Award-winning chef Chandra Mohan Arunasalam has joined Banyan Tree Phuket as executive chef.
Prior to joining Banyan Tree, the Malaysian was at Hilton Kuala Lumpur as chef de cuisine.
Chandra’s culinary journey began in his hometown in Malaysia and continued on to England and Maldives. He then spent most of his career in the US, including notable work at the two-Michelin-star Avenues Restaurant with Curtis Duffy at The Peninsula Chicago.
He has also worked at several three-Michelin-star restaurants, alongside legendary American chefs such as Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, Charlie Trotter at his celebrated restaurant, Chef Grant Achatz at Alinea and Trio, and Curtis Duffy at Grace Restaurant Chicago.
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SINGAPORE
Choose from 6 strategic hotel locations – Orchard Hotel, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, M Hotel, Copthorne King’s Hotel, M Social and Studio M, with access to over 2,600 rooms and more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space. Find out more.
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GRAND MILLENNIUM KUALA LUMPUR
Strategically located in the heart of Bukit Bintang, Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur is an award-winning property that is nestled within the luxuries of the city’s fascinating Golden Triangle. The hotel is less than minutes away from the Bukit Bintang MRT and Monorail stations, and is a 45-minute drive from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Adjacent to the popular Pavilion Kuala Lumpur Shopping Mall and steps away from Starhill Gallery, Fahrenheit88, Bintang Walk and Lot 10 Shopping Complex, the hotel is home to 468 spacious and well-appointed guestrooms and suites, with floor-to-ceiling windows that boast the city’s breath-taking skyline.
Presenting over 1,800 square metres of atmospheric venues ideal for a variety of special occasions and equipped with 21 flexible function rooms of various sizes and layouts, some of which include natural daylight; all function rooms are fully fitted with state-of-the-art conference facilities and include complimentary usage of an LCD projector and motorised screen. The Millennium Ballroom offers a spacious foyer overlooking the grand lobby, suitable for pre-event cocktails. Complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access is provided to 30 guests per function room.
Hotel facilities include 4 restaurants, featuring an eclectic menu of Asian, continental, Cantonese and Japanese epicurean specialties; swimming pool, fully-equipped fitness centre and a spa.
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HERITAGE HOTEL MANILA
The Heritage Hotel Manila is situated right in the heart of the city, and just minutes away from both international and domestic airports, Manila Bay yacht clubs, Makati and Manila business hubs; PICC & World Trade Convention Centre, SM Mall of Asia Complex, featuring the country’s largest shopping mall, and SMX Convention Centre, Philippines’ biggest convention centre and the latest attraction, the Mall of Asia Arena.
This hotel in Pasay, Manila has 450 well-appointed rooms that exude a warm and comfortable ambience, complemented by modern abstract artworks of the renowned visual artist, Nestor Olarte Vinluan. All rooms include WIFI.
Featuring modern facilities, excellent equipment support, and a dedicated events team; the hotel offers 12 versatile event spaces, including 2 ballrooms, providing a total of over 1,245 square metres of floor space to cater to a variety of events, from small meetings of 10 to large conferences for 500 seated guests or 700 guests theatre-style.
Hotel facilities include: a restaurant and a Lobby Lounge, serving a range of Asian and international cuisine; and leisure facilities include a swimming pool, fitness centre, spa, and a 24-hour cyber room area.
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MILLENNIUM RESORT PATONG PHUKET
Millennium Resort Patong Phuket is just a 5-minute walk to the world-famous Patong Beach, with Jungceylon Shopping Mall just a few steps away as well as an array of food & beverage choices, entertainment and nightlife venues in close proximity. The resort offers 418 guestrooms. A popular choice is the unique Cabana rooms, each with its own private terrace, personal Jacuzzi, and direct access to the luxurious pool.
Featuring 10 function rooms, the resort is equipped to host a variety of meetings and events, as well as the expertise to provide innovative themed events and exquisite culinary creations. The impressive Jungceylon Ballroom (300 square metres) at the Lakeside wing can accommodate up to 200 guests theatre-style and 300 guests for receptions. The 3.3m high-ceiling ballroom can also be converted into individual function rooms and comes with a spacious foyer which is ideal for a pre-function cocktail reception.
Other facilities include 5 food & beverage venues, serving BBQ, Thai and international buffet; and leisure options include a spa, fitness centre and 2 outdoor swimming pools.
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MILLENNIUM HOTEL SIRIH JAKARTA
Millennium Hotel Sirih Jakarta, conveniently located in central Jakarta, is a stone’s throw away from the famous Tanah Abang Market and close to government offices, shopping malls, museums, embassies and office buildings. The 401 room property offers practical comforts and a range of in-room amenities, including WIFI, available in public spaces as well.
Equipped with 15 versatile function rooms, including a high-ceiling grand ballroom perfect for any large scale conferences of up to 1,200 guests theatre-style; the hotel is able to cater to a variety of events, be it meetings, seminars or even social events. Special menus and customised decorations can be arranged upon request. Private events may also be arranged at the outdoor garden and pool area for up to 300 persons cocktail-style. The property also offers ample on-site parking facility for up to 200 vehicles.
Other facilities include free shuttle service to major shopping centres, 2 food & beverage venues, offering delicious local cuisine and international specialties; a fully-equipped gym, whirlpool and swimming pool.
Royal Caribbean Cruises has reported a YOY 25 per cent growth in its number of passengers from Indonesia last year, with corporate incentive bookings contributing a major share of the numbers.
Voyager of the Seas, one of the largest and most innovative cruise ships in South-east Asia, will be offering as many as 90 sailings of three to nine nights from Singapore to popular regional destinations
Highly favoured among Indonesian companies are Royal Caribbean Cruises’ four-day/three-night sailings to Malaysia and Thailand.
Ivan Soetikno, general manager of Multi Alam Bahari International, the cruise company’s international representative in Indonesia, told TTGmice that his corporate incentive groups usually take the weekend sailings to allow delegates to return to Indonesia on Monday.
Robby Kartadinata, sales manager of Multi Alam Bahari International, added that clients like to conduct meetings onboard and combine that with games and tailor-made land programmes at ports of call.
Multi Alam Bahari International is keen to promote Royal Caribbean International’s Symphony of the Seas, particularly sailings in the Caribbean, to entice clients to venture beyond Asian cruise routes.
Robby expects the general Indonesian market to grow by 20 per cent this year, with the corporate segment maintaining a strong hold as major contributor.
Angie Stephen, managing director, Asia Pacific of Royal Caribbean Cruises, who was in Jakarta to promote Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager of the Seas‘ South-east Asia season starting next month, shared that while growth in Indonesia was strong, there is still much room for improvement.
She explained that CLIA’s data showed cruise passengers from Indonesia in 2017 rising by 40 per cent over 2016, a total of 46,500 passengers. In comparison, Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Indonesian passenger numbers have grown by 25 per cent.
“With only less than one per cent of Indonesia’s population has tried cruising, the growth of an affluent population, and the need for travellers to try new things, these factors have given the cruise industry a huge opportunity to grow the market,” Stephen said.
ICCA and TTGmice have come together to present ICCA-TTG Passionate Breakfast, a new event that seeks to spotlight business event professionals and issues that matter most to them, with the first edition on September 18 focusing on the progress women have made in the industry.
Bearing the theme Graceful Powers, the presentation will feature reputable female achievers in Asia’s business events industry, specifically Suprabha Moleratanond, ICCA Honorary Member; Panga Vathanakul, managing director of Royal Cliff Hotels Group; Jane Vong Holmes, senior manager-Asia of GainingEdge; and Mona Manap, founder/CEO of Place Borneo.
The quartet will each share their personal stories of how they have navigated their career in business events, and the collective story will be of perseverance, strength and why the industry needs to support gender diversity at the leadership level.
ICCA-TTG Passionate Breakfast will be held from 08.00 to 09.30 at World Ballroom C, Level 23 of Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld Bangkok. The first edition will be part of IT&CMA 2018.
Registration is free for all ICCA members as well as exhibitors and association buyers attending IT&CMA 2018, but seats are limited. To secure a seat, email margaret.l@iccaworld.org by September 7.
Singapore-based startup Travelstop has raised US$1.2 million from investors, led by SeedPlus, a venture capital firm in Singapore, along with a travel-focused venture capital firm based in the US.
A new AI-powered software-as-a-service platform for Asia’s business travellers
Other investors during this round include Dan Lynn and Vikram Malhi, founders of Zuzu Hospitality Solutions; David Ko, president and COO of Rally Health; and Jarrod Howe, regional operations director at Hyper Island Singapore.
Travelstop is an AI-powered software-as-a-service platform aimed at simplifying business travel for companies in Asia. It uses advanced machine learning and AI-powered personalisation to make flight and hotel recommendations, reducing the hours needed by business travellers to research and book their travel. Employees also have access to an intuitive expense reporting tool that simplifies the expense reimbursement process.
A press statement from Travelstop indicated recognition that the Asia-Pacific region is the largest business travel market in the world, comprising 40 per cent of global business travel.
As such, the funding will be used to drive product development, build a development team in Singapore, and ramp up growth through sales and marketing, the startup said. This year, it will be focusing on priority markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Prashant Kirtane, Travelstop’s CEO, said: “Young millennials and business travellers in Asia are technology savvy, socially driven and are smart travellers that actively participate in the sharing economy. These travellers aspire for more meaningful travel experiences, and we at Travelstop are building a modern business travel platform for the next-gen traveller. Our goal is to not only provide a delightful and flexible travel booking experience, but also make the post-trip expense management process more efficient.”
Qatar Airways will begin operating the A350-1000, equipped with its luxurious Qsuite, on flights to and from Singapore’s Changi Airport from November 1, 2018. The aircraft will also be introduced daily to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from January 1, 2019.
QSuite, the airline’s newest Business Class experience
The two cities will be the first destinations on Qatar Airways’ Far East network to receive the A350-1000.
On November 1, 2018, QR944 will depart Doha at 08.15 and arrive in Singapore at 21.15, with the return leg QR945 taking off from Singapore at 02.00 and arriving in Doha at 05.35 the following day.
From December 1, 2018, QR946 will take off from Doha at 01.55 and land in Singapore at 14.55, while the return flight QR947 will depart Singapore at 20.45 and arrive in Doha at 00.2. the following day.
Two of Singapore’s triple-daily A350-900 services will gradually transition to the A350-1000 from November 1, 2018, with the route expected to be served entirely with the A350-1000 by April 2019.
Beginning January 1, 2019 for the Tokyo route, QR812 will depart Doha at 07.05 to arrive in Haneda at 22.30. The Haneda-Doha route, QR813, will take off at 23.50 and land at 06.30 (+1).
The A350-1000 is the latest addition to the Airbus family of twin-aisle, widebody jetliners. It will have 327 seats across two cabins – 46 Qsuite Business Class seats and 281 extra-wide 18-inch seats in Economy Class.
Sporting a fully renovated meeting and event space, Hilton Singapore is incentivising meeting planners to hold their events at the hotel.
Hilton Singapore’s Philippines Room
Every new booking made between now and December 31, 2018, with event materialisation by March 31, 2019, entitles meeting planners to at least two perks.
The list includes welcome breakfast on arrival; complimentary free flow of soft drinks for all delegates; complimentary whole fruits in a bowl throughout the meeting; or 15 per cent off audiovisual equipment.
The bonus perks are applicable for full-day meeting packages, inclusive of two coffee breaks and one lunch at a discounted price of S$85 (US$62; usual price at $95) per delegate. Price per guestroom starts from S$260.
For residential meetings, meeting planners can enjoy even more benefits such as one complimentary room night for every 25 paid room nights (maximum of five complimentary nights); two complimentary upgrades to Executive room with lounge benefits for up to two guestrooms; and 20 per cent discount off total bill at all F&B outlets operated by Hilton Singapore, excluding Room Service.
In addition, new meeting or group bookings can enjoy double Event Planner Points, where they can get benefits faster through the Hilton Honors loyalty programme.
Mandarin Oriental makes Caribbean debut
Located in St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Mandarin Oriental, Canouan, is Mandarin Oriental’s first resort in the region. Rebranded from the Pink Sands Club, Canouan, the property sits on a stretch of Godahl Beach, and offers 26 colonial-style suites and six four-bedroom Lagoon Villas. F&B options include two fine-dining restaurants, a spa with nine treatment rooms, an infinity pool, fully-equipped fitness centre, tennis courts, and Kids’ Club. There is also a watersports centre for more adventurous pursuits.
GWCC begins its expansion
The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in Atlanta, Georgia, is undergoing its first major expansion since 2002, where construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. The US$55 million expansion project will feature a new 9,290m2 exhibit hall between the convention centre’s Buildings B and C that, once complete, will create over 92,900m2 of contiguous exhibition space.
Opened in 1976 as a single building, the GWCC has undergone four previous major expansion phases, with the last being in 2002 with the completion of Building C, which features four exhibit halls, 23 meeting rooms, two auditoriums, and the Georgia Ballroom and Galleria.
ICCA delegates to support Dubai eyesight charity
Delegates at the 57th ICCA Congress, taking place in Dubai later this year, will have the opportunity to support a local charity that prevents blindness and visual impairment globally, with organisers partnering with Noor Dubai Foundation on a number of initiatives.
Meetings industry professionals from around the world are set to descend on Dubai when the annual flagship event comes to the Middle East for the first time, from November 11-14.
On the morning of November 12, the ICCA Charity Run’N’Walk will take place along the Arabian Gulf coastline at La Mer. With the choice of a three kilometre run or a 1.5 km walk, participants will be encouraged to make a donation to Noor Dubai Foundation.
In addition, delegates will have the opportunity to donate old pairs of glasses, including prescription glasses and sunglasses to Noor Dubai Foundation who will re-lens and distribute these to those in need through its mobile eye clinic campaigns.
Concept
This is the fourth and currently largest outlet in Greenwood’s repertoire, and dining in this homely restaurant was akin to dining in a rich friend’s home. The blue-painted space is tastefully decorated with ocean-inspired memorabilia, accentuating the wooden furniture and furnishings.
The interior dining space welcomes 80 guests
The spacious and light-filled restaurant allows for 80 indoor dining, 52 lounge seating and 40 al fresco dining – that faced a wall of greenery, a rarity in the city state.
Aside from the dining space, there’s also a retail area for customers to stock up their basket with wholesale seafood and meats, wines, and various imported ingredients.
Food
As Alan Lee, the proprietor and chef, wanted me to taste as many dishes as possible, he decided to create a seven-course lunch off the bat.
My palate was treated to a veritable meal, where the stars of the dishes were of course, the seafood. Overall, I was impressed with the elegantly-plated dishes, as well as how fresh the seafood was. Never once did I think anything tasted “fishy”.
Diners can expect the freshest catch from the sea
Years of honing his knife skills showed in the thick sashimi cuts of chutoro and otoro, while his impressive culinary skills came in the form of a salty and tangy shio foam. When I mentioned I didn’t eat raw oysters, chef Lee cooked a freshly-shucked oyster and placed it on a bed of mushroom risotto instead. The result was an umami explosion in my mouth that left me wanting another.
Another favourite dish of mine was the two pan-fried scallops and shiitake mushroom placed on top of thin strands of soba. The scallops, sourced from Japan, were delightfully juicy and sweet.
Chef Lee also treated us to an Applewood-smoked mackerel, where the fatty fish absorbed the smoky flavours well. All this was done in the restaurant’s homemade brick oven that utilised applewood and charcoal. There was also a portion of XO snapper, one of chef Lee’s specialities. The snapper was expertly-deboned, topped with garnish, and served swimming in the XO sauce.
This particular outlet is also the brand’s first multi-concept restaurant featuring Western, Japanese and Chinese selections, and I was surprised with a stick of pork belly yakitori. The grilled meat was melt-in-the-mouth tender.
The delicious meal ended off with a Pandan-kaya cake, which was done in-house by Greenwood’s talented pastry chef. The bread rolls served at the start were also baked freshly before each service.
MICE application
I feel that the possibilities are endless for this 790m2 flexible space, from a cocktail party to a barbecue cookout after a teambuilding session.
When asked if there was a minimum spend, Greenwood was unable to give any answer as the team is currently open to host any type of event or function. Menus are also customisable.
Part of the retail space is taken up by Fleurs & Buds, the in-house florist. The Greenwood team is looking at organising flower arrangement or cooking classes in the future, which can form part of teambuilding events.
Aside from the Dempsey outpost, Greenwood Fish Market has another restaurant in Quayside Isle Sentosa Cove that is suitable for events. The 380m2 space has a seating capacity of 150.
Service
Service was welcoming, friendly, and efficient – evident from my water glass which was never once left empty.
What new initiatives are in place to move SITE forward?
There are two this year. The first is CITP (Certified Incentive Travel Professional), a new certification programme that was launched in March, and officially introduced at IMEX Frankfurt where 11 people went through the programme.
CITP is aimed at middle management, from project mangers to directors, and is part of a suite of certifications (that SITE offers). The entry-level certification, CIS (Certified Incentive Specialist), is for people with five years of experience in the industry, while CITE (Certified Incentive Travel Executive) is the third-tier master level, for vice presidents and above. CITE will be redeveloped and relaunched (in due time) as well.
Didier Scaillet
The second initiative is the Index. As you know, SITE conducts a regular SITE Index survey. This year we received 600 responses.
The IRF (Incentive research foundation) has its own survey. At one point, FICP (Financial and Insurance Conference Professionals) also conducted a poll, pinging its community to see how and where business is going.
I realised (the surveys) had very similar questions. That is why we – Melissa Van Dyke (IRF), Steve Bova (FICP) and myself – decided to work together and consolidate all three questionnaires. The resulting questionnaire was launched at IMEX Frankfurt and closed at the end of June with the results expected in mid-July. A full launch will be conducted in September.
This launch date is also a change. We used to publish the SITE Index in October, but this was way too late as marketing plans and budgets were out by then. With the earlier publication, organisations, third parties and corporate end users can look at the study and plan around it.
What are your plans for membership growth?
I am planning to grow the society, but I don’t necessarily look at the metric numbers of membership as being the most relevant.
That was how SITE used to measure success because for many years, the association was the place where professionals would go to find knowledge and information, networking and job opportunities, and potential employees. Nowadays, LinkedIn is doing 50 per cent of that, while Facebook is doing the other 50 per cent.
The role of the association has changed fundamentally. However, the membership value proposition is always going to be there for people who want to belong to a society. For them, belonging is important.
But next to that, there is an entire industry that is very willing to engage with SITE and our products and services without necessarily becoming a member.
CIS is a prime example. There are over 1,400 CIS-certified professionals now around the world, but only 10 to 15 per cent are SITE members. And that’s okay! There are people who just want the certification and we’ll see more of them. They might also want to attend our events or buy a piece of research. They want to engage with us without becoming a member.
My idea of growing the society is in terms of the impact it has on the incentive travel industry. (I would like to see greater) impact on professionals – their education, professionalism and recognition. That’s how I measure success.
Will SITE’s Asian chapters get more active?
We’ll be in Bangkok for a conference from January 11 to 14, 2019.
Asia-Pacific is our area of growth, where Thailand itself is a prime incentive destination.
This will be the first step in revitalising the SITE Thailand Chapter. We had a chapter up until a few years ago, but because we didn’t have any activity in the region, the chapter lapsed. We still have 15 members there, but the threshold is 20. We are looking at the conference as a means to re-energise the chapter.
What would be the single biggest change to SITE you seek to implement during your leadership?
Digital transformation is high on my agenda. We are fairly traditional in delivering our products and services. It’s mainly through events, but there’s a world out there that would be happy to engage with us digitally.
We will be revamping our digital strategy as well as our website. We’ve created a website called Motivate (motivate.siteglobal.com) which looks outwards. Our current website siteglobal.com focuses inwards, towards our community. Motivate is where we’ll put case studies on the power of incentive travel as well as incentive travel research produced by SITE and others. This will help transform SITE into a digital organisation that can reach and be reached 24/7, 365 days a year.
We are also looking at online videos. People now consume online content with the help of videos, so we’re looking into how we can build a SITE TV for example, and add more videos to our Youtube channel.
Just 10 minutes from Phuket International Airport on the serene northern coast, this 178-key, Bill Bensley-designed resort offers delegates a quiet, tropical paradise steeped in Phuket’s tin-mining heritage
The newly-opened Ritz-Carlton, Bangkok anchors the One Bangkok development with cosmopolitan elegance. Featuring the city's largest ballroom and a spectacular new penthouse suite, it delivers exceptional hardware and deeply authentic, soulful service for business and leisure travellers alike
Behind the imposing, Brutalist concrete that defines Zurich’s Oerlikon district lies a surprising secret. While its exterior honours the neighbourhood’s industrial roots, stepping inside Mama Shelter reveals a vibrant, neon-soaked world that is a far cry from its rigid shell
