MMPRC managing director Thoyyib Mohamed.
The move was welcomed by the trade, with Howard Brohier, general manager at Diethelm Travel’s Maldives office, saying that the destination can continue to maintain its luxury travel status while attracting event visitors.
Brohier said: “I think the potential for business events is great now that the Maldives has new products such as Crossroads Maldives and other resorts with conference facilities.”
Crossroads Maldives is an integrated leisure and entertainment development that is slated to open in late-2019.
Andrew Ashmore, COO of Coco Collection Hotels, opines that the Maldives will make a world class MICE destination.
“Some of the new resorts being built in 2019 to 2021 are starting to feature event facilities. When it becomes ready, it will change the face of the Maldives forever,” Ashmore added.
Currently business events are held in capital city Male where there is a small convention centre. Two nearby resorts – Kurumba Maldives and Bandos Maldives – also feature facilities for conferences and meetings.
Ashmore sees a rise in pure incentive events – those without meeting components – to the Maldives. In May 2020 his group will welcome an 80-pax pure incentive group from the UK.
Meanwhile, arrivals to the Maldives are said to be climbing this year on the back of intensive destination promotions. By the end of August, MMPRC had participated in 15 international travel fairs in 12 markets and held five roadshows in 13 markets.
Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Shri Pradeep Rawat (left), Shri Gyan Bhushan, the economic advisor of Ministry of Tourism of India (second right) and Indonesian lawmaker Satya Widya Yudha (right) attends the Incredible India roadshow in Jakarta.
Indian travel experts are firming their grip on Indonesia, a market which is viewed as a fast-rising source of leisure and business arrivals on the back of visa-free entry and a soon-to-launch direct connection between the two countries.
Ambassador of India to Indonesia Shri Pradeep Rawat, who attended the Incredible India roadshow in Jakarta last week, said connectivity between India and Indonesia would be enhanced when a direct flight service connecting Delhi, Chennai and Bali launches on October 27, although he declined to name the carrier.
From left: Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Shri Pradeep Rawat, Shri Gyan Bhushan, the economic advisor of Ministry of Tourism of India and Indonesian lawmaker Satya Widya Yudha attends the Incredible India roadshow in Jakarta.
Economic advisor to Indian Ministry of Tourism Shri Gyan Bhushan, who spearheaded the Incredible India roadshows, hopes that the upcoming service would offset the imbalance in tourist traffic currently seen between the two countries.
While tourist arrivals from Indonesia to India increased from 43,973 in 2017 to 46,867 in 2018, the number of Indians who visited Indonesia grew from 422,000 to 536,000 in the same year.
Bhushan said he was “not impressed” with the Indonesian inbound numbers, as Indian arrivals to Indonesia is “10 times more”.
Meanwhile, the soon-to-launch flight is definitely music to the ears of agents in both countries, as the lack of direct connectivity has been singled out as a key challenge for Indian tour operators in attracting more Indonesians to the country.
Amir Kumar, director of sales and marketing at Bodh Gaya-based Dharma Steps, lamented that Garuda Indonesia’s termination of Jakarta-Mumbai direct flights earlier this year has dampened Indonesian outbound demand for India.
Despite the connectivity issue, Kumar is confident that the number of Indonesian tourist arrivals in India would continue to grow. He shared that the number of Indonesian guests the company receives has increased by five per cent since last year, thanks to India’s free e-visa policy for Indonesians.
Also anticipating the direct flight to boost Indonesian arrivals is Sanyog Gupta, president of New Delhi-based Sanyog Tours, who has already created partnerships with seven Indonesian travel agents.
“We saw an eight per cent increase (in the number of Sanyog Tours’ Indonesian customers) from last year,” he said, adding that his company had been penetrating the Indonesian market since 2008.
Sanyog is also eyeing business travellers from Indonesia, given that 60 per cent of his Indonesian clients visit India for business and 40 per cent for leisure.
Similarly, South Tangerang-based Safa Tour & Transport, which is traditionally reliant on the Chinese market, has partnered New Delhi-based Magadh Travels & Tours to bring more Indonesians to India, owner Khairul Gumay said.
“We will bring groups from oil and gas company Pertamina and Saudi Arabian Embassy to visit India early next year,” Mumin said, adding that both groups are expected to stay in India for at least a week.
That India is a strong contender for business travellers from Indonesia is not unnoticed.
Kumar said that Dharma Steps targets business rather than independent travellers because India boasts not only art and culture festivals, but its hotels and resorts are ideal MICE venues that can accommodate large groups.
While India has no lack of attractive destinations, its merit is often eclipsed by perceived images of its poor sanitation and hygiene issues.
“What we sell first is tourist attractions. We then promote the country. If we mention the word ‘India’ first, what comes to mind is a bad image,” Gumay said, adding that he was aware of India’s environmental issues.
Like Gumay, Kumar thinks that the gaps in awareness of India as a destination needs to be addressed. “A lack of communication is the problem. We need to step up promotional efforts to raise awareness about (India). If we do not tell people, they will not know what we offer and they will not be interested to go there.”
Malaysian event technology specialist, Evenesis – Y Us, has introduced a protection and coverage plan for business event organisers and attendees who use the Evenesis platform.
The plan guarantees a 100 per cent refund of event registration fee to the insured attendee within 14 working days, subject to submission of required documents, should the attendee or the event be affected by flight delays, natural disasters, riots, war or government intervention.
Yusno: finally, a protection for event registration fees
Yusno Yunos, the company’s CEO and founder, noted that more event registration fees are “not protected in the event of any kind of cancellation”.
He said attendees would have to spend time trying to get a refund from the event organiser, who might be not protected from license revocation, key equipment breakdown, transport delays, riots, war and many other factors that could cause the suspension of their event.
“For event organisers, the refund is based on the collected amount from online registration. The full amount will be refunded,” Yusno said.
Yusno added that his product is the first of its kind in Malaysia, built specially for the business events industry.
He said: “We believe there is a need for such protection in the market as it provides comfort to the event organisers as well as their attendees. This comfort will lead to better overall event engagement and experience, which is the mantra of Evenesis.”
Nordin Yahaya, director, Higher Education Leadership Academy, Ministry of Education, Malaysia, commented: “Currently, it is difficult to get underwriters for business events in Malaysia. This protection will make it easier for the organiser as they will not need to engage or find a separate insurer.”
Nordin was the former organising chair for Asia Pacific Association of International Education Conference and Exhibition 2019.
Vincent Lim, president of CIS Network, expects adoption of such an insurance plan to take time as it is still uncommon. “Evenesis will have to do more education,” he said.
The Ascott expects to cement its position as “the largest serviced residence operator in Singapore” as it launches a record four openings in the city this year and introduces a pair of new brands in Singapore.
Ervin Yeo, Ascott’s regional general manager for Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, said: “We are on a strong growth trajectory, with our presence in our home market of Singapore expanding by over 60 per cent in the past two years. We have a record opening of four properties this year and another four are expected to open by 2021.”
lyf Funan Singapore
He added: “With the government’s pro-business policies as well as exciting initiatives to rejuvenate the city and attract investors and tourists, we see strong demand for international-class lodging properties. We will further step up Ascott’s presence in Singapore through strategic acquisitions, partnerships, management contracts, franchises and leases.”
“We are expanding our product offerings in Singapore with new-to-market brands including the ‘lyf’ co-living brand and Citadines Connect, a line of business hotels with select services. Ascott is also managing Huazhu Hotels Group’s first hotel outside of China under its Ji Hotel brand.”
Citadines Connect City Centre Singapore, secured under a franchise agreement, is slated to open in 2021 as the brand’s first property in Singapore. Located a stone’s throw away from Dhoby Ghaut MRT station and Plaza Singapura near Orchard Road, Citadines Connect City Centre Singapore will increase Ascott’s Singapore portfolio to a total of 17 properties across over 3,100 units.
Meanwhile, Ascott’s four property openings in Singapore this year will add 846 units to the lodging scene. The first amongst the four properties to open is lyf Funan Singapore, followed by Citadines Balestier Singapore and Ji Hotel Orchard Singapore in September, while Citadines Rochor Singapore is slated to open in December.
lyf Funan Singapore, Ascott’s first property under the millennial-oriented co living brand, is located in the heart of Singapore’s Civic & Cultural District as part of the Funan integrated retail and commercial development.
Citadines Balestier Singapore sits atop a three-storey retail podium with proximity to the Novena MRT station, while Citadines Rochor Singapore is part of an integrated development, which includes the Tekka Place retail podium, and the Rochor MRT station right at its doorstep.
Ji Hotel Orchard Singapore is situated within walking distance to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station and CapitaLand’s Plaza Singapura mall.
To meet rising demand for short-stay accommodation, lyf Funan Singapore, Ji Hotel Orchard Singapore and Citadines Rochor Singapore will have the flexibility of taking in daily stays under full hotel licenses.
Besides Citadines Connect City Centre Singapore, Ascott is slated to open Citadines Raffles Place Singapore, lyf Farrer Park Singapore and lyf one-north Singapore in the next two years.
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.
Kevin Phun is a lecturer and occasional practitioner in the area of Responsible Tourism. He lectures in various private educational institutes in Singapore and is a regular adjunct lecturer for Murdoch’s tourism programme in Singapore, through Kaplan School of Higher Education.
