End-to-end hotel solutions provider HRS has opened a new office in Bengaluru.
The new Bengaluru office and the growing team are part of HRS’ strategy for business expansion in India, recognised as the fastest growing economy of the world and among the world’s top 10 business travel markets.
India is one of the top 10 business travel markets in the world
“HRS’ business in India has significantly grown since its market entry two years ago. HRS is the exclusive hotel service provider to several large local and multinational companies offering them services including intelligent sourcing, online booking portal and mobile App technology,” said Santosh Kumar, HRS India’s managing director.
HRS is also focused on the supply side of significantly increasing the overall hotel coverage across all categories in Tier 1 to Tier 3 cities.
The Bangalore office is the third office HRS has launched in India after another two in Mumbai and New Delhi respectively.
To court more business events and meetings, Shangri-La Hotel Chiang Mai is getting creative with themed events for its corporate clients, which currently forms 20 per cent of its business.
“The plan is to leverage on our outdoor venues – we have beautiful gardens with different areas suitable for any type of events. We are looking at making them more conducive for themed events, cocktail events, outdoor meetings and teambuilding activities,” Gabriele Lombardo, general manager of Shangri-La Hotel Chiang Mai, told TTGmice.
Lombardo: a larger international airport will help influx of visitors
He added: “We’re introducing new themed coffee breaks that are more engaging, with live stations, cultural activities like umbrella painting and food with the name of the guest carved in.”
These developments come as the hotel reports greater volumes of business guests from Asian countries other than China – which recently made up some 40 per cent. Thanks to new flight routes, the property is now seeing more business events groups from Taiwan and South Korea as well as from Doha outside of Asia.
Singapore is another market with strong potential, said Lombardo, held back only by the lack of more direct flights.
He pointed out that Chiang Mai can also benefit from an expanded international airport to accommodate the droves of incoming visitors as the city grows in popularity.
Lombardo shared that the Chiang Mai chapter of the Thai Hotels Association has given feedback to the Chiang Mai International Airport, and TTGmice understands it may be given a new and bigger site in two years.
Room I stayed in a 34m2 premium deluxe executive room with an unobstructed view of Victoria Park – known as the green lung of Causeway Bay – and the harbour.
Executive room
On top of an ultra-chic contemporary redesign, rooms have also been given new designer furniture that make the rooms seem more spacious. Other enhancements include boosted Internet connectivity, supply of sockets, free mobile phone usage with 4G data and Wi-Fi hotspot sharing. There is even a yoga mat included for in-room use.
Meeting facilities A popular business events venue, the hotel provides 13 function rooms on floors 26-28. They can be partitioned into smaller units to suit different group sizes. The refurbished Park Lane Room on the 27th floor, for example, can be divided into five rooms, ranging from 52m2 to 90m2.
Meanwhile, the Harbour and Windsor rooms on the 28th floor offer a total of 213m2 and can hold 160 pax cocktail-style. I was particularly impressed by the access to an adjacent 350m2 rooftop garden from where guests can have dramatic city and harbour views. One downside is that the lift only reaches the 27th floor, which means guests must take the stairs to get to this beautiful venue.
Rooftop garden
Nevertheless, the al fresco roof garden has become a hotspot for cocktails, product launches, dinners and even weddings.
All 13 function rooms are equipped with high speed Internet access, built-in LCD projector and one-stop-shop events services.
Other facilities The hotel features three newly refurbished dining outlets – a café, lobby lounge and restaurant & bar, none of which can be booked for private functions. Other facilities include an executive lounge, a business centre and a gym.
Industry veteran and icon, Jacques Arnoux of Faces of Asia, was presented with the Richard Ross Past Presidents’ Award for Outstanding Service to the Incentive Travel Industry at the SITE Global Conference in Rome this month.
Arnoux, who has been involved in the industry in Asia for the past 30 years, was recognised for embodying the ideals and impact of this award’s namesake, and for demonstrating integrity, honesty, and faith in others, with notable contributions and long-term service to the incentive travel and motivational events industry.
From left: Kevin Hinton, Annamaria Ruffini, Jacques Arnoux, Rajeev Kohli
The award, created in memory of SITE’s past president and long-time member Richard Ross, who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, recognises an individual or organisation that has furthered the vision, ideals and ethics of SITE.
Minor Hotels to debut Oaks brand in Lebanon
Minor Hotels will debut its Oaks brand in Lebanon in mid-2018 with the opening of the 110-key Oaks Beirut.
The property will provide modern guestrooms and suites, with facilities including an all-day dining restaurant, a Lounge Bar & café, a rooftop pool and bar, plus dedicated conference facilities.
It will be located in Sodeco, a commercial area of Beirut, approximately five minutes’ drive from the central downtown area, and 15 minutes from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport.
UFI strengthens Latin American presence
UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has opened a regional office in Bogota, Colombia.
The new office is located at Corferias venue, and will serve the growing number of UFI members across Latin America. It will also be the base for collaborations with national and region industry associations. The position of the UFI Regional Manager for Latin America will be filled by Ana Maria Arango.
Since it was established in 2014 at the UFI Global Congress in Bogota under the leadership of then UFI President Andrés López Valderrama, UFI’s Latin America Chapter has grown from 17 to more than 40 members.
New hall for Eurexpo Lyon
Eurexpo Lyon, France, is building a new 9,400m2 exhibition hall to support the growth of its leading trade fairs and shows.
Designed by the AIA Architectes agency, the new Hall 7 will give Eurexpo Lyon a total exhibition area of 140,000m2. It is managed by GL events.
For a limited time only, earn triple points per US$1 spent for new meetings and events bookings made before March 31, 2018 and completed by December 31, 2018.
The offer is valid at participating properties within the Hilton portfolio of brands across South-east Asia for new event bookings.
Further details have emerged on the Philippines’ new MICE roadmap to reclaim the destination’s place as a business events powerhouse a decade from now, through measures such as reducing the cost of doing business events and addressing other issues that hamper the sector.
A review of the country’s tax regime is on the cards to reduce the cost of doing business, said tourism undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr., at the launch of the Philippines’ first MICE roadmap. He further noted that the common carriers tax and billings tax were removed in recent years.
Makati, the financial center of the Philippines
The focus is on attracting business events groups from Asia – comprising 70 per cent of foreign arrivals – and the Middle East, a new market which was chosen for its potential, ability to grow and competitiveness.
When asked why the target was not the longhaul markets, Bengzon pointed out that they could not be everywhere and had to choose a focus.
“We have to have a strategic approach towards all MICE activities. We try to maintain a certain discipline for plan formulation that’s not simply a calendar of events but issues that have to be addressed,” Bengzon emphasised.
Among other issues to be tackled by a technical working group from both the government and private sectors include what kind of policy intervention was needed; what infrastructure was required; whether the support infrastructure for business groups need to be upgraded; the kind of focused advertising and marketing needed; and the data required to make informed decisions.
PACEOS (Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers), which helped craft the MICE roadmap, said it will help organise the business events sector, and in turn, increase government awareness of how business events can contribute to the Philippines.
Monette Iturralde-Hamlin, who is part of PACEOS’ board of trustees, said the average spend of business events delegates was six times that of ordinary tourists, and has far-reaching effects as participants bring their families, friends and businesses into the country.
She added that the roadmap will be a big boost to Philippine business events which in the 1980s was the top conference destination in Asia and ranked eighth in the world.
Banikarim, appointed global CMO in 2015, will leave Hyatt after April
Hyatt Hotels Corporation will realign its corporate leadership team and operations to allow for faster execution of its growth strategy, announced president and CEO Mark Hoplamazian.
The key changes, expected to be completed in 2Q2018, include the formation of a new commercial services portfolio at the Executive Committee level to combine guest and customer engagement functions under a new chief commercial officer position.
Banikarim, appointed global CMO in 2015, will leave Hyatt after April
The company is also consolidating managed and franchised hotel operations and owner relations into one portfolio, reporting to Chuck Floyd, global president of operations. The legal and corporate services portfolio is also being realigned under new leadership.
“In order to achieve our growth potential and capitalise on opportunities that come from rapidly-emerging consumer, industry and competitive developments, we must be leaner and more agile,” said Hoplamazian. “This starts at the top with our leadership, and we are making changes to streamline the Executive Committee and to better enable us to maximise our core hotel business and continue our expansion into new lines of business.”
Reporting directly to Hoplamazian, the chief commercial officer will oversee a portfolio that includes global sales functions, global marketing functions, the global contact centers and information technology. The selection process for the chief commercial officer is expected to complete in the second quarter.
As a part of the organisational realignment, two executives have decided to transition out of Hyatt later this year. Global chief marketing officer Maryam Banikarim and global head of capital strategy, franchising and select service Steve Haggerty will leave Hyatt in the coming months. Their positions will be eliminated upon their departures.
Banikarim will continue to lead the marketing organisation through the end of April, and Haggerty will remain at Hyatt as a special advisor to the CEO through July focused on executing important transactions, among other things.
Margaret Egan, who has served as interim general counsel since last October, is promoted to general counsel, reporting to Hoplamazian.
The loyalty and new business platforms area led by Mark Vondrasek as well as the data, innovation and business transformation area led by Alex Zoghlin will remain in place, with both Vondrasek and Zoghlin continuing to report directly to Hoplamazian.
Venue booking software, Meetingselect, has become the seventh member of Event Tech Tribe, an event technology collaborative.
Established in 2007, Meetingselect is currently recognised as the world’s largest independent meetings distribution system and online venue booking tool. The Netherlands-based company will be integrating with all existing Tribe products as a part of the expanding suite of integrated solutions offered. It was recently named a one of the Top 10 Meetings Innovations of the Year.
“Our long history in the hospitality industry means we understand planner and marketer requirements innately, and love to help them solve what’s typically their first challenge, sourcing the best venue and giving them access to numerous datam duty of care solutions, meeting policies, reporting systems, loading preferred partners and many other options,” said Meetingselect’s co-founder, Judith Huisman.
Meanwhile, the Event Tech Tribe works with over 500 customers, and curate applications to join the Tribe ‘family’ to ensure the experience for planners is optimum.
“We’ve always felt that planners shouldn’t have to compromise on tech just to get systems that work well together – or navigate complex platforms to create integrations themselves. Having a world class venue booking tool like Meetingselect in our tech stack further rounds out the offer for planners wanting options outside of the old school all-in-one tools,” said founding Tribe leader, Leonora Valvo of Swoogo..
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.
