Travel industry veteran Dane Cheng will take up the executive director mantle at Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) from November 1, 2019, replacing previous chief Anthony Lau who stepped down from the role in end July.
HKTB chairman Pang Yiu-kai said that Cheng was chosen for the role because he had considerable experience of marketing and management in the tourism industry.
Dane Cheng
“I am very pleased to have Mr Cheng joining the HKTB at this moment in time when the tourism industry faces huge challenges. I am certain that Mr Cheng will lead the team to overcome the current difficulties. Later, when the time is right, he will join forces with the travel trade and other sectors to launch a far-reaching global promotion, attracting visitors from every continent back to Hong Kong and rebuilding Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the world’s leading travel destinations,” he said.
With over 30 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, Cheng has held senior positions in general management, marketing, communications and international affairs in various regions during his time with Cathay Pacific Airways. He was also the executive director of Hang Lung Properties from 2017 to 2019.
Karen Merrick has been appointed as general manager of JA Manafaru Maldives to lead a team of 350 associates at the luxury island resort, making her the second female general manager in JA Resorts & Hotels’ portfolio of eight properties.
With a career spanning 30 years across a variety of boutique hotels in the Indian Ocean and Europe, Merrick spent the last three years running the Song Saa Private Island in Cambodia.
Her previous tenures include roles at The Taaras Resort & Spa in Malaysia, Kemang Icon by Alila in Indonesia, Ackergill Tower in Scotland; as well as Soneva Fushi Resort & Residences, Diva/White Sands Resort & Spa and The Rania Experience – all based in the Maldives.
Penang has seen accelerated growth in business events over the past five years. Has it significantly changed the way local players, like yourself, work the destination?
The way Penang is presented to business event groups has changed. In the past, Penang attracted more domestic events. Event organisers were mainly locals who knew what Penang was all about.
Koe Peng Kang
Now, Penang attracts more global business events and international organisers who have different requirements and expectations. Some of them want to see our cultural diversity; they love it so we market this strongly. Others desire a look at our heritage or our environment, so we have made these aspects more prominent in our destination marketing.
We have had to change our strategies according to the needs and requirements of international event organisers to bring out the best of Penang. For example, what would a European organiser want for his delegates after an event? Probably want a city tour. A Chinese organiser with a Chinese group probably want to feast on durian.
Do you see Penang’s strong leisure offerings as a real advantage in the contest for business events?
Business tourism is no longer just about people going to a destination for conferences, meetings and exhibitions. It has become a convergence of business events and leisure.
In the past, delegates would return home immediately after their conference. Today, heads of department can accept when their staff take a few days leave after a conference to discover the destination.
Seeing this trend, we have to market both the business events side of Penang as well as its tourism components.
What other trends in the business are you seeing that Penang should pay attention to?
Business events will be seeing more attendance from China, India and the Middle East. Malaysia has not fully marketed herself as a business events destination in these important markets. We have to dive deeper into secondary and tertiary cities in China and India to promote Malaysia better.
How about trends in the way event venues are used?
When we were planning for Setia SPICE Penang (prior to its opening in 2017), we provisioned for state-of-the-art technology, including projectors. When we opened, the world had moved on to LED screens. We had to pump in another RM4.5 million (US$1 million) to upgrade our equipment to LED screens in the main conference hall.
A few years back, we never thought green buildings were so important. When we started to market Setia SPICE Penang in Europe, organisers asked how green we were, and if our building was designed to be sustainable. So we moved on to incorporate green technology into our hardware. We became the first hybrid solar powered convention centre in the world (and the biggest solar farm in Penang), which is also Eco Green (Green Building Index) certified.
We’ve won a number of events from Europe for Setia SPICE simply because of its green features.
Let’s zoom out now. Has the global economic slowdown impacted business events this year?
Nothing major, as conventions are usually planned two years ahead. There are still enquiries for future events although organisers today are more conscious about costs.
There are so many factors – Donald Trump and China, Donald Trump and Europe, and Brexit. If there is an impact, we will only see it in two or three years’ time for convention and exhibition business. Thankfully, because the market is so big, there is always demand.
What are some of the challenges for Malaysia’s MICE industry?
We need more international, direct flights to Penang. We have to work harder for Asian markets and cannot depend on the domestic market alone. This year, we planned eight business trips to generate awareness mainly for Setia SPICE. We have to dive deeper, be competitive and give value for money – the keys to driving business.
Another challenge is finding the right manpower with the right service mindset and then retain them. We are happy that a lot of colleges are running hospitality courses. Hopefully, those who have been trained well do not move to Macau, China, Singapore and the Middle East to work. Due to salary disparity from (our weak) exchange rate, we lose talent. But we cannot rely on foreigners all the time, and need a systematic long-term business tourism strategy.
If you have your way, what do you wish to do to improve the MICE landscape in Malaysia?
I would like to work with the government to develop a long-term strategy to further drive business tourism in the country.
We also hope the government would give preferential incentives to business event employers who can create jobs for locals, as such incentives will further drive the sector.
Smaller destinations surrounding Japan’s popular cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto are taking promotions into their own hands, to attract corporate traffic to lesser-known attractions and activities.
This comes in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games next May, which are expected to drive up crowd density and hotel prices in the city. This concern may potentially discourage visitors from choosing Japan altogether, expressed Tadashi Kaneko, executive vice president, Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
Kobe City launched its After MICE programme in August
While JNTO plans to focus on promoting local gems in outlying regions – it has worked with local prefectural governments and suppliers to launch the 100 Experiences in Japan book – local CVBs are also rolling out their own programmes.
For instance, Kobe City launched its After MICE programme in August this year, which encourages delegate and corporate groups to experience the city through 20 shortlisted activities in a guidebook.
One hour by train outside Tokyo, Shizuoka City is shouting out to groups who might be interested in “green tea tourism” – tours that feature picking green tea leaves, brewing green tea and experiencing an affordable tea ceremony in a private garden led by a tea ceremony master.
“A lot of people know the big city experiences of Tokyo and Osaka, but not a lot of people know what this kind of (peaceful) experience in Japan is like,” said Motohiro Yamashita, sales sub manager, Shizutetsu Retailing, which runs private tea inn Cha No Hana Tei.
Meanwhile, Nikko City located two hours north of Tokyo, is also launching a programme for large groups of visitors to participate in the local float festival, and is rolling out free tourist admission to a slate of attractions from January to February next year. Nikko City will also be welcoming a MICE-ready hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, next summer, positioned at the east end of Lake Chuzenji.
Furthermore, several DMOs are also stepping up their trade outreach efforts to market their myriad offerings. For example, Kansai Nara Treasure Travel is participating in more international tradeshows, such as Visit Japan Travel Mart, to promote its night tours and private access tours to restricted temples and shrines in Nara.
“We can also conduct night visits with a special dinner in the temple,” said Sayuri Fujimoto, inbound division, concierge, Kansai Nara Treasure Travel.
Hotel buffets and large-scale events such as conference lunches and gala dinners inevitably generate a lot of food waste, but Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park in Thailand is employing various zero-waste tactics to change that.
For starters, the 1,388-key hotel hired a sustainability manager, Michael Riley, who joined the team at the start of this month. Riley’s first task was to oversee and improve on the reduction of food waste at Goji Kitchen+Bar – an effort first championed by the property’s executive chef Michael Vincent Hogan and senior executive sous chef Daniel Bucher.
Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park cultivates its own herbs
Hogan shared that this food reduction movement began last year when Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park started supporting Scholars of Sustenance (SOS) Foundation, a Bangkok-based organisation that collects excess food from hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, and delivers them to those in need across the city.
Such partnerships with SOS and various Thai farmers help to cut food waste that tends to end up in landfills, while creating a positive impact on the local community.
In addition, Hogan related how surplus food on the buffet line can be safely reused. For instance, leftover beef at the carving station becomes a stew, while its bones are boiled and reduced to soup stock. Meanwhile, croissants are morphed into bread puddings, while fruit skins are dehydrated for cocktail mixes. Other food waste is turned into compost for the hotel’s gardens, or becomes feed for various farms – oyster shells are ground into powder for chicken feed, for example.
The property also reduces its carbon footprint by sourcing ingredients such as pineapples, beef and fish locally, and self cultivates a variety of herbs from tarragon to mint from its two on-site gardens. One of the gardens also houses a troop of free-range chickens, a bee colony, while a vertical hydroponics garden indoors grows rocket leaves.
Residents of the hotel’s community garden, these chickens provide eggs and help weed the herb plots
On why Goji Kitchen+Bar was the first F&B venue in the property to be targeted, Riley shared: “It is the main restaurant that serves around 2,000 covers a day, and would bring about the most impact in terms of food waste. Aside from Goji, we also try to reduce excess food during large-scale events like gala dinners.”
Goji is currently the test-bed, but Riley pointed out the zero-waste effort will eventually be rolled out to the other F&B venues. He shared that F&B team members at the other restaurants “have seen the benefits and have started various initiatives to reduce food waste too”.
Food is not the only sustainability issue on Riley’s mind. Eventually, he hopes to bring in compostable, food-safe bags for use in the kitchen, as well as introduce glass-bottled water in rooms. However, every step towards sustainability comes with a fresh set of challenges.
Riley explained: “Being sustainable is always more expensive, so one challenge is the cost factor for the eco-friendly kitchen food bags. The other problem, for the glass-bottled water, is finding storage space, because in comparison, plastics can be crushed easily after use.”
Aside from both the individual property and the entire hospitality chain’s efforts, Riley pointed out that changing the mindset of its hotel guests, as well as educating staff (despite a high turnover rate), is crucial.
“It is about finding the right balance that marries both business sense and sustainability because as a large hotel chain we can definitely make a huge difference in the world,” he said.
TICA's Sumate Sudasna; TCEB's Nichapa Yoswee; and ATTA's Vichit Prakobgosol announcing the three-party initiative
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has partnered with the Thailand Incentive and Convention Association (TICA) and Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) and unveiled a three-party initiative entitled M&I Redefine – M&I Market Champion.
The initiative aims to gain more market insights that will lead to better understanding of markets, which will in turn help win more business for the kingdom.
(From left) TICA’s Sumate Sudasna, TCEB’s Nichapa Yoswee and ATTA’s Vichit Prakobgosol announcing the three-party M&I Market Champion initiative
Each party will designate their representative to champion a specific market or market segments. For TICA and ATTA market champions, their roles include playing advisors to TCEB’s M&I department.
Together, they provide a sounding board on strategic direction, marketing plans, ideas, and initiatives while sharing market movements, key trends, and hot issues.
The team comprises 17 market champions. There are five TCEB market champions: one for Europe, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong; one for Latin America, South Africa, North America, Oceania, Russia & CIS, plus Japan & South Korea; one for India and CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam); one for South-east Asia; and one for area-based segment, luxury segment, and sustainability practice of M&I groups.
There are nine TICA market champions: one for Europe; one for India, Latin America and South Africa; one for North America (USA and Canada); one for Oceania; one for South-east Asia; one for Japan and South Korea; one for area-based; one for luxury; and one for sustainability.
There are three ATTA market champions: one for China; one for Russia and CIS; and one for Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Nichapa Yoswee, TCEB’s senior vice president – business, said: “This dynamic new synergy is key for TCEB to designing marketing directions, strategies and campaigns for Thailand to attract more M&I groups from key source markets from all corners of the world.”
The Adelaide Convention Centre is a large convention centre on North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia. It was the first purpose-built convention centre to be built in Australia.
The Australian Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition (AES 2020) will be returning to Adelaide next May, two years after having hosted the 2018 edition.
Held from May 20-21 at the Adelaide Convention Centre, the conference is expected to bring 1,200 local and global energy-storage innovators together. It will also contribute A$2.5 million (US$1.7 million) to Adelaide’s economy.
The Adelaide Convention Centre (pictured) was the first purpose-built convention centre to be built in the country
The year 2020 will also mark the seventh anniversary of the annual event.
Conference content will centre on modernising clean energy systems and the progress towards 100 per cent renewable energy, with storage a key component in achieving the target.
Aside from the conference, the exhibition component of the event will showcase energy storage solutions at the residential, commercial and grid levels by some of the world’s leading companies. Sectors covered include agriculture, construction, corporate asset management, design and economic consultants, education and government, facility and building management, finance, heating and cooling, housing and remote communities, manufacturing, mining, power management, recycling, energy storage solution and renewable-energy system providers, R&D, telecommunications, transport and utilities.
Damien Kitto, CEO, Adelaide Convention Bureau, said in a statement: “The bureau is pleased to partner with the state government to secure this business event. The event is strongly aligned to the state’s widely recognised world-class innovation toward clean energy and storage.”
South Australia’s minister for energy and mining, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, added: “Energy storage is a critical component of our government’s overall plan to shift the state’s energy mix towards renewables and bringing all of these experts here will ensure there is constructive discussion and collaboration on the future direction of our energy endeavours.”
“We welcome the chance to showcase our achievements and more importantly, provide local industry with the priceless opportunities hosting these business events affords the state by way of their legacies including knowledge exchange, investment, research and development, partnerships and future employment,” Kitto said.
Originally developed for shopping malls and warehousing, Singapore-based Drop Positioning Systems has now taken its positioning technology into the hospitality and events space, promising planners a better experience for conference and exhibition attendees, as well as help hotels become more efficient.
The company is presently supporting local hotels such as Mandarin Oriental, Singapore and The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore in areas such as luggage tracking. Mandarin Oriental also applies the positioning technology in its housekeeping inventory and room service. For instance, after a guest finishes the room service meal and pushes the cart out the door, the system will immediately notify a hotel staff to collect it so that it is not a prolonged eyesore left unattended along the corridor of a five-star property.
This indoor GPS technology promises to help organisers plan better conferences and shows
Ben Tang, chief technical officer of Singapore-based Drop Positioning Systems, explained that the positioning technology can benefit large-scale events and exhibitions by allowing event organisers to see attendee dwell time (how long an attendee spends at a place) and movement speed.
Tang added that the system can also provide a heat map, among other possibilities.
In addition to tracking movement, Tang also shared that the system allows for proactive alerts. For example, if a speaker was stuck in the registration queue, the event organiser could track his position and rescue him to ensure he’s on time for his speaking engagement. Or if a VVIP needed to meet another VVIP on another level (drop positioning can differentiate storeys), his assistant would be able to guide him quickly to his destination.
Tang said the technology requires “only needs 1mbps to support 5,000 of our tags at one go”, and can even rely on home broadband.
“Also, our tags are unobtrusive, and are about the size of a dollar coin, or a thin long strip that can fit into plastic conference landyard holders. And depending on the capabilities an event planner is looking for, prices start at a few dollars per person, hence it’s very cost-effective method (that can help event planners plan better future shows),” he said.
Located in Central Vietnam’s Hue, Lebadang Memory Space is the first museum of contemporary art that opened in April this year.
The eponymous museum is dedicated to Lebadang, a Vietnamese painter, engraver and sculptor who was naturalised in France in 1980. The privately-owned museum boasts a comprehensive collection of 293 contemporary artwork pieces, ranging from paper-cuttings to sculptures.
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Aerial view of Lebadang Memory Space
Main exhibition centre
Main exhibition centre
Rooftop space
Meeting rooms are available
An outdoor event
Surrounding the museum are some 2,532 plants and trees, spread across 16,000m2 of space across five function areas. This outdoor area is good for larger events with 200 to 300 people, and can even take in a stage. Meanwhile, the Space Signature Roof Top is able to host intimate gatherings of around 50 people.
Art immersion tours can also be arranged for private groups. Catering is available upon request, with six set menus to choose from. Rates start from US$200 for a two-hour block, for usage of the Space Cafe & Bistro which can hold up to 50 people. For a complete museum buyout, rates start from US$600, also for a two-hour block.
A second phase of development for the museum is in the plans, and works include the construction of an underground multifunctional room that can hold up to 150 pax. The project will be completed at the end of 2020.
Trinh Thi Hue, business development manager of Lebadang Memory Space, said: “Hue is already famous for the old and traditional, but we are now moving forward with a new art legacy of the city.”
Casual meeting set up with lots of natural daylight
Hilton Singapore is incentivising meeting professionals further with double bonus perks to hold their meetings and events at the property.
For any new meeting or group bookings made between now and December 31, 2019, and completed by January 31, 2020, meeting professionals will be entitled to choose two complimentary bonus perks on top of the group room package.
Casual meeting set up with lots of natural daylight
Perks include 15 per cent off daily delegate weekend rates and 10 per cent off daily delegate weekday rates; one complimentary delegate package for every 10 full-paying delegates per meeting; one-hour cocktail package at S$50 (US$37) per person, including beverages & canapés; and one breakout room with a minimum of 50 delegates per event.
For meetings stretched across a number of days with attendees requiring overnight room stays, meeting delegates are entitled to enjoy two additional perks, such as one-way transfer to any destination within Singapore; two complimentary upgrades to Executive Room with lounge benefits for up to two guestrooms; 50,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points for meeting professional; and one complimentary guestroom for every 50 paid guestroom nights (accumulative with no maximum cap).
The Double Perks meeting package is applicable for full-day meetings inclusive of a welcome break, two coffee breaks and one buffet lunch at S$95 per delegate. Meanwhile, price per guestroom starts from S$250 per room per night, inclusive of breakfast for one delegate.
Hilton Singapore offers 17 function venues ranging from the Grand Ballroom which can accommodate up to 500 guests to the Panorama function room at the rooftop level 24.
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