Asia/Singapore Monday, 4th May 2026
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Page 720

Strong returnees at AIME 2019

By TTGmice
0

A refreshed vision for AIME 2019 has led to a series of international exhibitors returning to the annual show in Melbourne.

Thailand will be one of the presenting destinations at AIME 2019

Returnees include Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and Dubai Business Events & Convention Bureau (DBE), said a statement issued by event owner Melbourne Convention Bureau and event manager Talk2 Media & Events.

This notable return to AIME comes as a result of the refreshed vision, which has overhauled the way that exhibitors take part in the event, sharpening the focus to a positive return on investment through rigorous curation of the buyer programme and format that meetings are delivered.

“The interest that we’ve received from both international and regional exhibitors has been monumental. While they span very different industries, they are all signing up for the same reason – to meet and connect with more quality buyers from across (Asia-Pacific) who are ready to do business”, said Matt Pearce, CEO, Talk2 Media & Events.

DBE last attended AIME in 2015, with Thailand last attending in 2017.

Other international exhibitors attending the 2019 event include Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Ministry of Tourism Republic of Indonesia, the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau, and the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.

With only three months to go before the event opens, AIME 2019 has already confirmed quality buyers from across 32 different countries, with 48 per cent being new to the show and 65 per cent originating from outside of Australia.

AIME 2019 will run from February 18 to 20 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Beyond Asia: Jerusalem & Tel Aviv, Wales’ Year of Discovery, EASD in Vienna

By TTGmice
0
Jerusalem gets friendlier for tourists

Jerusalem, Tel Aviv enhance tourist services
The cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israel have launched a new suite of tourist services that to improve the destination experience for visitors.

In Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) has created a new week-long city pass that offers a bus service from the airport, free inner-city public transportation and discounts at the city’s attractions and museums. Employees in uniform at the “Itraveljerusalem” stand will greet the tourists arriving in Israel at the airport. In addition, information trucks are now positioned at the Jaffa gate and the Machne Yehuda food market to offer free Wi-Fi access, cell phone recharging stations and refreshments.

Over in Tel Aviv, the Ministry of Tourism and the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality have launched two new Tourist Information Centers as well as an information truck located on the Tel Aviv Promenade in front of the Frishman Beach and a pop-up information centre operating on weekends inside the historic clock tower at the entrance of Jaffa.

Business events get focus in Wales’ Year of Discovery campaign
The Welsh Government’s Business Events team will be building up Wales’ reputation as a world-class business events destination as part of the destination’s Year of Discovery campaign in the new year.

The focus ties in with the impending opening of the new International Conference Centre Wales in 2019, and follows on from a five-point approach undertaken in 2018 to accelerate the growth of the country’s business events market. The five-point approach includes: the appointment of Heledd Williams as head of business events; a programme of attendance to national and international shows; a co-ordinated approach to promoting Wales; an education programme for Visit Wales partners; and exploiting Wales’ reputation for hosting major global events such as the Champions League Final and the Volvo Ocean Race.

The Year of Discovery campaign will provide a further opportunity to highlight Wales’ unique appeal as a centre of expertise and academic research, as well as its stunning blend of natural landscapes, culture and heritage.

Vienna to welcome diabetes experts in 2020
The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) will stage its 56th Annual Meeting at Reed Messe Wien, Vienna, Austria from September 21-25, 2020.

Some 15,000 participants from 130 countries are expected to attend the event, which is said to be the world’s largest diabetes research and treatment congress.

The EASD Annual Congress scientific programme will feature 1,200 talks and presentations covering the latest advances in diabetes research and treatment.

It will be the fifth time that the Austrian capital hosts the EASD Annual Meeting.

Mandarin Oriental veteran to lead group’s first hotel in Beijing

By TTGmice
0

Mark Bradford in now general manager of Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, Beijing, which will open in early 2019 as the group’s first property in the Chinese capital city.

Prior to his Beijing move, he was the opening general manager of the Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech in Morocco.

Bradford possesses more than 17 years of hotel management experience with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. He first joined the group in 2001, and has spent time in the Bangkok property as hotel manager, and helmed the Chiang Mai, Jakarta and Manila properties as general manager.

New World Petaling Jaya Hotel welcomes new DOSM

By TTGmice
0

New World Petaling Jaya Hotel has named Shona Pang as director of sales & marketing.

Pang will play an integral role in the development and implementation of strategic sales and marketing plans.

Prior to joining New World Petaling Jaya Hotel, Pang was the pre-opening director of sales and marketing for Sheraton Petaling Jaya.

The seasoned hotelier with almost 15 years of industry knowledge in events, MICE and corporate sales, and has worked across various international hotel brands such as The Westin Kuala Lumpur and Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur.

Photo of the day: M&OP hits one out of the park at BEA Greater China Showcase

By TTGmice
0

Melbourne & Olympic Parks (M&OP) has showcased a number of its Melbourne Venues at the Business Events Australia (BEA) Greater China Showcase.

The BEA Greater China Showcase is taking place for the first time outside of China. During the hosted fam trip for media and corporate buyers, delegates were treated to a day on the court – complete with a tennis-inspired activity – before being brought on a tour around the Melbourne Park’s numerous venues, all located in close proximity of the city’s CBD.

M&OP venues include Rod Laver Arena (Centre Court), great for hosting intimate gatherings within its open spaces; AAMI Park, the site of the nation’s most historical sporting moments; and Margaret Court Arena and Melbourne Arena – both of which able to present large-scale event formats for guests from 200 up to 8,500 with flexibility for formal dinners, cocktail-style events, galas and conferences.

Come 2022, a new state-of-the-art conference centre will join M&OP’s list of arenas, stadiums and venues with the capacity to host 3,000 guests. Bookings for the new development will be available in early 2019.

The BEA Greater China Showcase is currently ongoing in Melbourne, from November 25-28, 2018.

Mӧvenpick takes its brand to the Maldives

By TTGmice
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Mӧvenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives has opened its doors on a private island in Noonu Atoll, marking the brand’s debut in Maldives.

The resort features 105 villas and suites comprising 72 overwater pool villas, 30 beach pool suites and three beach spa pool residences, each with a private plunge pool.

Mӧvenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives
1 of 5

Guests can choose from four dining experiences: the market-style all-day diner, ONU Marché restaurant and bar; Mövenpick Coffee & Wine Lounge; pool-side restaurant Latitude 5.5; and the overwater Bodumas Seafood Restaurant. Mӧvenpick Chocolate Hour, a key brand signature, will also be staged in the resort lobby daily offering complimentary tasting of chocolate presented in novel ways.

Other facilities on the island include a diving centre, tennis court, gym, water sports centre and spa.

The resort is 45 minutes from Malé by seaplane, and come early 2019 will be accessible by a 15-minute speedboat ride from the new airport on Maafaru island.

PICC on the hunt for extra land to build an exhibition centre

By Rosa Ocampo
0

Stymied by limited space, the government-owned Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) is eyeing a nearby vacant lot, with the aim of building an exhibition centre.

A feasibility study is currently underway, brokered between the lot’s owner, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the government’s infrastructure bank.

PICC is a convention centre located in the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay, Metro Manila

PICC general manager Renato Padilla shared with TTGmice that in the past, an exhibition held at the PICC was usually part of a congress, but the trend now is that the exhibition becomes the main event, where organisers sell the space on a per square metre basis or on a per booth basis.

That is why Padilla believes that there is a need for an international exhibition centre that connects to the PICC, where “we can exhibit heavy duty items such as military equipment, boats and trucks”.

Currently, PICC is part of the CCP Complex, which owns 60 hectares that will be developed into seven revenue-producing clusters. He hopes that CCP would be willing to sell a cluster to PICC for the supposed international exhibition centre.

Without the exhibition centre, the Philippines will not be able to bid for big trade exhibitions, and PICC would not be eligible to become a member of the United Federation of Exhibition Centers, as it did not possess the basic requirement of 30,000m2 of exhibition centre space.

Even with the combination of the three largest convention centres in Manila, the capital city offers no more than 30,000m2 of event space. PICC offers 5,000m2, while the World Trade Center and SMX Convention Center featured 10,000m2 each.

Padilla lamented that because of this issue, the Philippines lagged behind its regional neighbours, some of whom already boast structures as large as 100,000m2.

He further suggested that the Philippines should set up a convention and exhibition bureau, lamenting that “practically every city in the world” has one. The lack of one meant that the PICC had to market itself in order to lure business events.

“What we need is a mindset from the Department of Tourism to strengthen and work on selling and marketing the Philippines as a (business events) destination,” concluded Padilla.

SMX Clark set for 2020 opening; adjoining Park Inn expanded

By TTGmice
0
The groundbreaking ceremony

SM Hotels and Conventions (SMHCC) has announced that it has launched two major projects in Clark, Pampanga – the construction of SMX Convention Center Clark, and the expansion of Park Inn by Radisson Clark with 100 additional rooms.

Both projects are scheduled to open in 1Q2020.

A rendering of the upcoming SMX Clark and the Park Inn by Radisson Clark

SMX Convention Center’s vice president and general manager Walid Wafik said in a statement: “The SMX Convention Center Clark will cater to the increasing demand for more venues for MICE events being held in the Northern Luzon area. Instead of the clients travelling all the way from Northern Luzon to Manila to hold their big conventions and other events, we are bringing SMX Convention Center closer to them”.

SMX Convention Center Clark will have a gross leasable space of more than 4,000m2 over two levels, and a mezzanine floor for offices. To be constructed adjacent to the Park Inn by Radisson Clark extension, the convention centre will feature three trade halls, three function rooms, complemented by 14 smaller meeting rooms.

The groundbreaking ceremony

Similar to its flagship property in Manila, SMX Convention Center Clark will have eco-friendly features. A connecting bridgeway from the SM City Clark will easy access to and from the SMX Convention Center Clark, and the Park Inn by Radisson Clark.

SMX Convention Center Clark will be the second standalone convention center – after SMX Manila – and the eighth convention center in the SMHCC portfolio.

Meanwhile, Park Inn by Radisson Clark is also set to add another 100 rooms to its current inventory of 150 rooms.

Both SMX Clark and Park Inn by Radisson Clark will be situated a 20-minute drive from the airport via Manuel Roxas highway.

Philippine agriculturists plan first regional convention

By Rosa Ocampo
0
PAA looks to grow from hosting national conventions to a South-east Asian edition

The Philippine Association of Agriculturists (PAA) is working towards an annual regional convention beginning July next year, the first step towards expanding its reach amid the ASEAN economic integration.

It is scouting for an event management company to handle the initial convention, which will feature commercial and technology components, to be held in Manila for up to 5,000 delegates, PAA president Arthur R Baria said on the sidelines of the 6th Associations Summit of the Philippine Council for the Advancement of Association Executives (PCAAE) in Subic last week.

PAA looks to grow from hosting national conventions to a South-east Asian edition

Reaching out to Asia holds more meaning even as the Philippines is drafting the qualifying framework to align the competence and skills of its agriculturists to those in South-east Asia, said Baria, who is also Nestle Philippines’ assistant vice president and head of agribusiness development department.

Except for PAA, there is no professional agriculturists association in Asia but Baria sees opportunities for developing the regional network, exchange of technology, and employment opportunities, among other things.

Baria told TTGmice that while agriculture has high contributions to the Philippine economy, the sector is being left behind hence PAA’s goal to professionalise the industry, make agriculturists relevant on the frontline while promoting agriculture to students and the youth.

Set on its goal, within this year PAA has firmed up the accreditation of seven integrated organisations and 17 regional chapters all over the Philippines. Its sixth agriculturists convention held this year turned out to be the biggest, with 2,800 delegates.

The association has 4,000 members out of the 20,000 licensed agriculturists in the country and many more that are not licensed.

Being an agriculturist is an exportable skills, with demand from the US, Australia, dairy industry in New Zealand, Japan which has an ageing population, the Middle East, Africa and even for urban agriculture, said Baria.

He hopes that after the ASEAN convention, PAA can also tap the international community within three to four years through Filipino agriculturists scattered around the world.

SilkAir to transfer routes to Scoot ahead of merger into SIA

By TTGmice
0
SIA Group’s low-cost subsidiary, Scoot, will take over some of the routes currently served by SilkAir, the group’s regional subsidiary of the SIA Group that will eventually be absorbed into SIA.

Scoot is to take over a number of SilkAir’s routes over the next two years, ahead of the latter’s merger into Singapore Airlines (SIA). Scoot will also be transferring some of its services to existing destinations served by SIA and SilkAir.

Expected to take place between April 2019 and the second half of 2020, the changes are the result of a review to identify which airlines in the SIA Group portfolio are best suited to meet evolving customer demand, according to a statement from the group.

Scoot, will take over some of the routes currently served by SilkAir, the group’s regional subsidiary of the SIA Group that will eventually be absorbed into SIA

The changes, which are subject to regulatory approvals, are planned as follows.

From SilkAir to Scoot:

• Luang Prabang and Vientiane in Laos, in April 2019
• Coimbatore, Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam in India, between May 2019 and
October 2019
• Changsha, Fuzhou, Kunming and Wuhan in China, between May 2019 and June
2019
• Chiang Mai (existing Scoot destination) in Thailand, in October 2019
• Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, in December 2019
• Balikpapan, Lombok, Makassar, Manado, Semarang and Yogyakarta in Indonesia,
between May 2020 and July 2020
From Scoot to SIA (Both are existing SIA destinations):
• Bengaluru and Chennai in India, in May 2019 and May 2020
From Scoot to SilkAir (Both are existing SilkAir destinations):
• Shenzhen in China, from June 2019
• Kochi in India, from October 2019

In addition, SilkAir will be converting its Mandalay route to a seasonal service. Existing services will end in March 2019 and resume in November 2019, continuing until January 2020. Scoot will meanwhile be suspending services to Honolulu with effect from June 2019 as a result of weak demand.

Dates are indicative as a result of required regulatory approvals. Customers with existing bookings will be provided the option to switch to the new Scoot, SIA or SilkAir flights where possible, or be provided refunds.

“We are now at the half-way mark in our three-year transformation programme, and today’s announcement represents another development. The route review will strengthen the SIA Group for the long term, with the right vehicles in our portfolio of airlines deployed to the right markets,” said SIA CEO, Goh Choon Phong.

SIA announced in May that its regional wing SilkAir is to undergo a significant investment programme to upgrade its cabin products ahead of its eventual merger into SIA. The programme will see SilkAir’s cabins fitted with new lie-flat seats in Business Class, and the installation of seat-back in-flight entertainment systems in both business and economy Class.

The investments will ensure closer product and service consistency across the SIA Group’s full-service network.

Low-cost subsidiary Scoot’s fleet will meanwhile be expanded with the transfer of 14 Boeing 737-800s from SilkAir, while SilkAir will continue growing its operations in the years ahead as it takes delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

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TTGmice | Aloft Jakarta Kebon Jeruk levels up with new Grand Ballroom
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