Companies that are members of Singapore Airlines (SIA) HighFlyer programme in Singapore and Australia can now earn HighFlyer points when flying on Lufthansa- and SWISS-operated flights ticketed by Singapore Airlines on eligible sectors.
Points will be awarded for tickets issued by SIA or Silkair, for travel between Singapore, Australia, Germany, and Switzerland.
This partnership is part of the joint venture agreement signed by the two airline groups in November 2015, which aims to deepen cooperation in key markets in Europe, South-east Asia and Australia.
The HighFlyer programme was launched on June 2, 2017
Both Lufthansa and SWISS are the first partner airlines to participate in the programme.
“We are constantly looking to reward our corporates when they fly with us, and we will continue to expand our choice of airline rewards for our HighFlyer members,” said Singapore Airlines’ senior vice president sales and marketing, Campbell Wilson, in a statement.
The HighFlyer Programme, designed primarily for small- and medium-sized enterprises, allows companies to earn five HighFlyer points for every S$1 (US$0.76) spent on tickets booked through Singapore Airlines’ corporate booking platform or an appointed travel agent. These points can be used as full payment, or part payment with a cash top-up, for tickets, upgrades and selected ancillaries used by employees of HighFlyer Programme participants.
A Marriott stay fit for a king
Marriott Hotels has made its debut steps from the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, as the company has taken over the management and rebranded Mena House, a historic 130-year-old palace.
Marriott Mena House, Cairo, is set amid 16 hectares of gardens, and offers 331 rooms and suites with views of the Giza Pyramids and its surrounds.
Restaurants on-site include all-day dining venue 139 Pavilion, and Italian restaurant Alfredo, while recreational facilities include an outdoor heated pool, health club, and spa. For events, the hotel also offers 1,400m2 of indoor meeting venues and 8,700m2 of outdoor spaces.
UNICEO to debut congress for event heads
The United Networks of International Corporate Events Organizers (UNICEO) will launch the UNICEO Congress this June in Budapest, Hungary.
The event from June 28-29 will gather 250 UNICEO members and peers handling corporate and association events, and have them discuss and debate four key topics relating to events of the future. The four key topics are Innovation/Technology, Leadership, Engagement, and Measurement/ROI, and each will feature conference sessions and activities.
Prominent keynote speakers include Microsoft’s general manager for global
communications strategy, Bob Bejan; Cisco’s CMO/head of events, Gerd De Bruycker; and Schneider Electric’s vice president experience marketing, Bjorn Wigforss.
Oman visas on arrival go electronic
Effective March 21, 2018, visas on arrival to Oman will only be granted electronically via https://evisa.rop.gov.om, and there will be no more hand-processed visas at the airport.
Last year, Oman relaxed its visa rules to attract more tourists by granting visas on arrival for the citizens of India, China and Russia who reside in or who hold an entry visa to one of these countries – the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Schengen States.
Lokananta is one of Indonesia’s oldest record labels and the only state-owned record label company in the country. Established in 1956, its primary function initially was to transcript the broadcast material for the National Radio Station (RRI) headquarters, and reproduce them into vinyl records that were distributed to RRI stations around the country.
Later on, the company produced record labels for Indonesian artists and traditional folk songs in vinyl, before moving on to cassettes.
The record company experienced its heyday between the 1970s and 1980s, before it took a turn for the worse due to piracy, and followed by the the government regime change in late 1990s.
An activity in session at Lokananta
Concept
The record company has a collection of 5,200 master tapes and 30,000 pieces of LPs, many with historic value, such as the sub-master master tape of the Independence Day Proclamation, the first official recording of the National Anthem, and folk songs.
Visitors to Lokananta will be escorted by a guide who will take them to different rooms in the old colonial house.
The tour starts from where the old machines and equipment are stored, before moving on to the collection room. Next up is the production room where digitalisation of the collection is currently taking place, and where cassette labels – mostly belonging to current indie musicians – are stored. Lastly, the tour moves to the recording and mixing studios.
The mixing studio is home to the Trident 80B analogue mixer, which currently only exists in Lokananta and BBC London. Supported by the quality acoustic in the recording studio, recordings at Lokananta are said to be on par with that of London’s Abbey Road Studio.
MICE application
Groups that visit Lokananta and take the two-hour tour will also get a chance to listen to a couple of songs from the studio’s collection. They can also record their own voices with a minus-one in the recording studio, and receive a master CD as souvenir.
Another programme can include learning the whole recording process, and a lunch or dinner at the semi-open function hall which can seat up to 200 guests or an open-air patio for a smaller group.
The studio is also available for booking during weekends, when it is closed to the public.
Service
Lokananta’s staff are passionate, and it can be seen through how they guide groups. If you’re lucky, you might be brought around by Miftah Zubir, the head of Lokananta, if his schedule permits. The young and enthusiastic chap explains in detail the studio’s storied history, and knows the studio like the back of his hand.
This year, Taiwan is selling its offshore islands as the next big draw for business event planners looking to the peninsula.
Nina Lin, deputy executive director of Meet Taiwan, said: “We are seeing a lot of corporate incentives from China and around the world looking for something special and surprising in their itineraries.”
Industry players in smaller cities motivated to promote themselves; train approaching Taitung’s Duoliang Station (pictured)
This was the impetus for promoting Taiwan’s offshore islands, such as Ludao and Penghu, as well as the coastal highlights of Taitung, said Lin.
In these areas, activities such as cycling, roadtrips and CSR efforts are popular for corporate programmes.
“(Delegates) want to be delighted by the local culture and sights,” commented Lin.
She shared that after Kaohsiung’s “fervent promotions” secured its bid for the 2020 ICCA Congress, other cities in Taiwan – such as Taichung and Taoyuan – have been motivated to rally industry players and will soon launch their own business events campaigns.
Taiwan-based Asia Concentrate Corporation (ACC) and MindMeeting in the Netherlands have formed a 50-50 joint venture to birth Orange Gibbon, a company specialising in meeting design services.
Explaining the motivation behind Orange Gibbon, ACC’s co-founder and owner Pairry Chiang said she hoped to create a more productive output for meetings delivered by ACC.
A session conducted by MindMeeting
She remarked that “most meetings now are conducted only to utilise budgets”, and hopes to change that.
She believes that MindMeeting’s Meeting Design solution will help ACC to “go one step further” in achieving better meetings for clients.
Founded in 2003, MindMeeting specialises in designing international meetings, and has a presence in Spain and India, with plans to expand to Ecuador.
MindMeeting’s co-founder, owner and managing partner, Mike van der Vijver, told TTGmice that he has been to Taiwan several times in recent years to raise awareness about the importance of well-designed meetings and conference programmes through workshops and trainings.
Chiang observed that industry players are sitting up and taking notice.
“IAPCO discussed this in its course last year in Taiwan. ICCA values it too, and has MindMeeting involved in its programme design for the past few years. And in Taiwan we have seen many meetings now changing their format.”
She believes that Taiwan can leverage on the meeting design specialisation to win over more meetings.
“We may not compete with other destinations on (events) hardware, like new buildings and equipment, but we can bring more value to meetings (through) software,” she added.
Orange Gibbon will stage the inaugural Meeting Design Week. The event will feature programmes including meeting design training, conducted in cooperation with universities.
South-east Asian arrivals into Paris have risen from 2016 to 2017, prompting France Tourism Development Agency, Atout France, to develop more lures to spread the demand around the country.
Citing official figures, Atout France regional director – ASEAN, Morad Tayebi, said arrivals from major markets Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have grown significantly in 2017 over 2016.
Morad: Paris would make a good destination for corporate groups from South-east Asia
Indonesia topped the list in 2017 with 180,000 arrivals for leisure and business events, from 160,000 in 2016. This is followed by Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore at around 150,000 tourists each. In 2016, France received 140,000 visitors from Thailand and around 120,000 visitors from Singapore and Malaysia each.
Morad said business events arrivals from South-east Asia made up around 20 per cent of total footfalls.
This month Panorama JTB Tours Indonesia will set a new record for Indonesia as a source market with a 1,800-pax incentive group from the insurance sector, bound for Paris and spending four days in the French capital. It will be Indonesia’s single biggest incentive group to France.
Morad opined that Paris makes a hot destination for South-east Asian event groups because of its good air connections, wide range of restaurants catering to all kinds of dietary requirements and good shopping opportunities.
There is also a wide range of accommodation facilities, as Greater Paris has around 110,000 rooms, with 7,000 more coming online by 2020.
Going forward, Atout France will promote new destinations such as the Loire Valley region, Provence and Normandy to the South-east Asian markets, revealed Morad.
In 2019, the Loire Valley region in France will celebrate 500 years of Renaissance. A year-long celebration programme is currently being put together, and it will feature many events in castles and gardens in the Val-de-Loire region.
Francois Bonneau, Centre Val-de-Loire region’s president, said: “The programme will cover the major themes of Renaissance including heritage, arts and literature, music, architecture, gastronomy and craftsmanship.”
Being only 45 minutes to an hour’s drive from Paris, it makes sense for event planners to combine Paris with an outing to the Loire Valley region.
Marseille, a city of Provence, will also gain greater exposure to international markets next year when it hosts Rendez-vous En France 2019 travel market.
In a move that see Hertz Asia expanding its offerings with chauffeur services, the car rental company has launched the Hertz Chauffeur website to enable customers and travel agents to book chauffeur services for full or half days, airport and city transfers.
Eoin MacNeill, vice president, Hertz Asia Pacific, said: “The launch of the Hertz Chauffeur website for travellers visiting Asia strengthens Hertz’s comprehensive range of transport solutions, to suit the evolving needs of all our customers.
Hertz expands into the chauffeuring segment
“We see Hertz Chauffeur benefitting corporate and leisure travellers seeking the comfort and ease of a personal chauffeur. The service will especially appeal to customers who, due to local legislation, are not permitted to drive in China, and those who simply want to enjoy extra peace of mind when traveling to any of the countries where the service is available,” he added.
The new website allows customers to book a vehicle with a driver in four simple steps, receive email confirmation with booking details, and easily create, manage and edit their own itineraries. In addition, it applies discount codes instantly, including corporate discounts where there’s a Hertz Chauffeur Drive agreement in place.
Further benefits of Hertz Chauffeur include a broad range of latest model vehicles from full-size sedans, spacious people movers to luxury limousines; professional English-speaking drivers; meet-and-greet feature for customers to be welcomed by a driver upon arrival at the designated airport or pick-up point; and driver’s details, including phone number and emergency hotline, sent to the customer via email prior to the flight arrival.
Hertz Chauffeur is now available for bookings in Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Customers booking online between now and June 30, 2018 can enjoy discounted rates when they quote PC# 204306 under “PC Code”.
According to the latest Egencia 2018 Bleisure Trends study, one in five global business travellers skip leisure additions to business trips due to employer perception.
Twenty per cent of business travellers have foregone adding leisure portions to their trips because of how it may look to their employer. Business travellers in Asia are the most conscious of this at 32 per cent, with North America and Europe following at 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
Would you extend your business trip?
Proximity to the weekend may minimise that perception, with nearly one-quarter of respondents saying this impacts their decision. Of those who take the bleisure dive, less than two per cent globally have billed back bleisure expenses to their companies.
Additional findings include a majority (55 per cent) of Egencia global business travellers take less than six business trips per year on average, and 68 per cent take at least one bleisure trip per year.
When it comes to activities, the destination and sightseeing are top of mind.
Destination location is by far the biggest factor in determining whether or not to take a bleisure trip, with 30 per cent of North America business travellers prioritising location, compared to 25 per cent in Europe and Asia.
Proximity to the weekend and proximity to friends and family came in a close second and third for global respondents, at 23 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
Sightseeing is the most popular bleisure activity for business travellers across all regions.
In addition, 74 per cent of North American business travellers are either planning or considering a bleisure trip in the next six months, compared to 87 per cent in Asia and 68 per cent in Europe.
Half of Asia’s business travellers are planning a bleisure trip this year, compared to 41 per cent of North Americans and 32 per cent or Europeans.
Bleisure trips are also a big 2018 resolution: 37 per cent of Asians, 25 per cent of Europeans and 20 per cent of North Americans made it one of theirs.
The study polled 9,000 Egencia users across North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. Although bleisure travel is on the rise, employer perception, destination and proximity to the weekend all have a part to play in the bleisure decision-making process.
Ovation Global DMC has entered into a new strategic partnership in the US with 360 Destination Group, allowing the destination specialist to offer even more destinations to its clients.
The partnership is a result of the Ovation Strategic Partner Program, launched in July 2009, to provide DMC services to companies, associations and agencies at locations where Ovation lacks a wholly owned office.
Setup of an event in Florida. Photo credit: http://ovationdmc.com/
Commenting on the development, Hugo Slimbrouck, director of strategic partnerships with Ovation, said: “Working with strategic partners in more than 50 countries around the globe brings great value to our corporate and third-party clients. What is particularly pleasing is that we have expanded our US partnerships with a company that we share similar DNA with. 360 Destination Group offices are all ADMEI (Association of Destination Management Executives International) certified and play a proactive role within SITE and FICP (Financial Incentive & Insurance Conference Planners association).”
Trevor Hanks, managing partner of 360 Destination Group, said: “Ovation Global DMC has long been considered a leader in the hospitality industry. 360 Destination Group recognises that this collaboration between our two companies will elevate our presence and essence as pioneers in the DMC and events industry.”
Perfect China Group incentive programme group photo
Event brief
Perfect China, a global leader in direct selling with 33 branches and more than 7,000 outlets in China, wanted to reward its top performers with a customised programme.
Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) won the bid for Melbourne due to the state’s ability to host the 3,200-strong incentive group in both the city and regional areas. This bid was also supported by the state and local government.
Perfect China Group incentive programme group photo
The collaborative approach of the industry and the strength of the bureau’s relationship with key partners were required to deliver a programme that met the cultural needs of the Chinese delegation.
Challenges
A spokesperson said MCB had to work closely with Perfect China to understand their requirements, and support the group with unique activity ideas.
Arrivals of the mega incentive group had to be staggered over three days with 90 flights in total from China. A five-day bespoke itinerary that allowed winners to immerse themselves in diverse and exceptional experiences around Melbourne and regional Victoria had to be delivered.
MCB also supported inbound tour operator PTC Express Travel in creating a programme which involved numerous suppliers, ranging from well-known restaurants to regional attractions. They included Sovereign Hill, Puffing Billy Steam Railway, Ballarat Wildlife Park, Cuckoo Restaurant, Cafe Notturno, Phillip Island Nature Park, Direct Factory Outlets, Chadstone Shopping Centre, and La Porchetta.
The first day of the programme gave the group the chance to walk through Melbourne CBD before heading to the Fitzroy gardens to enjoy some fresh air, before visiting Flinders Street Station, an iconic train station.
To take Perfect China’s delegates back in time, they had to be transported and travel for more than an hour to the Sovereign Hill museum (which depicts the first decade after gold was discovered in Ballarat in 1851). The group then ventured underground on a fully guided gold mine tour and shopping 1850s style.
The delegates were also transported to Phillip Island to come face-to-face with Australian Fairy Penguins. For those that wanted a faster-paced experience, they were given the option of taking part in a Go Kart race on Phillip Island with the ocean as the backdrop.
Tour options were also created to give participants the choice of their own adventure at Mornington Peninsula. Time to shop for gifts and souvenirs had to be incorporated into the programme as well, where participants were taken to Chadstone Shopping Centre, the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere.
Solution
Thanks to the collaborative approach that MCB applied, the implementation of Perfect China’s agenda was successful in every aspect and the programme ran smoothly.
“The Chinese group had memorable experiences thanks to the tailored programme (which ensured that) all requirements were met,” the spokesperson added.
Key takeaways
MCB needs to continue to work closely with the client to ensure their objectives were met. The bureau also had to be flexible and support suppliers and industry partners, to ensure that any adjustments to arrangements and activities on the ground could be made easily.
“Clients will have last-minute changes and having that close relationship with them and the handling agents will help us meet adhere to their requests and rectify situations to ensure delegates are satisfied,” the spokesperson noted.
Event: Perfect China’s incentive programme in Melbourne and regional Victoria Organiser: Melbourne Convention Bureau, Perfect China Venue: Melbourne and regional Victoria Date: June 19-24, 2017 Number of participants: 3,200
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
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
