Gold Coast’s business events market share is propelled by a combination of world-class infrastructure, diverse experiences and increased accessibility with the added bonus of stunning beaches
The Gold Coast has been revealed as large contributor to Queensland’s business events market, attracting 44 per cent of all conferences that choose Queensland.
This results were revealed in the Queensland Business Events Survey (QBES), as latest figures reveal an upward trend for meetings over the last financial year.
Gold Coast’s (pictured) business events market share is propelled by a combination of world-class infrastructure, diverse experiences and increased accessibility with the added bonus of stunning beaches
Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista said the results are a clear indication the city delivers a consistent and compelling offer for business events.
The survey also highlighted higher average delegate numbers per meeting for those attending Gold Coast conferences.
“The Gold Coast is a city delegates hope their company or association choose for their next meeting, with 14 per cent more delegates on average signing up for a conference in our city,” Battista said.
The Gold Coast already boasts the longest stay by business events delegates in Queensland, accounting for 3.1 days in the region.
“The results reflect the confidence and proactive approach of the city and industry partners to constantly reinvent our tourism and business events offering,” Battista concluded.
Etihad Airways has unveiled a major economy transformation programme, starting with the cabin upgrade and refurbishment of 23 narrow-body Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.
The retrofit programme, which includes new personalised wireless streaming entertainment to smartphone and tablet devices, is scheduled for completion in August this year.
A look at the new economy class cabin
Etihad has been progressively upgrading the economy cabins of its narrow-body fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, used mainly on shorthaul regional services, and further afield to 38 Etihad gateways within five hours of flight from Abu Dhabi.
The airline is installing modern and refreshed cabins featuring ergonomic Extra-spatial Design seats, which will provide increased knee room and add fast-charging USB points and an adjustable phone and tablet holder.
This adds to the first stage of enhancements to Etihad’s economy class that began in 2017 and introduced new seat options such as Neighbour-Free Seats, Economy Space, and Preferred Seats in the wide-body fleet.
The airline is also introducing a new economy dining concept on all its flights as part of a wider programme of enhancements to its inflight catering.
On journeys of over three hours, the main course of the core complimentary dining service is now a larger, contemporary bistro-style meal said to be “higher in quality, with a focus on fresh seasonal ingredients and more destination focused choices”.
For longer flights, dessert will be served separately with the after-meal coffee and tea service, reducing clutter on the tray during the main meal.
The airline is also touting more eco-friendly and lightweight cutlery.
In addition, the expanded ‘Sweet or Salty’ retail menu complements the core dining service with offerings including a Tapas box, hot dishes, and premium sweet and savoury snacks, all available for purchase. The retail service is enhanced by partnerships with brands such as Bateel, Starbucks, Thorntons, Cawston Press, Heavenly, Perrier and Barebells.
These upgrades were unveiled at Arabian Travel Market, together with a new advertising campaign, ‘Go Your Own Way’. As part of the airline’s overall ‘Choose Well’ brand platform, the campaign is meant to drive awareness of the airline’s greater commitment to giving passengers more control and options for personalisation.
Tony Douglas, group CEO, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “As part of our ‘Choose Well’ promise, we are empowering our guests with more control of their travel experiences, through onboard digital transformation, improved choice and redesigned cabins and products.”
Meanwhile, inflight entertainment systems have been upgraded on narrow-body aircraft. Guests will be able to log on and connect via browser to wirelessly stream more than 300 hours of free inflight entertainment through Etihad’s Panasonic eXW system directly to their own devices.
For a wider range of entertainment programming, including more Hollywood blockbusters, international movies, and premium TV programming such as HBO and Universal shows, guests can download the new E-bot Stream app prior to travel.
Dubai: voco debuts in the Middle East
The first voco-branded hotel in the Middle East stands along Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, eight kilometres away from Dubai International Airport and close to the metro and World Trade Centre.
Voco, Dubai boasts 471 guestrooms, furnished with beds made from recycled materials, and floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows that open out to downtown views. Recreational facilities include six restaurants and bars, an outdoor swimming pool, a gymnasium and Spa Zen. Corporate guests can also avail the four floors dedicated to meetings and events, offering a total of 21 meeting spaces.
IHG also added that voco Al Khobar will be opening Saudi Arabia later this year.
Ottawa: Game on in Canada
Canada’s largest gathering of the sport tourism industry will return to Ottawa in 2021 for the 21st edition of Sport Event Congress.
The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA), with the support of Ottawa Tourism, will hold the event March 8-10, 2021 at The Westin Ottawa. Most recently, the Canadian city hosted the 2019 Sport Events Congress March 19-21. Next year’s edition will be held in Edmonton, Alberta.
Held annually since 2001, the 2021 Sport Events Congress will bring together more than 400 national and provincial sport event rights holders, tourism professionals, event management firms and suppliers from the fastest growing segment of Canada’s tourism industry.
The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance is a non-governmental, member-based, capacity building organisation that promotes sport tourism as a grassroots economic development initiative at the community level. The CSTA services over 500 members across Canada, including 130 municipalities.
Sport tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry in Canada with over CA$6.8 billion (US$5.1 biillion) in annual spending by domestic and international visitors.
Cape Town: United Airlines to fly direct to South African capital
United Airlines has announced that it plans to operate direct, three-times weekly flights between New York/Newark and Cape Town, subject to government approval.
United’s direct service between New York/Newark and Cape Town will decrease the current travel time from New York to Cape Town by more than four hours.
If approved, the proposed schedule will see the aircraft departing New York/Newark at 08.30, arriving in Cape Town at 18.00 the following day on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The return flight will depart Cape Town at 20.50, and arrive back in New York/Newark at 05.45 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Upon launch, this will be the only non-stop service between the US and Cape Town. it will be be operated with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft featuring 48 seats in United Polaris business class, 88 seats in United Economy Plus and 116 seats in United Economy.
AIM Group International has appointed Annalisa Ponchia as director of innovation and customer experience, a newly-established position in the company.
In this role, Ponchia has been tasked to drive innovation across all the company’s functions and raise the added value offered to clients.
Ponchia has organised conferences and events around the globe, and has more than 30 years of international experience in events and association management.
As CEO of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) for more than 12 years, she worked closely with the Society to develop and deliver its strategic vision, including partnership projects with the Pharmaceutical Industry, fundraising activities, marketing and communication.
Working with the ESOT Board and team, she also organised all their scientific and education events, including the biennial Congress (which regularly attracts over 4,000 attendees), where she created innovative new formats, leveraged emerging technologies and learning techniques.
Prior to this, Ponchia had 10 years’ experience running her own PCO company that specialised in medical meetings.
Ponchia is a certified meeting professional, with CMP and CMM designations, and she is Board member of industry associations such as AC Forum, PCMA EMEA and the IPCAA Compliance Task Force, and is active as a speaker at numerous association and industry events.
Dusit International has expanded its presence in the Philippines with the opening of two properties in Mactan and Davao.
The five-star Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu is located beachside on the scenic Punta Engaño peninsula of Mactan island, approximately 10km from Cebu City in the Central Visayas region. The resort will feature 272 guestrooms with views of the Magellan Sea, alongside facilities such as a 100m-long infinity pool, spa, fitness centre, and several dining venues.
dusitd2 Davao
Event planners may avail the largest ballroom in Mactan, the 1,200m2 Dusit Ballroom, and four meeting rooms, as well as an outdoor Sky Garden for teambuilding activities or cocktail receptions.
Meanwhile, dusitD2 Davao has opened with an initial 60 rooms and suites, with another 60 slated to open later this year. Hotel facilities include a courtyard swimming pool, the Madayaw Café all-day dining restaurant, Siam Lounge, a fitness centre and the Namm Spa.
Guests can also arrange for day trips to The Beach Club at Lubi Plantation Island, Managed by Dusit, a private island retreat a 30-minute boat ride off the coast of the Davao Gulf.
Besides Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu and dusitD2 Davao, other Dusit-branded hotels set to open this year include Dusit Thani Residence Davao hotel (2Q), which will open adjacent to dusitD2 Davao; and dusitD2 The Fort Manila, which will open as part of the Dusit Hospitality Management College in August.
With two properties currently in operation (namely Dusit Thani Manila and The Beach Club at Lubi Plantation Island, Managed by Dusit), 12 signed and another seven in the pipeline, the Philippines promises to become Dusit’s largest cluster country by 2021. This also puts Dusit on course to become one of the largest international hotel operators in the Philippines.
A historic tourist attraction in Nagasaki, Japan, is undergoing massive restoration to be returned to its original condition in 1897.
Built on an artificial island in Nagasaki Bay, Dejima was Japan’s only direct trading point with Europe between 1641 and 1853. It was the landing point of goods such as coffee and beer as well as Western teachings on medicine and navigation, becoming Japan’s gateway to the West.
Dejima is an artificial island to which Dutch workers were restricted during Japan’s era of isolation
But after the trading post closed, the 9,000m2 site went into decline and was later joined to the mainland to improve the harbour.
In 1951, the Dejima Restoration Project was launched as part of Nagasaki’s town development. To date, 16 buildings, the embankment and the main gate bridge have been restored. This year, the project enters its most challenging phase: making Dejima an island again. Private land will be purchased, a river and highway will be diverted, and a moat will be dug. Completion is expected to take more than 30 years.
Megumi Kawaguchi of the Dejima Restoration Office expects a boost in visitors following the works as Dejima “will provide visitors with an experience as if they travelled back in history”.
Dejima has long proved popular with incentive groups for providing a window on Japan’s modernisation and historic interactions with the West.
After nine months of renovations, the historic Caravelle Saigon hotel in Ho Chi Minh City circa 1959 has reopened with fresh guestrooms and function spaces.
The new rooms in the Opera Wing on floors 8 to 12 start at approximately 38m2, with soundproof windows, a 49-inch Samsung flatscreen TV, walk-in vanities and marble-clad bathrooms.
Caravelle Saigon
1 of 2
Ballroom
Guestroom
The 10 function spaces on the second and third floor have also received a makeover complete with state-of-the-art AV equipment supporting up to 4K and Ultra HD. After the upgrade, the hotel’s four Opera Rooms also boast floor-to-ceiling windows which allows natural light to flood in.
The centrepiece of Caravelle Saigon’s event floor upgrade is the 4.7m-high Caravelle Ballroom comprising 300m2 of floor space. The ballroom can cater up to a maximum of 400, and can also be divided into two separate event spaces where required.
In addition, separating the Caravelle Ballroom and the Opera Rooms is a newly-updated 180m2 pre-function area that when added to the mix, increases the combined floor space of the ballroom and event rooms substantially. The area can also be used as a convenient breakout space during conventions or for attendees to catch-up or network over canapés and drinks.
In celebration of the refurbishment, Caravelle Saigon has unveiled a special meeting offer that is valid for bookings until September 30, 2019, for a minimum of 20 guests.
Benefits include:
For every 20 paying guests, the 21st guest is complimentary, up to a
maximum of 3 complimentary guests per event).
Five per cent discount on meeting package rates if payment is made three days before the event date.
For gala dinners, with a minimum of 150 guests, bookers will receive one complimentary buffet dinner voucher including unlimited of non-alcoholic cocktails, soft drinks and juices for two guests at Nineteen Buffet Restaurant. Two complimentary pre-dinner canapé items will also be included.
Terms and conditions apply. Email lethi.tran@caravellehotel.com for more information.
An estimated 90 per cent of business events bookings in Sri Lanka have either been postponed, cancelled or put on hold for the next two months of May and June due to the Easter Sunday bombings, informed the country’s MICE officials.
Sunil Dissanayake, director and CEO at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) – the country’s largest conference and exhibition centre – said that there were postponements of events after April 22, a day after the bomb explosions.
Sri Lankan tourism officials estimate cancellations could be as high as 50 per cent in coming months; Colombo pictured
Dissanayake added that the 18th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which was originally scheduled from May 23 to June 3 and would had drawn 4,500 delegates from some 180 countries, is another major event that has postponed. The conference has been tentatively moved to September this year, but a final decision will be made by the organisers next week.
Due to the postponements, Dissanayake noted there had been a drop of 12 million rupees (US$69,000) in revenue, despite a pickup in bookings from May onwards. Further ahead, the World HR Congress with the participation of 2,000 people from 40 countries is also confirmed for July 2020.
Meanwhile, for Aasim Mukthar, CEO at Lanka Exhibition & Conference Services (LECS), said that most meetings in May and June for LECS have been postponed or cancelled.
“We have events in July which we are going ahead with,” he shared, adding that it’s too early to talk about future cancellations.
“We have been informed of several postponements, cancellations or events (that have been) placed on hold,” said a worried senior official, who declined to be named, at the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB). For instance, a 1,000-pax event by a local operator due to be held in July has been postponed.
The bureau official added that while the security situation has improved, foreign tour operators were not taking chances due to heightened travel warnings by several countries – such as UK, US, India, China and Canada – urging their nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan tourism officials estimate cancellations could be as high as 50 per cent in coming months as the country limps towards normalcy. Officials added that the ambitious target of three million arrivals this year, against 2.3 million in 2018, would have to be sharply revised due to the crisis.
At least 250 people including 40 tourists were killed in Easter Sunday attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels across the island. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Saudi Arabia has set its sights high on becoming a major tourism hub that connects Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
At the Arabian Travel Market, the kingdom laid out its ambitious Vision 2030 masterplan, which aims to reposition the country on the global tourism stage.
The Red Sea Project is an upcoming tourism development in Saudi Arabia
John Davis, CEO of Colliers International MENA, said: “Saudi Arabia wants to be the heart of the Arabian Islamic world; a global powerhouse and a hub that connects Europe, Asia and Africa.”
In the next 11 years, the Kingdom plans to pump US$36 billion into the country’s roads, airports, railways and sea ports.
Several multi-billion-dollar projects are also in the pipeline, including a US$500 billion mega leisure and business development, NEOM. This will comprise 12 small cities, with lifestyle and tourist products, luxury hotels and villas on a 460km stretch of the Red Sea. It will operate solely on wind and solar power and leverage robotics to perform functions such as logistics and security. The first phase is slated for completion by 2020.
The Red Sea project is set to be the Middle East’s first fully-integrated luxury mixed use destination. It will comprise 50 islands dotted in the water, with the first phase of 14 luxury hotels boasting 3,000 hotel keys set to open by 2022.
Badr Al Badr, CEO of Dur Hospitality, said: “We have been in the industry for 42 years and we’ve never seen anything like this, the tourism sector is being totally revamped. The country is opening up to visitors, whether religious or general tourism. There are a lot of investment opportunities to be taken advantage of.”
Visa restrictions have been loosened, with an e-visa scheme set to launch in the coming months, and airport expansions and the construction of new terminals are ongoing. The easing of leisure and entertainment laws have seen a target set of having 2,500 movie screens spread across 350 theatres by 2030.
However, Badr predicts it will be the country’s business events market that shines in the near future. By 2020, Saudi Arabia will invest US$1.6 billion into facilities, with a swathe of shows already planned, including hosting G20.
Said Badr: “The biggest growth will be the MICE sector. That will really pick up in Saudi Arabia in the next few years, followed by general tourism.”
Gurugram-headquartered Corporate Alliance Group, a corporate business travel company, announced that it has acquired an 80 per cent stake in Meet 2 Travel (M2T) for an undisclosed amount.
As a result of this acquisition, Corporate Alliance Group has now entered the B2B and B2C exhibition and show space. M2T is now now a part of a newly created entity – YESPIRED – which will be headed by industry veteran and its original founder Vineet Gopal as CEO.
Kumria: the exhibition sector is new ground for Corporate Alliance Group
Gopal will continue to hold a 20 per cent stake in M2T. As per the acquisition, Gopal’s other two companies Representation World and Venuvi have also been merged with YESPIRED.
“We are now entering a new domain of representation and exhibition businesses with the formation of YESPIRED. We will begin with our maiden M2T consumer-focused show in September. It will be held at the Pacific Mall Tagore Garden in New Delhi, and we are expecting participation from travel consultants, tourism boards, airlines and consumer companies,” said Kapil Kumria, chief managing director, Corporate Alliance Group.
“We are looking at vertical representation, by leveraging our association with different hotels and destinations. We want to introduce some new destinations to the Indian market. As far as our exhibitions are concerned, we will be looking at offering customised solutions as per the need of different cities,” added Kumria.
Gopal added that the aim will be to organise about 10 to 12 B2B and B2C exhibitions pan India within a year.
“Under the aegis of Venuevi, we have also tied up with a two-hectare farmhouse which will be converted in an event venue. We are also partnering with other independent spaces to offer venues for corporate events,” shared Gopal.
Barun Gupta, vice president, sales strategy, business development & partnerships, India, Corporate Alliance Group, concluded: “This acquisition is start of new phase at Corporate Alliance Group, and we are planning and shortlisting other acquisitions in South Asia and South-east Asia in the near future.”
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