Hilton has opened 224 full-service residences in Hilton Haikou, part of a 630-room hotel that provides easy access to the city’s downtown recreational and cultural attractions. All studios and apartments come with facilities like a microwave, washing machine, refrigerator, and a dining table.
As part of the standard room offerings, all residences are outfitted with Hilton Serenity beds, a desk, wireless Internet access, a 48″ LCD TV with international channels, a bathroom with a separate shower and bathtub, as well as Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries.
One-bedroom sea view suite
Long-stay guests have added convenience and privacy with a separate lobby for express check-in and check-out services, as well as an exclusive sea view lounge providing self-service coffee and tea on the 31st floor. For guests staying in One Bedroom Apartment, Executive room or suites, they also have access to Executive Lounge on the 57th floor.
Hilton Haikou offers five F&B options, including Yuxi Chinese Restaurant serving Cantonese and Hainan cuisine; Senses, an all-day-dining restaurant, Grill@33 Restaurant specialising in Western-style seafood; Blu Bar which serves craft rum and whiskey; and Cha Tea Lounge which offers a selection of Chinese teas or Hilton’s signature afternoon tea.
The hotel also features a total of 2,000m2 of meeting space, including 15 meeting rooms and a pillar-less Grand Ballroom, spanning 814m2. Other facilities include a 24-hour fitness centre, as well as a heated indoor pool and Jacuzzi.
Vietnam is stepping up its game to better position itself as a major player in the regional MICE market. The last decade has seen the country’s business travel landscape expand exponentially as a swathe of products have come online, coupled with various government efforts.
Jeff Redl, managing director of Diethelm Travel Vietnam, said: “MICE business is definitely increasing in Vietnam compared with 10 years ago. The tourism industry as a whole has moved forward incredibly, and the business travel sector has grown.”
Ariyana Convention Centre
Vietnam National Authority for Tourism (VNAT) has become a lot more active in international marketing efforts, attending international business travel trade fairs to promote the country’s growing collection of MICE-ready destinations – Danang, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi.
Danang’s rapid rise in recent years as a darling of planners is particularly noteworthy. It has helped to elevate the country’s standing among its regional competitors, with a raft of event infrastructure having come online.
In October 2017, the Ariyana Convention Centre opened, attracting numerous international events. It is connected to the Furama Danang’s International Convention Palace, which boasts 15 function rooms, and a pillarless Grand Ballroom for up to 2,500 pax. The Sheraton Grand Resort Danang, armed with 258 rooms and 3,300m2 of function space, was the next to open in January 2018.
By end-2019, the total number of hotel rooms in Danang will stand around 43,130, a 37 per cent year-on-year increase.
Said Redl: “Danang has positioned itself as a strong MICE hub, especially with help from the direct flight from Doha by Qatar Airways (in December 2018). This has encouraged business from Europe.”
Overall, the hosting of large-scale international events has also placed Vietnam in the spotlight. In 2017, Danang welcomed 21 world leaders to APEC 2017. This year, South-east Asian delegates flocked to Halong for the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2019, while the Trump-Kim summit was hosted in Hanoi in February.
Furama Resort Danang’s deputy general director Nguyen Duc Quynh, said another element that will help push the country’s business tourism landscape is the development of secondary destinations. For example, northern Halong is emerging as a MICE hub, thanks to its world-class conference centres and a range of business hotels opening.
He pointed out that Ninh Binh, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Vung Tau and Phu Quoc also hold potential. He said: “Cities with new air routes, conference centres and facilities need to be taken into consideration, especially cities with airports and direct flights.”
Meanwhile, Alexander Leven, general manager of Asian Trails Vietnam, noted a shift in source markets in recent years. He said Australians were a popular MICE source market for the country up until about three years ago, but numbers have fallen due to groups choosing to stay on home turf, or explore nearby.
Leven added that “we are now seeing more and more requests from South Africa”, while business from European countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and France remain stable.
Other major changes include the decrease in demand from the pharmaceutical industry. “In the 1990s, the pharmaceutical industry was thriving. They would hold crazy incentive trips with huge numbers and stayed at four-star plus hotels. The industry has gone down now and brought with it big changes,” shared Leven.
Some MNCs have banned business travel to Hong Kong out of security fears
Travel restrictions to Hong Kong as a result of the continuing civil unrest has not only resulted in the cancellation of a major corporate travel event in August, but has now led to two US companies banning travel to the city.
Following a global emergency meeting last week, corporate travel managers of a giant US consumer IT company decided to impose a travel ban to Hong Kong, which one industry observer in the know claimed would have repercussions on other aspects of its business and not only corporate travel.
Some MNCs have banned business travel to Hong Kong out of security fears
In late-August, the ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) Global Summit in Macau, with an expected turnout of 700 international participants, was cancelled when many attendees had to pull out due to company travel restrictions.
In the planning stage, the ACTE event was to have taken place in Hong Kong and Macau to showcase the Greater Bay Area.
Another corporate travel manager whose US-based company has also banned travel to Hong Kong, told TTGmice: “(We) had to bear the cancellation cost for the ACTE event as we were not able to get ticket refunds because of the booking class.”
While other global companies have not imposed a ban on travel to Hong Kong, travel managers have reported a dip in traffic to the destination.
AECOM and Siemens, for instance, are avoiding “unnecessary travel”, using conference/video technology or postponing any Hong Kong trips if possible.
Kelvin Li, regional procurement and travel lead, Asia-Pacific AECOM, said travel volume was related to the type of business “during the period” and reported the company had been less impacted.
Jane Sim, commodity manager, ASEAN, with Siemens, said regional travellers have been urged to check travel advisories and the company has emphasised the importance of logging into the company’s security system to help track their whereabouts.
“The percentage of virtual meetings has increased. I don’t have the exact figure, but would say by around 10 to 15 per cent.”
Siemens has also seen changes in business demand in its new financial year, which started in October, Sim noted. “We are keeping our fingers crossed it will not go down too much.
Autodesk does not have a travel ban to Hong Kong, as most of its travel was outbound from Hong Kong, noted Adriana Nainggolan, travel programme manger, Asia-Pacific.
“But someone I know who works in a top wealth management bank said high net worth clients do not want to travel to Hong Kong,” she commented.
Five South-east Asian MICE associations from pioneering ASEAN member countries have taken the first step to harness the building blocks of the Asia-Pacific Community Building Manifesto to create a strong and sustainable business ecosystem.
In July, these MICE associations from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand signed the Asia Community Building Pledge, an outcome of the Manifesto, created by the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS) last year. They are: INCCA (Indonesia Congress and Convention Association, MACEOS (Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers), PACEOS (Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers), SACEOS and TICA (Thailand Incentive and Convention Association).
Working together for the greater good for the MICE industry
They have agreed to support the professional development programmes of each other, including the creation of new and relevant training modules to boost capabilities and support the evolving customer needs of the MICE industry.
The pledge also includes the commitment to share research and data to help in generating market-specific insights for the benefit of the respective MICE industries.
Starting with the five MICE associations, SACEOS president, Aloysius Arlando, told TTGmice the intent was to incorporate more like-minded countries in the region.
He commented that the Manifesto was a bold commitment among like-minded stakeholders “to confidently harness the new forces of change brought about by the digital era in transforming business events into a powerful platform for socio-economic, intellectual and commercial benefits”.
Arlando observed that business events had emerged as significant enabling platforms that would need to bring together different communities from various industry and functional groups to cross-learn and collaborate, to develop new solutions to address industry challenges or emerging industry needs.
On what the pledge could achieve, Sumate Sudasna, president of TICA, said he was “hoping more business-driven ideas could be initiated”.
With the MICE industry now a government priority, PACEOS president, Joel Pascual, said the association was not only serving as the voice of the MICE industry in the Philippines, but had made every effort to cooperate with associations from Asia and beyond, such as the BRICS countries.
In October, PACEOS and the Department of Tourism jointly hosted the AFECA (Asian Federation of Exhibition and Convention Associations) General Membership Meetings in Manila for the first time, “showing how serious we are in pursuing cooperation”.
MACEOS president, Vincent Lim, who hailed the initiative, commented: “The pledge will definitely strengthen the promotion of each other’s events. The next step after collaboration among the associations is for relevant members to work together. We have to strengthen collaboration among the ASEAN countries.”
Meanwhile, Rod Cameron, executive director of JMIC (Joint Meetings Industry Council) and AIPC (International Association of Convention Centres) – and one of the 60 architects involved in creating the Manifesto, said: “The point here is that with the industry growing so rapidly in many different parts of the world, it is really important to encourage some consistency and sense of common purpose to help everyone focus and as a way of generating more credibility among key audiences such as governments.
“By generating such a document (the Manifesto) out of workshops that involved representatives of both the local industry and international associations, it became the visible product of a collaborative process, that enhanced its credibility even further and achieved greater buy-in from the people who will have to stand behind it.”
Cameron added that the “regionally specific” Manifesto can even have a wider positive impact.
“(It) can potentially offer a lot to other parts of the world that are struggling to achieve greater consistency and direction in many of the same areas,” he said.
Greg Ward has been appointed head of global sales & distribution at Aman, where he will oversee all sales activities across the portfolio and key source markets, as well as managing the global sales team of Aman representatives both on and off property.
Based in the Zug office, Ward will also help define the future vision and strategy for Aman while working closely with COO Roland Fasel.
With over 25 years of experience in the luxury hospitality, retail and private aviation sector, Ward was most recently the vice president of sales at Shangri-La Group.
Prior to that, Ward was the group sales & marketing director for TDA Capital Group where he worked with Royal Demeure Hotels, Resorts and Residences, Royal Demeure Aviation and jewellery company Niquesa. Greg has previously held sales & marketing positions at von Essen, Mandarin Oriental, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
The Indonesian trade is calling for a stronger, more prominent position of business events within the new structure of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MoTCE), or the TCE Board, in the new cabinet line-up.
President Joko Widodo has currently placed the tourism and creative economy sectors under one ministry – which will act as a policymaker – as well as formed a board to be the executive body in charge of both sectors.
Wishnutama: agrees with stakeholders that business events had the potential to bring in more international visitors, and with them, the tourism dollar
With this new nomenclature, adjustments to TCE’s structure are expected to take place, and the MICE industry is hopeful that the business events sector will be elevated to a higher position, having been placed under the fourth echelon previously.
To convey the message from stakeholders on the ground, the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (IHRA) recently held an audience with the new minister of tourism and creative economy, and head of TCE Board, Wishnutama Kusubandio; and deputy minister/vice head of TCE Board Angelina Tanoesoedibjo.
IHRA chairman Haryadi Sukamdani shared with TTGmice that he suggested the government relook the organisational structure within the Ministry of Tourism, and split it into two market segments of business and leisure.
“There needs to be (separate) units at the deputy level (first echelon) to oversee (the two tourism sub-sectors). The two need to be managed separately as each has its own characteristics and therefore, require different strategic approaches,” Haryadi said.
“If each government agency could create an international business event related to its field as part of its annual calendar of events, the country’s branding and promotions would be improved and international arrivals would grow,” Haryadi opined.
He added that Indonesia has quality business events and accommodation facilities, but they have not been utilised optimally in the past five years.
Christina Rudatin, vice chairman of the Indonesia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (INACEB), said: “It is time for the tourism (authorities) to focus not only in (gaining tourist) numbers, but also on quality travellers. (Currently), all tourism development strategies and programmes are targeted at leisure travel.”
A strategy change to attract quality visitors, especially those from the business events sector, is required, urged Christina. To obtain such travellers, the business event segment must get more attention from the authorities, and develop its own set of programmes and targeted strategies.
“These (business travellers) are generally opinion leaders, whose word of mouth is stronger when it comes to influencing others to visit a destination,” she added. Moreover, business travellers spend three to four times that of a leisure traveller.
At a recent media conference in Jakarta, minister Wishnutama agreed with stakeholders that the business events industry had the potential to bring in thousands of people.
Wishnutama added that he has also been in consultation with international event organisers, and are “determining what needs to be done, and what needs to be changed” within the ministry and TCE Board.
Christina, in the meantime, is hopeful that Wishnutama understands the need to develop the MICE sector as he has had a background in media, and has experience managing large-scale events such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018.
The new ministry structure is expected to be formed by next month.
Swim with dolphins in Bellarine Peninsula on a tour with Sea All Dolphin Swims
Untapped regional areas in Melbourne are fast emerging as new destinations poised for Asia’s incentives market, which is “growing dramatically” for the city that recently reported a financially record-breaking year.
With the Great Ocean Road and Phillip Island on the south-east of Melbourne now regarded as mature markets, the south-west side of Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula have improved their offerings and begun investing in growing market awareness from Asia.
Swim with dolphins in Bellarine Peninsula on a tour with Sea All Dolphin Swims
Geelong
Bellarine Peninsula
Golfing in Geelong
“There’s definitely been a massive increase (of South-east Asian business visitors) within Melbourne CBD and that’s where we work very closely with Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) to leverage off them for those satellite or day trips,” said convention bureau manager for Geelong, Mark Day.
In the last financial year MCB secured 132 incentive reward programs, out of which 87 per cent were from South-east Asia and China. Day himself notes that his destination has seen international visitors surge 11 per cent over the last financial year, 14 per cent of which come from South-east Asia. Chinese visitors topped the list of all international tourists at 17 per cent while Singaporeans showed greatest growth at four per cent.
“That’s part of the reason why we’re investing more dollars into those markets,” said Day. “(Compared to) the Great Ocean Road, Geelong and the Bellarine have not been very proactive in trying to attract that top market, (but) with these growing numbers and new products coming online, it’s something that we’re definitely working harder to get more of.”
Apart from new gastronomic offerings, the region is set to welcome more hotels early next year, including luxury accommodation connected to golf clubs, a A$38.5 million (US$26.3 million) redevelopment of the Geelong Arts Centre, and large-scale public moving artwork using LED technology. Small group tours and hot air ballooning have also launched recently.
On the bureau’s part, Business Events Geelong hosted Melbourne’s first region-led fam programme for Asian agents last week. It has also developed its own incentive guide to work with MCB’s channels, launched its own WeChat account, and a China-ready website. It has also been mentoring operators to develop cultural awareness for international markets.
“We have only just become international-ready,” James Murphy, owner of Sea All Dolphin Swims – which offers surfing lessons and swim-with-dolphins experiences on the Bellarine Peninsula – told TTGmice.
“However, we hope to start supplying experiences for the current travel season. The Asian incentive market is a key market segment for the Victorian tourism industry and I see it being a key driver of growth (for our business) in the coming years,” he continued, also noting that the increase in visitor numbers could partly be attributed to the international upgrade at Avalon Airport.
The Geelong-Bellarine Peninsula development is consistent with wider trends to improve business events offerings beyond Melbourne city. MCB’s CEO Julia Swanson shared: “We’re seeing interest from our groups business, is (them) really getting off the beaten track.
“There’s a huge drive to increase food and wine offerings across regional Victoria (with) around 60 restaurants, bars and cafes opening or due to open at the back end of 2019. In addition to a Ritz Hotel and Holiday Inn (opening) in Geelong soon, a new Geelong Convention Center is also in the planning.”
MCB reported its highest ever economic result in FY 2018/19 with a 28 per cent increase in economic contribution from secured business events, achieving A$507 million from 229 secured events for the state. Swanson credited a significant part of that growth to the Asian corporate incentives sector.
The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) have collaborated on a series of education and knowledge economy development initiatives, focused on helping to build emerging destinations’ capacity as new meetings destinations.
The masterclasses serve as a platform to explore the potential of the meetings industry and equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to drive its further development in their destinations, while harnessing the meetings industry’s extensive potential as a source of sustainable development, knowledge exchange and economic growth.
These masterclasses are aimed at developing meetings industry expertise and enhancing the knowledge economy of emerging destinations
Senthil Gopinath, CEO of ICCA, said: “Through these Masterclasses, not only will new destinations be able to carve a foothold for themselves in the rapidly-evolving and lucrative meetings market, they will be able to access the resources needed to empower them to drive their development through the knowledge and economic power of business events.”
The first UNWTO-ICCA Masterclass on the Meetings Industry took place in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan on August 10, 2019, while the second took place on October 9 in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, as part of the 8th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism.
The inaugural Masterclass on August 10 saw over 100 governments officials from the Uzbekistan Tourism Administration, representatives of private companies, associations and academia take part in sessions showcasing global meetings industry trends and introducing a practical developmental methodology. Delivered by ICCA’s regional director Europe Elif Balci Fisunoglu and UNWTO’s Dmitry Ilin, the interactive seminar facilitated the creation of an important network among the private and public sector in Uzbekistan and sought to enhance the destination’s competitiveness.
October 9 marked the second UNWTO Masterclass in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, with around 100 participants – such as private stakeholders in the country, international tourism board executives and meetings industry representatives from countries such as Austria, Spain, Italy, Korea and Thailand – in attendance.
During the welcome reception, Helena Mahuas, deputy director of Nur Sultan Convention Bureau, presented the country’s MICE tourism potential and the latest reforms in the field of developing business tourism in Kazakhstan.
Then, ICCA’s Fisunoglu shared meetings industry insights on why destinations are focusing on this sector and how to research and bid to win future meetings. She also gave an outline of the current industry trends explaining how destinations are linking their economic and knowledge clusters to meetings when bidding.
A third Masterclass will take place in Batumi, Georgia, on December 5, 2019.
Several factors drew ASPIRE to choose Yokohama as its next conference destination
An enthusiastic national convention bureau and an eager local scientific community have led the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE) to return to Japan for its 2021 congress, almost a decade since it last convened in Osaka in 2012.
Explaining ASPIRE’s destination choice, association co-founder PC Wong, said his team looked for destinations that satisfied these critical factors: strong support from the local scientific community, committed convention bureau, global accessibility in terms of air access and hassle-free visa requirements, costs, and presence of experienced PCOs.
Several standout factors drew ASPIRE to choose Yokohama as its next conference destination
Elaborating, Wong said the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) was enthusiastic from the get-go, working with his office bearers to evaluate various Japanese cities that would meet ASPIRE’s objectives.
Although “most people would like to meet in Tokyo” and a majority of Japanese fertility specialists are located in and around Tokyo metropolis, Wong said Yokohama was chosen for the convention because of its close proximity to Haneda International Airport – a 30-minute car ride – and a suitable convention centre in the form of the soon-to-open Pacifico Yokohama North, while being comparatively less expensive than the capital city.
He opined that returning to Japan “was an easy decision to make” because the last gathering in Osaka had left a deep and positive impression on members.
“The Japanese have a knack for giving pleasant surprises. During our Osaka convention, we were surprised with a tuna cutting ceremony. It was very unusual for us foreigners, and therefore very impactful,” Wong recalled.
Bringing the convention back to Japan will also allow ASPIRE to benefit from the strong presence of local experts who will contribute to the programme as speakers.
“There are many Japanese specialists with vast knowledge and great ideas, but their command of English may sometimes hold them back from wanting to share what they know with the international community. ASPIRE hopes to identify great Japanese talents on their turf and then create opportunities for them to deliver a lecture or presentation on their expertise.
“We scout for talented speakers everywhere we go, with the aim of bringing more Asia-Pacific specialists into the spotlight. This is part of our legacy-building efforts for the local specialist community, and we’ve made good progress. More than 90 per cent of our scientific programme at ASPIRE 2020 in Manila will feature Asia-Pacific specialists. When we first started with our conventions, regional speakers contributed to just 50 per cent of our programme,” he explained.
ASPIRE 2019 in Hong Kong attracted almost 2,000 fertility clinicians and scientists from around Asia-Pacific, and Wong predicts an even greater number of attendees at the Yokohama edition due to early delegate boosting efforts by JNTO.
“We usually promote a convention a year ahead, but JNTO started to market ASPIRE 2021 this year. Right after the 2021 bid was won, JNTO, Yokohama CVB and Pacifico Yokohama went with us to Hong Kong to promote ASPIRE 2021, and will do the same when ASPIRE convenes in Manila next year,” he said.
Plaza Premium invests US$55 million into global expansion; Plaza Premium Lounge at Indira Gandhi International Airport pictured
Hong Kong-based airport services provider Plaza Premium Group (PPG) is expanding its global footprint and enhancing products across 11 international airports, including Beijing Daxing International Airport, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and Singapore Changi Airport.
“Year 2019 and 2020 mark a big leap forward for PPG and we are committed to serve over 16 million travellers by the end of 2020, a 10 per cent increase compared to where we are now,” said Song Hoi-see, founder and CEO of PPG.
Plaza Premium invests US$55 million into global expansion; Plaza Premium Lounge at Indira Gandhi International Airport pictured
“In addition to expanding in the US, China and Indonesia as part of our US$100 million investment in coming years, we continue to strengthen our leading position in the existing markets by creating a holistic departure, transit and arrival experience.”
The group’s flagship brand Plaza Premium Lounge will open in Dubai International Airport in December 2019, spanning across 1,260m2, the largest independent pay-per-use lounge at the airport’s Terminal 3.
Scheduled to fully operate in 2Q2020, a mega lounge will open in Toronto Pearson International Airport International Departures occupying nearly 1,200m2 as the largest independent pay-per-use lounge in Canada.
Plaza Premium Lounge will be unveiled in Australia in 1Q2020 at Sydney Airport Terminal 1 while the brand will debut in the US in 2020 with domestic lounge and international lounge at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and international lounge at Denver International Airport.
A nearly 3,000m2 lounge space combining Plaza Premium First, Plaza Premium Lounge and Allways will be built in Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to fully open in 1H2020. In its home town of Hong Kong, the brand will appear at two new locations this December and January respectively.
The development of its in-terminal airport hotel concept Aerotel has recently seen two strategic openings at Beijing Daxing International Airport and London Heathrow at Terminal 3 Arrivals.
In 3Q2020, Aerotel will launch in Sydney Airport as the only in-terminal airport hotel in Australia. Meanwhile, Aerotel Kuala Lumpur will see the addition of a select service extension and shared shower facilities. The brand’s inaugural location Aerotel Singapore is undergoing renovation of its outdoor swimming pool with plans to open end 2019 with enhanced services.
By 2020, PPG will be operating in more than 175 locations across 47 international airports.
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.
