The DoubleTree by Hilton Taipei Zhongshan has opened its doors in downtown Taipei, marking the second Hilton-branded property to launch in the city in recent months after the hospitality giant returned to Taipei following a 15-year hiatus.
This 14-storey offers 106 guestrooms including 11 suites, all equipped with the brand’s signature amenities such as a DoubleTree Sweet Dreams Sleep Experience bedding, alongside modern furnishings such as a 49-inch HDTV, Nespresso machine, and high-speed Wi-Fi. Some rooms also come with outdoor balconies.
Hilton Taipei Zhongshan
For exercise or relaxation, guests have access to a 24-hour rooftop fitness centre with training equipment and free weights. Business travellers also have access to the hotel’s meetings space, a 68m2 room that can hold up to 45 people complete with audio-visual equipment and an outdoor area for breakout sessions. Other amenities include the all-day dining restaurant Alley, and the La Salle lobby lounge.
The property stands 350m from the Zhongshan MRT train station, which provides easy access to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei Songshan International Airport. Guests can also explore nearby attractions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art and Linsen Park.
Yuyuan garden at night,traditional shopping area in shanghai, China.
Domestic business events demand to and from Shanghai in 2019 is expected to be stronger compared to Beijing and developments in southern China – such as the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the US$3.9 billion mega Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center – are expected to spur business and growth opportunities.
Kin Qin, deputy general manager, Century Holiday International Travel Group, said Shanghai continues to add new international air links, and there are plentiful domestic and overseas access choices to and from the city.
Julien Delerue, founder and CEO of 1000meetings, said domestic MICE demand for Shanghai is very strong and hotels rates are getting higher, which is a positive sign the market is doing well.
The technology sector and companies such as Alibaba, Huawei and Tencent, continue to drive demand, according to Sam Braybon, Shanghai ambassador, The Bespoke Travel Company, and the company is looking to extend its product range to Shenzhen to support business in the sector.
Meanwhile, 10-year-old 1000meetings, an RFP technology platform, recently set up a team to address the overseas outbound market, Delerue commented.
“The company has signed a partnership deal with Shangri-La worldwide, other international brands and independent hotels to raise their visibility in China,” he added, with increasing outbound MICE groups as the target for its second phase. – Caroline Boey
Business event players in Hong Kong are bracing for weakened demand in 2019, resulting from a global economic downturn and the US-China trade war.
Karen Cheng, director of BCD Meetings & Events Hong Kong, has estimated a downward trend in business for 2019 over 2018.
Rosanna Leung, head of MICE & business development, Towa Tours, echoed the expectation, saying that the Hong Kong market will likely respond with budget cuts. Further challenges will come in the form of increased presence of global business event players who compete with Hong Kong-based outbound events agencies.
When asked for predictions of top performing market segments, Cheng pointed to insurance companies which will maintain a hearty appetite for Japan, South Korea and Bangkok – destinations close to Hong Kong that also charm with good food as well as high quality and inexpensive shopping.
Leung believes that industry sectors specialising in new technology and finance will contribute the most business events bookings to Japan and Scandinavian countries, while Corporate Travel Management Hong Kong’s CEO Larry Lo expects banks, investment agencies and insurance companies to shine the brightest for his company.
Lo also noted a “growing trend for personalisation” among clients.
He said: “Hong Kong corporates are demanding for more innovative and unique venues, staff wellness and experiential learning opportunities, culinary experiences and a safe environment. And with an eye on cost efficiency, corporates are preferring to conduct a single, big event to consolidate activities and obtain bulk savings on transportation and accommodation.” – Prudence Lui
Panoramic cityscape of Indonesia capital city Jakarta at night
Indonesia corporates are hungry for business events both on home ground and outside of the country, noted industry players.
Multi-level marketing, automotive and heavy equipment companies are picking up in activity levels after a few sluggish years, observed industry players, while insurance companies are expanding their attendee numbers. Financial institutions are also organising more business events in and outside of Indonesia.
Rudiana, sales and marketing manager of WITA Tour said multi-level marketing, automotive, pharmaceutical and consumer goods companies “have put thousands of their members in our listing from year to year”. However, he cautioned that the rupiah’s poor performance and the resulting decline in consumers’ buying power might shift demand for longhaul destinations to shorter ones.
Simon Lomas, general manager of JI EXPO Convention Centre and Theatre Jakarta, credited the country’s “impressive economic growth over the past decade” for the strong corporate appetite for business events.
Jona Convexindo is seeing bigger exhibitions and awards events being planned for 2019 compared to 2018, noted director John Nainggolan.
With the country’s general and presidential election scheduled for April 17, 2019, business events demand and movement will likely slow down in the lead-up.
Destination wise, events specialists opined that Japan and South Korea will remain hot favourites for Indonesian incentive groups, due to easy visa processes and strong reach of digital destination marketing efforts.
Bali remains the top domestic destination option, as poor access and pricey airfares to other parts of Indonesia continue to make other local options less appealing. – Ade Siregar
While Malaysian companies are still incentivising their staff, travel spend on incentives have not improved much, mainly due to a weakened ringgit which isn’t showing signs of strong recovery in the near future.
Rosli Seth, managing director of Feel Japan with K, said: “Companies are requesting for more half-board packages, where one or two times during the entire stay dinner is not provided for. They say it is to give delegates a chance to explore on their own, rather than to reduce expenditure. But that is also how companies are managing their costs.
“Also, to catch the Sakura season, companies are opting to travel to Kawazu in the Izu Peninsula, where blooms happen from early February. This way, they save about 30 to 35 per cent on hotel rates as compared with a stay in Tokyo during the Cherry Blossom Festival (in peak March or April).”
Also pained by the weak ringgit, Abdul Rahman Mohamed, general manager at Mayflower Holidays, expects clients to turn away from longhaul destinations in favour of the more affordable regional ones.
Regional favourites among small and medium enterprises are Bali, Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Ho Chi Minh City, according to Nanda Kumar, managing director, Hidden Asia Travel & Tours. Malaysian clients are also favouring their own backyard for corporate incentives and teambuilding programmes, such as Langkawi, Penang and Pangkor Island. – S Puvaneswary
Parade of colorful smiling mask at Masskara Festival, Bacolod City, Philippines
The higher cost of travelling abroad due to the Philippine peso’s steep depreciation has not marred the appetite for foreign incentive trips, which remain the fastest-growing outbound business events segment.
Industry sources agreed that Europe remains high on the list for top-level corporate champions and it helps that Turkish Airlines and Middle Eastern carriers offer affordable airfares to the continent.
Bella Calleja, JTB’s manager for Corporate Team 2, MICE, said big corporations continue to reward their top sellers and dealers with their preferred European destinations although they will reduce the duration from say, 10 to eight days, and cut the number of countries featured in the itinerary.
For those on the lower rung of the ladder, Calleja said they are rewarded with Asian countries such as Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore.
Feliz Axalan, general manager, Tradewings Tours and Travel Corp. is “worried” about the impact on business events of the peso’s depreciation combined with the fuel surcharge that two Philippine airlines have imposed in 2018 due to rising fuel prices. She hoped to continue getting good rates with their airline partners to Europe.
Marlene Jante, president, Philippine Travel Agencies Association, noted that corporations will still send their top achievers to foreign trips all the more to reward and incentivise them, while meetings and conventions abroad still have to be attended for networking. – Rosa Ocampo
The volatile global political climate is expected to dent appetite for corporate travel to traditional longhaul business hubs from Singapore.
Geopolitical tension arising from the US-China trade war and Brexit has had a “dampening effect” on planners’ confidence in travel to the US and the UK, observed Crystal Sim, president & CEO, Albatross World.
Instead, longhaul incentives are heading elsewhere, to more exotic European destinations like Croatia, Portugal and Spain. Sim explained: “There will always be clients who will travel high-end. As long as there is no major economic malaise, people will travel, and we will continue to focus on luxury tours.”
Regional business cities are also gaining favour. According to a September study by YouGov, business travellers in Singapore rated Tokyo, Bangkok and Hong Kong as their top destinations. Tokyo was the top choice for respondents aged between 35 and 44, and those over 45 preferred Bangkok.
“Japan will be a hot destination in the next two years as it hosts the Rugby World Cup tournament next year and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Kerry Healy, vice president of sales Asia Pacific, AccorHotels. Singapore’s interest in Japan will be amplified by the partnership between the Singapore Rugby Union and JTB to promote rugby tourism to Japan and Singapore. To capture this crowd, AccorHotels last year opened the Pullman Tokyo Tamachi, featuring three banquet and meeting rooms. – Pamela Chow
Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo in Sri Lanka has unveiled 8° on the Lake, billing it as the city’s first mobile floating venue in a five-star hotel.
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8° on the Lake
8° on the Lake with attached pier
Deck area
The floating venue on Beira Lake boasts an open show-kitchen, two air-conditioned decks, a translucent roof and minimalistic, white interiors that can accommodate over 100 people. It is suitable for private events, business luncheons or intimate cocktail evenings.
Event planners can choose to float the pontoon during sunset for delegates to enjoy the stars through the translucent roof after; or dock it as an extension to the waterside or the hotel’s garden venue equipped with a pier.
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
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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.
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