ICCA’s interim CEO ponders top post

November 20, 2018

Dennis-Speet-Acting-CEO-ICCA — Dennis Speet

ICCA’s interim CEO Dennis Speet has voiced out that he is interested to fill the plum post for a longer term.

“The ICCA Board encouraged me to apply for the job as well. I’m currently considering if I should,” shared Speet with TTGmice. Speet was ICCA’s former chief value officer who accepted the offer to temporarily fill the CEO post when his predecessor, Martin Sirk, vacated the position at the end of July after 16 years in service.

Currently, there is a growing number of contenders for the position, but Speet puts forth that his edge is that he’s already familiar with ICCA’s directions and operations, having clocked 22 years with the organisation.

“We started the search process shortly before the Congress (in Dubai) and we have received over 20 applications already. We anticipate more applications as the deadline is in January 2019,” Speet said.

Brussels-based European Affairs Recruitment Specialist will assist ICCA in selecting and evaluating the next CEO, with the closing date for applications set on January 15.

“The involvement of an external recruitment agent in the selection process of a new CEO will ensure the professional, impartial and anonymous approach towards selecting the right candidate,” he explained.

The next CEO is expected to start work in April and will be offered a three-year renewable contract instead of permanent employment.

Association chiefs discuss the critical need for succession planning and a smooth leadership transition in the wake of ICCA CEO’s sudden exit. Read about it in TTGassociations January 2019.

Hakata Hyakunengura

By Kathryn Wortley

November 20, 2018

Hakata_Hyakunengura_courtyard — Hakata Hyakunengura's courtyard

Concept
Five of the rooms of the old brewery have been converted into event spaces that provide beautiful, practical facilities for corporate meetings or dinners parties while accentuating the original features of the building.

Events can be proceeded or followed by a sake tasting experience, with expertise on drinks provided by staff. Drinks include freshly brewed sake that can be drunk only at the brewery, and sparkling varieties that utilise local produce such as the Fukuoka’s famous Amaou strawberries.

The on-site shop features a dizzying array of sake options for purchase as well as cups, glasses, other sake paraphernalia, and the brewery’s own sake-infused confections.

MICE application
The Hall, which seats 110 guests, boasts high ceilings with exposed wooden eaves, original wooden beams and white-washed walls with wood paneling.

The Ichibangura Room, which seats 70 guests, is similar in architecture and furnishings, with dark wood throughout. Both are equipped with projection equipment.

The theme continues in the Sankura Room, which seats 46 guests. Its white-washed walls are adorned with sake memorabilia from the early days of the brewery.

Seating 28 and 24 guests respectively, the Okunoma and Sakabayashinoma Rooms are smaller and more modern, while retaining the historic feeling of the building.

A table and two seats handmade by using traditional wooden sake cups are available for use by guests of honour.

The brewery offers a wide range of lunch and dinner set meals that can fit groups of varying budgets. Attendees can also enjoy the brewery’s own sake from its original vessels.

A pick-up service is available for groups of 50 guests or more.

Contact
Tel: (81-92) 651-1990
Address: 1-30-1 Katakasu, Hakata-fu, Fukuoka

Crown Melbourne unveils rooftop function space

By TTGmice

November 20, 2018

Crown Melbourne has unveiled The Crown Aviary, an outdoor rooftop function venue that sits on Level 3 of the Crown Towers Hotel.

The Crown Aviary

1 of 3

The Crown Aviary boasts a space suitable for up to 550 people in a standing cocktail setting, or 400 seated and with personalised F&B packages and styling by Dann Event Hire.

The venue is a combination of a 20m x 30m of enclosed event space, and a landscaped outdoor space including lawn and decking areas. The space is full heated and air conditioned, with custom-built bathroom facilities.

New exhibition director for IBTM World

By TTGmice

November 20, 2018

IBTM, part of global exhibition organiser Reed Travel Exhibitions, has appointed David Thompson as exhibition director for IBTM World.

He brings with him an international perspective having organised exhibitions and conferences across Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Thompson has spent the last 14 years in the industry producing award-winning events for the likes of Haymarket Exhibitions, BBC, Informa, Daily Mail Group and Clarion Events.

In his previous role at Clarion, Thompson ran a portfolio of security events which each year played host to over 15,000 attendees from more than 100 countries, building strong relationships with government and industry.

IBTM World 2018 takes place from November 27-29 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona. This year the event will welcome around 3,000 exhibiting companies from over 150 countries, over 3,500 buyers and thousands of visitors for meetings, networking and educational sessions.

Yogyakarta Marriott Hotel

By Mimi Hudoyo

November 19, 2018

Lobby-Yogyakarta-Marriott-Hotel — Yogyakarta Marriott Hotel

The Marriott brand finally breaks into Yogyakarta, a growing city that has been attracting upscale corporate-friendly hotels.

Rooms
The 347-key hotel offers 140 twin rooms of various categories, making it a cinch for event planners to accommodate larger groups of delegates.

I love that even the Deluxe Room, the humble lead-in room category, was spacious and impressive. It measures a generous 40m², and once the sliding walls between the bedroom and the bathroom are retracted, the room feels even more spacious.

MICE Facilities
Yogyakarta Marriott Hotel has a few things to boast about when it comes to business events offerings.

Kraton Grand Ballroom, which seats 2,500 people theatre-style or 1,650 banquet guests, is recognised as the largest venue of its kind in the city. The ballroom can be split into three smaller sections, each good for 750 pax in a theatre setup.Supporting the ballroom are seven meeting rooms that can host events with 100 to 140 guests, theatre style.

These venues are placed together in an area with a dedicated entrance, ensuring privacy for event attendees.

Large pre-function spaces allow for easier crowd control.

Another pride of the hotel is its event technology. All meeting rooms are fitted with 176-programmable pillow lights, adjustable ceiling lights which can produce 360 different colours – the first hotel in town with this feature – as well as high-steel platforms and catwalk structures.

Planners and event attendees also enjoy the support of the Marriott’s Meeting Service App, which allows service requests to be made in real time.

The hotel takes events support a step further by providing free booking tools, allowing attendees to easily reserve accommodation, as well as mobile check-in.

Other facilities
There are three F&B outlets in the hotel: The Yogyakarta Kitchen all-day dining restaurant; Taman Sari Bar & Grill, a Mediterranean casual eatery by the pool; and the Lounge.

For relaxation, there is Quan Spa, a 24-hour fitness centre, and an indoor and outdoor pool with a whirlpool that comes surrounded by tropical gardens and a sun deck.

Room count: 347
Star rating: Five
Contact:
Tel: (62-274) 6000888
Website: www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/jogmc-yogyakarta-marriott-hotel/

Louis T Collection appoints GM for upcoming Perth property

By TTGmice

November 19, 2018

Hotel management company Louis T Collection has appointed Lovelynn Clark as general manager of the Quay Perth, its upcoming 80-room boutique hotel opening in 1Q next year.

Most recently, Clark was part of the pre-opening team at the five-star, 468-room Viceroy Palm Jumeirah Dubai, where she served as executive housekeeper.

An Australian national born in Malaysia, Clark brings close to three decades of experience in hospitality to the table, with a career that has taken her through Asia, the Middle East and Australia.

Clark has been a member of pre-opening hotel teams for several five-star properties in mainland China, including the Park Hyatt Beijing, and Hyatt Regency hotels in Hangzhou, Dongguan, Jingjing City, Qingdao and Xi’an. She has also worked with Armani Hotel Dubai, Park Hyatt Maldives and Park Hyatt Hotel Canberra in various capacities.

Sommers named GM of K11 ARTUS

By TTGmice

November 16, 2018

K11 Artus, a luxury residence slated to open in summer 2019 at Victoria Dockside, has appointed Christopher Sommers as general manager.

The hospitality veteran has 17 years of experience under his belt, having worked extensively with luxury properties for brands such as Ritz-Carlton in countries such as US, Portugal, Russia and China.

Prior to joining K11 ARTUS, Sommers was general manager at The Ritz-Carlton Haikou where he oversaw the pre-opening and operation of the brand’s first golf resort in China.

Catch up with Jane Goh

By Pamela Chow

November 16, 2018

You started in hospitality and eventually joined tourism. What drew you to this field?
I felt like I had found my calling to showcase Singapore to the rest of the world.
From groups, I branched out to private tours, and all these experiences helped me realise that there are many other things we can do to sell the country as a destination, but they’re not being done yet. There’s a lot of focus on man-made attractions, but the soft (experience) is not there.

I wanted to show another side of Singapore that a lot of travellers and incentive visitors have not seen.

What sort of soft experiences?
A lot of our special interest groups or cultural troupes have done tours for locals before, but not tourists. They don’t know who to approach or how to go about it.

Activities like learning and performing the Chinese lion dance, and rowing across Marina Reservoir on dragonboat can be done not just for travellers, but for conferences, events and teambuilding attendees.

In fact, the dragonboat racing group had approached a travel agent for a partnership in the past, but was turned down.

We would like to promote this to event planners so that they know there’s something different they can do here in Singapore.

What are you anticipating most in your new DMC role?
This is a new direction for me, so I’m looking forward to how we can make the company different, and become successful among the many players in the market.

Hilton Taipei Sinban announces GM

By TTGmice

November 16, 2018

Scott Thomson has been appointed general manager of Hilton Taipei Sinban.Thomson most recently served as general manager of the Hilton Chongqing.

The 25-year hospitality veteran began his career with James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor in New Zealand, followed by several hotel management positions in Auckland, Hong Kong, Mumbai, New Delhi and Chongqing.

Tourism Fiji grows MICE team, eyes Asian markets

By Karen Yue

November 15, 2018

Three years after forming the Fiji Convention Bureau in 2015, Tourism Fiji is now looking to establish a second events team that will bring greater power to its pursuit of international business events.

Speaking to TTGmice, Kathy Koyamaibole, regional manager Asia with Tourism Fiji, said: “The Bureau has been winning mostly government meetings and events. But with the expanded events team, we will be better able to go after international ones. In fact, my role reflects the focus we have on Asian markets, where we see strong potential for both business events and leisure travel.”

Fiji’s Denarau island is an integrated option for large-sized business event groups, thanks to its vast options of hotels, attractions and activities

Koyamaibole shared that China takes the lead in Asian business events bound for Fiji, with “significant interest coming out of Singapore”.

“That explains Tourism Fiji’s current investment in destination promotion in Singapore and the appointment of Aviareps as our destination representative in the market,” she added.

When asked about the challenges Fiji faces in destination promotion towards Asian business event planners, Koyamaibole pointed to the misconception that Fiji was “primitive”.

“But when planners get a chance to visit Fiji, they are always blown away by what we have to offer. We have so many international hotel brands, such as Sofitel, Raddison, Hilton and InterContinental, all of which have conference facilities. We also have unique attractions that are a great match to our international-standard hardware, some of which can add a Corporate Social Responsibility angle to the programme,” she said, adding that even more international branded hotels will be opening soon, including a Pullman and a Crowne Plaza.

She also underlined Fiji’s accessibility from various Asian markets. “Fiji enjoys direct flights from Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, and it is easy for Asian event groups to connect in Australia for onward flights to Fiji,” she explained.

Koyamaibole is unable to say at press time if the expanded convention bureau will come with additional funding from Tourism Fiji in the new year.