Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel has appointed Jason Leung as general manager, joining the hotel from his most recent role as general manager of Le Meridien Singapore, Sentosa.
The hotel veteran has more than 16 years of experience under his belt, having began his career in sales and marketing in the hospitality industry in Sydney.
In 2006, he assumed the role of business development director at Four Points by Sheraton, Sydney, and was quickly promoted to director of sales. He then transferred to The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali in 2009, where he held various key management roles including director of sales & marketing, executive assistant manager and hotel manager.
Sheraton Grand Danang Resort has appointed Sherrilyn Charles as director of sales and marketing.
She comes to the Vietnam resort from Samoa, where she was the complex director of sales and marketing for two connected Sheraton properties.
The industry veteran brings two decades of experience in the industry, gained from years of working in the Europe/Middle East/Africa regions.
The Caribbean native’s first position upon graduation was with Hilton Hotels in the Netherlands in sales. She grew her career in sales and marketing, taking on roles with progressive levels of responsibility at hotels and resorts in the EAME, Pacific and South-east Asia regions.
Charles then joined Starwood in 2008 where she served as international business development manager.
A new Wyndham Grand hotel has opened in downtown Yangon, the second property of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in Myanmar.
The 20-storey luxury hotel forms part of Kantharyar Centre, a new mixed-use project comprising office spaces, serviced apartments and retail outlets.
Wyndham Grand Yangon
1 of 5
Lobby Bar
Club King Room
Club Lounge
Kandawgyi
Amarapura Grand Ballroom
Wyndham Grand Yangon features 291 rooms and suites, with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook Kandawgyi Lake and Shwedagon Pagoda. The 320m2 Presidential Suite, on the topmost 20th floor, boasts a separate meeting area, dining room and private bar, plus a sauna and an eight-person Jacuzzi.
Guests staying on the Executive Club Floors will enjoy exclusive access to the Executive Lounge, which offers extra services such as daily buffet breakfast and evening cocktails, plus free use of a meeting room for two hours.
Aside from the five F&B venues, facilities include a fitness centre, spa and outdoor pool with views over Kandawgyi Lake. Guests who want to visit Yangon’s downtown landmarks, such as Sule Pagoda and Bogyoke Market, can utilise the hotel’s daily shuttle service.
For corporate guests and event planners, the hotel’s portfolio includes a 500-delegate Grand Ballroom with a huge LED screen, five meeting rooms with a large pre-function space for cocktail receptions, as well as an outdoor garden for al fresco events.
Matt Pearce, CEO of Talk2Me Media and Events launches AIME 2019 at Monday's press conference
This year’s Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) in Melbourne has kicked things off with a greater focus on getting international buyers, and the creation of more networking opportunities for stakeholders.
AIME’s new organisers, Talk2 Media and Events, say they believe what they have on offer this year provides more value for both its Australasian and Asian participants, with 50 per cent more hosted buyers than last year and more than half of all buyers new to AIME.
Matt Pearce launches AIME 2019 at Monday’s press conference. Photo: Adelaine Ng
Also, 65 per cent of buyers represented are from overseas, compared to just 18 per cent last year, thanks to a more thorough vetting process. And out of the 65 per cent, 70 per cent hailed from Asia.
“There is a greater focus on the quantity, quality and geographic range of (these buyers),” Matt Pearce, CEO of Talk2Media and Events told TTGmice. “We’ve also vetted all the hosted buyers to make sure they fit the bill, (ensured) they have money to spend in the next five years, and that they are looking to spend that money in the region”.
Pearce also added new structures have been adopted to encourage the right business meetings to take place. For instance, technology using algorithms have been employed to match buyers and suppliers, although manual interventions have also been used to get better outcomes.
“For instance, the Northern Territory in the past may not have been as interested in Chinese visitors, but they now have a direct service to Guangzhou from Darwin, so China now becomes more important and more interesting to them. So we’ve worked with them to match (the right buyers),” elaborated Pearce.
Networking opportunities have also been given more priority with meeting spaces redesigned, and the welcome party adjusted for more food and less music to encourage talking.
Australian Podiatry Association’s events manager Pauline Taylor, who has attended more than 10 AIMEs, shared with TTGmice she appreciated the more personalised attention from organisers this year.
“(The organisers also recognised) that there were many international buyers who didn’t get taken out by local suppliers… so they’ve put on this whole new eat street, food truck-esque event on Tuesday evening. That was a nice touch,” she said.
Talk2Media and Events were tasked in 2017 to take over and rejuvenate AIME beginning in 2019, and halt the slide in attendance numbers over recent years. This year, more than 2,000 delegates have registered to attend the three-day event which ends on Wednesday (February 20).
The Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) is working to promote Taiwan as a top-of-mind destination to incentive groups from India, as part of its overall aim to grow the Indian inbound market by 20 per cent by 2020.
“Taiwan and India have a close business relationship in fields like IT and technology. We want to promote Taiwan as an incentive destination among Indian businesses. Previously, we received an incentive group of 200 pax from India’s TATA group,” said Trust Lin, director, TTB Singapore Branch.
The country’s tourism bureau hopes to attract more Indian incentive groups; Taipei pictured
To lure incentive groups, TTB is promising help in the form of monetary offset, as well as its willingness to collaborate with private stakeholders, in a bid to “project Taiwan as a new incentive destination” to Indians.
“If one is handling a group of more than 50 pax staying in Taiwan for more than three nights, they qualify (for an incentive of) US$26 per pax. In addition, we can cooperate with PCOs for joint marketing,” revealed Lin.
This is part of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, which focuses on 18 international markets such as India, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. In total, these markets are 25 per cent of all overall international arrivals to Taiwan.
Among these countries, India holds the most potential for growth coming from its low base of 38,000 arrivals, Lin pointed out.
As such, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council has taken steps to court Indian outbound travellers by organising a Taiwan Expo in New Delhi for the first time last year. The expo was a key event aimed at enhancing economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Furthermore, TTB believes that growth in the Indian incentive market, apart from helping to increase overall tourist arrivals, will eventually result in more direct flights between the two countries. Currently, there is only a thrice-weekly service linking New Delhi and Taipei by China Airlines.
“We want to have direct flights from other Indian cities like Mumbai as well. However, the current traffic is restricting airlines to operate direct connections,” Lin lamented. “If segments like incentive travel can grow significantly from India, it will be a stronger case for more direct connections.”
The growing interest in courting the Indian market comes at a time as tourist arrivals from Mainland China – Taiwan’s traditional main source market – continues to dwindle.
The Indonesian business events industry has lost one of its veteran players with the passing of Rocky Kalalo, former managing director of Panorama Convex and board member of the Indonesia Congress and Convention Association (INCCA).
Rocky died in Jakarta last Sunday morning after suffering from stroke last year. He will be cremated this morning.
Rocky Kalalo
The respected industry professional has more than 35 years of experience in the business events industry. He first started out at the Jakarta Hilton International (now The Sultan Hotel & Residence Jakarta), before moving to the Jakarta Convention Centre. He then joined Panorama Group in 2000 to spearhead the Panorama Convex.
Satrijanto Tirtawisata, commissioner of Panorama Group, said: “Rocky was a great guy. With his long experience working at Jakarta Convention Centre and through his (business) trips overseas, he understood the needs of the industry and the opportunities available in the market. (With that knowledge he) created homegrown exhibitions at Panorama Convex.”
The Renovation and Construction Expo, for example, was a brainchild of Rocky, who was inspired by the severe flooding in Jakarta in early 2002 which caused widespread damage to the city. The same year, he created the expo, which has lived on till today as part of Reed Panorama Exhibition’s Megabuild annual programme .
In addition, the Franchise & Licence Expo, Indonesia Maternity Baby and Kids Expo, and the Indonesia Maritime Expo were also his creations, events which are now annual staples on the country’s events calendar.
Rocky also played role in the development of Indonesia’s business events industry with his active participation in trade associations, such as the Indonesia Exhibition Companies Association and INCCA.
Iqbal Alan Abdullah, chairman of INCCA, shared with TTGmice: “I have known and worked alongside with Rocky for 40 years, and he was very consistent in his efforts to contribute to the development of business events (in Indonesia).”
For example, INCCA pioneered the idea of a business events school in the country by joining forces with Jakarta Polytechnics. Eventually, business events became a full-fledged department at National Polytechnic Jakarta in 2003.
“It took years of work for this to materialise and during those years, Rocky contributed his ideas, thoughts, time and energy to form the first formal school of MICE,” Iqbal shared.
Rocky was also part of the team that formed the Indonesia Convention and Exhibition Bureau, and held the role of acting executive director when it launched in 2016.
Iqbal added Rocky’s open-hearted personality made him an unofficial mentor to so many younger professionals. Iqbal said: “People could just approach him and ask him any question, and he would happily share his knowledge.”
The value of business events secured with the help of Tourism Australia’s Business Events Bid Fund Program (BFP) has almost doubled from A$97 million (US$69 million) to reach a record A$187 million in the past three months.
Tourism Australia’s managing director John O’Sullivan said the results demonstrated the fund’s effectiveness in improving Australia’s competitiveness in the global business events market by helping to offset event costs.
MICE buyers in Sydney, Australia
He added that this was a “direct result of the combined efforts of the Australian business events industry in securing these events”.
The effectiveness of the BFP is also reflected in the number of applications received, with applications now having reached 79 since the launch. A majority of applications are for international health and direct selling business events.
On average, every dollar invested by Tourism Australia and industry in securing events through the programme has generated A$19 for the Australian economy.
Fourteen events have been secured for Australia since the commencement of the BFP in July 2018, with six of the events publicly announced. They include:
UITP 2021 Global Public Transport Summit, Melbourne (A$4.6 million in economic value for Australia)
2019 SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit, Gold Coast (A$6.7 million in economic value for Australia)
145th IATA Slot Conference, Brisbane (A$3.2 million in economic value for Australia
13th Congress of International Plant Molecular Biology 2021, Cairns (A$4.2 million) in economic value for Australia
Society for Freshwater Science Annual Meeting 2021, Brisbane (A$2 million in economic value for Australia)
IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence SSCI 2020, Canberra (A$2.2 million in economic value for Australia)
Business events remains one of the most significant sectors of Australia’s visitor economy, and the sector is the second largest contributor to overnight international visitor expenditure after China.
Total expenditure by international business events visitors in the year ending September 2018 was worth A$4.9 billion, an increase of 16 per cent over the previous year.
Global travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel has announced the official adoption of CWT as its new name and identity.
The three-letter classification honours the company’s heritage and its digital leadership ambitions, and reflects its focused value proposition in corporate travel, CWT said in a press release.
The evolution of CWT over the years
Three of CWT’s four specialist services, CWT Energy Resources & Marine, CWT Meetings & Events and CWT Solutions Group are expected to benefit from the rebrand with new logos, while its global hotel distribution division, RoomIt by CWT, will only see minor changes in the colour palette.
“This identity change is the latest phase in our digital development plan to combine the power of technology and innovation with the expert know-how of our people,” said CWT’s president and CEO Kurt Ekert.
“There’s a romantic link with the Wagons-Lit era, and we are justifiably proud of our 150 year-heritage – however, today’s developments reinforce our intention to continue to lead our industry for the next century and a half.”
Pullman Luang Prabang has launched a Meet and Play MICE package that blends outdoor experiences, socially-responsible events and corporate meetings together.
The package, bookable from now until August 31, 2019, enables groups to create their own customised corporate retreat, including full- or half-day meetings, one free room night for every 15 paid rooms, round-trip airport transfers for one VIP guest, discounts on group cocktails and dinners, and more.
Pullman Luang Prabang
1 of 5
Event organisers can choose from the 368m2 Nam Khong Ballroom and 116m2 Nam Khan function room, both of which can be divided into smaller spaces, and Le Salon, the boardroom. This trio of flexible venues creates options for events of all sizes, accommodating up to 300 delegates.
The property has also teamed up with a series of local partners to create unique off-site activities that help corporate groups strengthen their bonds and give back to the local community.
For example, corporate guests can visit the Laos Buffalo Dairy, the first dairy farm in Laos which supplies local products including buffalo mozzarella to Pullman Luang Prabang. Delegates will learn how this social enterprise is working with Lao farmers and diversifying the local agricultural industry. Guests will be able to meet the owners, Susie Martin and Rachel O’Shea, enjoy close encounters with their 150-plus buffalos, visit the dairy and taste their products first-hand.
Alternatively, groups can head to Ock Pop Tok, a sustainable textiles business that empowers the women of Laos. Launched in 2000 by local weaver Veo Douangdala and British photographer Jo Smith, the organisation works with more than 500 artisans throughout the country. Event planners can arrange for their delegates to visit the textile factory, or take part in a group weaving class.
At Pullman Luang Prabang, groups can head out into the paddy fields, where rice for the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant L’Atelier is harvested from. Seasonal rice cultivation classes can be organised for corporate groups, allowing delegates to discover this ancient Asian occupation. Further enhancing the resort’s environmental ethos, the unused rice husks are donated to MandaLao Elephant Conservation Camp, which cares for rescued elephants.
In addition, Pullman Luang Prabang’s events team can create inspirational activities tailored to the specific requirements of each group.
For more information, email H9112@accor.com or contact (856) 71 21 1112.
Andy Watson has been promoted to senior vice president and general manager for SAP Concur, Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) and Greater China, succeeding Nick Evered who will be retiring.
In his new role, Watson will be responsible for accelerating the growth of SAP Concur’s business in APJ and Greater China.
An SAP veteran, he has held global and regional leadership roles across several board areas since joining SAP in 2003. He was most recently COO of SAP Cloud APJ, and prior to that, led the APJ business for SAP SuccessFactors, a global provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management software.
Watson has also held the role of chief financial officer for SAP Field Services and SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud at SAP’s global headquarters in Walldorf, Germany.
Before SAP, Watson held finance, operations and business leadership roles at Compaq, Siebel and Fujitsu.
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.
