General manager of Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park, Tony Cousens, has been elected Skal Singapore president for the term ending 2019.
An industry veteran with a wealth of experience in Asia, Cousens has worked with hotel groups including The Jumeirah Group, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and the Wyndham Hotel Group.
A Skal member for more than 18 years, Cousens has taken on many vital roles within the association, including as executive committee member for four years and as vice president in 2017.
In his role, Cousens will be able to contribute to the organisation’s mission statement of maximising networking opportunities and support a responsible tourism industry.
Other members in the committee are vice president, Michelle Sandhu (a self-employed consultant); honorary secretary, Andrew Jeffrey from Insider TV; honorary treasurer, Andrew Chan from ACI HR Solutions; Benoit Badufle from Horus Development & Consulting; Angeline Tang from Avis Budget Group; Ronald Sathianathan from Singapore Polytechnic; Megan Harris from William Angliss Institute and Melvyn Yap from Silverseas Cruises.
Osaka is livelier at night compared to Kyoto, and is part of the reason
Japan’s business events segment is set to get a boost, thanks to a raft of new nightlife options in major cities across the country, with more planned in the lead up to the 2020 Olympics.
The move follows a 2017 survey in which international visitors to Japan complained that tourist spots closed too early and there was a dearth of activities in the evenings.
Local governments throughout Japan are looking into creating more night-time entertainment; Osaka at night pictured
In February, business leaders in Kansai met to discuss how to develop new forms of evening entertainment, following the release of 2017 data showing more than twice as many tourists stay in Osaka than Kyoto because of Kyoto’s lack of entertainment at night.
In March, they Kyoto Convention & Visitors Bureau (KCVB) teamed up with the Kyoto Hanatouro Promotion Council and local businesses to offer a series of evening events combining a five-kilometre-long stretch of illumination to the foothills of Higashiyama, with an ikebana illuminated flower promenade and geisha performance. The event grew in popularity, and will most likely be continued.
Matthew Stevens, KCVB’s conventions and conferences specialist, described the event as “a wonderful way to enjoy night-time in Kyoto in a way that is both compatible with our community and truly magical for all who participate.” He added that the offering was suitable for corporate groups “as it is free and easy to plan for groups of all sizes”.
Meanwhile, the Osaka prefectural government is providing subsidies to seven projects to enhance the area’s nightlife. One such recipient is Club Piccadilly, which offers Friday night shows featuring ninjas.
Over in Tokyo, a number of hotels have teamed up with production companies to host evening shows featuring traditional entertainment. One organiser is Japan’s largest travel agency, JTB, which says it plans to stage performances at a permanent venue in 2019.
The capital’s Toshima Ward also launched a committee last December to discuss how to boost its evening offerings, while Fukuoka DC, an association of industry, government and academia in Kyushu, is planning to boost the city’s night entertainment in fiscal 2018.
More details on the largest corporate incentive programme to wash up on the Gold Coast shores have been revealed. Chinese personal healthcare company Infinitus, due to fly its mid-tier winners into the destination next month, is working with Destination Gold Coast on turning the street mall at Surfers Paradise into a street party.
In an interview with Anna Case, director global business events, Destination Gold Coast, on the sidelines of a Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games-related MICE media fam trip last week, TTGmice learnt that there will be “markets, various activations and buskers”, as well as “a massive stage with continuous entertainment and fireworks, etc”.
Surfers Paradise will be turned into a street party area for the group
Some 20 restaurants have been selected to craft set meals that delegates can redeem with vouchers.
While it is the first time that Destination Gold Coast is presenting a Surfers Paradise street party for a corporate incentive group, Case believes that it will not be the last.
She described the event as a “good example” for other incentive programme planners.
Case said: “We came up with the concept and have been working through it together (with Infinitus). We will be running three street parties, each with 2,000 to 2,500 delegates.
“The one thing we cannot do is to block off the entire area because that is public domain. But Infinitus is really happy with the concept because it wanted its winners to relate to and meet with local people. And that was how we promoted the event – that Surfers Paradise is where our people go and hang out on weekends and after office hours.”
Case’s team is now preparing vouchers and details on what participating restaurants will be offering, and translating them into Mandarin.
Case: numerous efforts to ensure Chinese visitors feel welcome
“It is really important for us to make them feel welcome even though Mandarin is not our language. We also want to make it easy for them to get around the city,” she said, adding that Destination Gold Coast is running a special training programme for Gold Coast contractors about working and doing business with China and the Chinese.
She elaborated: “We are gathering a lot of suppliers (including restauranteurs and retailers) that will be involved with the (full) event, such as those working on the Surfers Paradise street party, and teaching them how to say welcome in Chinese, about the basics of the Chinese culture, etc.”
While final attendee numbers are yet to be confirmed, Case said there should be 6,000 to 7,000 participants, arriving in four waves. The highlight event will be the gala dinner – one on May 11 and the other on May 16, both set up exactly the same for two separate groups of attendees.
Some 14 four-star properties have been taken up for accommodation, many of which are two-bedroom apartments.
Infinitus is also planning different activity tracks for different demographics.
“One great thing about our city is that we’ve got such a great range of activities. I know that a certain group, probably about 800 pax, will learn to surf while they are here. For the others, those who don’t know how to swim or have a fear of water, they will have other things to do, like shopping,” said Case.
Ho Chi Minh City-based events and representation company JTR is tying up with ZhongWei Hotel Group to promote the latter’s three- to five-star hotels, many located in China’s burgeoning second- and third-tier cities.
Robert Tan, executive director of JTR, which was formed in 2011, said the company will represent the ZhongWei Hotel Group’s network of 37 hotels located in Anhui, Beijing, Chongqing, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Yunnan and Zhejiang.
(From left) Robert Tan and Angela Tang meeting at IT&CM China
The group’s brands are WeiEssence, ZhongWei, WeiSelect and WeiCasa and WeiElite Rewards Club. Its largest hotel, ZhongWei Huquan Resort and Spa, in Kunming, has 853 rooms, and 15 function rooms – the largest space measures 1,700m2.
Angela Tang, Yunnan ZhongWei Hotel Management’s director of brand marketing, spoke to TTGmice while exhibiting – their first – at IT&CM China, held in Shanghai last month.
She described WeiEssence – the group’s top brand – as classical luxury, ZhongWei as corporate, and WeiSelect as cultural and upscale. Headquartered in Kunming, the hotel management company was formed in 2012.
Tan, who is also executive director-business development of Vietnamese travel company Lac Hong Voyages, said JTR will provide marketing services to ZhongWei, send corporate travellers to, and organise events and seminars at, the group’s properties.
Tan commented: “There are many daily direct flights now – operated by China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Vietnam Airlines – from Ho Chi Minh City to Kunming.
“The increase in air capacity contributes to more traffic and business between Vietnam and China,” he continued, adding that ZhongWei’s hotels would be suitable for corporate groups from Vietnam.
ZhongWei has 13 hotels in Yunnan and Tan noted JTR is keen about many of them, adding that the events and representation company also wants to expand to Beijing, Guangdong and Shenzhen.
AccorHotels has acquired a 50 per cent stake in South Africa-based Mantis Group, a collection of privately owned, managed and branded five star properties and lodges located around the world.
The Mantis network features 28 managed properties, plus a global network of branded hotels and residences, including boutique villas and flagship properties such as Founders Lodge – a South African game reserve in the Eastern Cape, Mantis St Helena – a boutique hotel on the remote island in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Draycott Hotel in London.
Draycott Hotel
Sebastien Bazin, AccorHotels’ chairman and CEO, said: “Mantis is a pioneer in customised, one-of-a-kind travel services in some of the most imaginative hotels across the world. With this strategic partnership, we are reinforcing the group’s footprint in Africa.”
This strategic partnership is accompanied by the launch of Community Conservation Fund Africa (CCFA), a non-profit organisation which aims to amplify both groups’ commitment towards preventing the accelerating decline of Africa’s wildlife and bringing together three internationally renowned conservation organisations – Wilderness Foundation, Tusk Trust and African Parks.
The partnership agreement is subject to regulatory approvals.
Construction work is now underway on the Christchurch Centre and a live webcam is allowing everyone to watch the progress being made.
The NZ$475m convention and exhibition centre is scheduled to be completed in early 2020, with the first conferences held later that year.
According to Conventions and Incentives New Zealand (CINZ), business events are generating high value for New Zealand’s visitor industry, and it can only get better in the future.
The Convention Delegate Survey (CDS) – released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for the year to December 2017 – revealed the total spend by international convention delegates was up 17 per cent compared to 2016.
Construction work is well underway on the Christchurch Centre, scheduled to be completed in early 2020
CINZ chief executive Sue Sullivan said business events are a major growth sector for New Zealand with nightly spend for international convention delegates over 50 per cent higher than the average nightly spend of all international visitors.
“This can only grow as our value proposition strengthens, and we gear up for major new convention centre and hotel infrastructure which will give us the ability to cater for much larger multi-day conventions,” she said.
Multi-day convention delegates stayed an estimated 1.1 million visitor nights in New Zealand and spent an estimated NZ$506 million (US$371 million) in 2017. The average per-person per-night spend for all delegates who spent time away from home to attend conferences was NZ$385.
The total spend was down on last year’s NZ$588 million which was driven by high domestic growth in 2016, but still a step up from NZ$472 million in 2015.
Sullivan: business events a major growth sector for the country
The Convention Delegate Survey also shows strong growth in international convention delegate spend was driven by an increase in delegates (up nine per cent), and length of stay (up 20 per cent to 7.2 nights), but offset by a fall in nightly spend (down 10 per cent from 2016 to NZ$299).
“These figures do not reflect the economic impact these international delegates have after they leave the country. We do not account for the ongoing relationships, knowledge transfer or commercial transactions that happen. The numbers don’t include the spending by their partners or family either,” Sullivan stressed.
“The broader benefits of a growing business events economy are equally important. New Zealand’s business events sector provides key support for infrastructure development, business relationships, knowledge transfer and industry investment, with the benefits spreading across both city and regional economies.”
AVANI Hotels & Resorts has announced its second property in Australia, the 456-room AVANI Central Melbourne Residences, will open in August this year.
Recreational facilities on-site include an indoor swimming pool, gym, two outdoor spas, and three entertainment areas complete with BBQs and seating. Guests will also have access to two game rooms, two movie theatres, library, two communal dining rooms, a communal kitchen and lounge area.
A room in AVANI Central Melbourne Residences
The 55-storey building will be located in the northern part of Melbourne’s CBD, and close to the Melbourne Central Railway Station and Queen Victoria market.
Bookings are now open for stays from April onwards.
Seven InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) properties in Singapore and Batam are now offering the Meet For Free package.
The participating hotels are InterContinental Singapore, InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong, Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium, Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre, and Holiday Inn Resort Batam.
A function room in Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong
Altogether, the properties offer a total of 55 meeting rooms and over 2,400 guestrooms.
The Meet For Free package is inclusive of breakfast, lunch, Wi-Fi, a morning welcome reception, two meeting breaks with three snack items, and unlimited coffee and tea for event duration. Meeting spaces will provide all necessary items such as whiteboards, flipcharts, LCD projectors and audiovisual equipment. Three IHG Rewards Club points will also be earned for every USD$1 spent.
The package is valid with a minimum booking of 10 guestrooms per night for new bookings by June 30, 2018, and event materialisation by September 30, 2018.
It is subject to availability of rooms and meeting space, and not valid in conjunction with other negotiated rates, offers, discounts or promotions. Second occupancy rates with or without meeting package inclusions are available.
Dubai Business Events has identified Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia as new source markets and has intensified efforts to attract more business events from these countries. Dubai also intends to establish itself as a premier business events destination in the eyes of planners based there.
In mid-2017, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) opened new offices in the three markets in its bid to further grow the incentive segment.
These offices provide destination marketing support to the travel trade and media.
Atlantis The Palm, Dubai
Also for the first time, Dubai Business Events organised a Discover Dubai Study Mission for events specialists and the media from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The four-day/three-night event in November 2017 highlighted key attractions and accommodation suitable for business events, and provided opportunities for South-east Asian events specialists to network with local suppliers.
Explaining Dubai Business Events’ latest choice of target markets, director Steen Jakobsen, told TTGmice that “these markets have direct air access to Dubai as well as a growing middle-class segment”.
However, Jakobsen revealed that Dubai Business Events is also keeping a keen eye on Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
“We have not entered the market yet. We will do research to see the potential of the market and whether we should establish a presence with people on the ground,” he added.
Dubai and Phnom Penh has been connected with a direct service operated by Emirates airlines since July 2017.
Indonesia and Malaysia events specialists who attended November’s Discover Dubai Study Mission, observed that Dubai tended to draw the interest of well-travelled clients who have already toured Europe and were looking for new options.
Beny, operation manager at Panorama JTB in Jakarta, said Dubai’s high price point places the destination in second place, after Europe.
“Our biggest challenge (in selling Dubai) is the package price. It comes close to European destinations like Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam. If you add another US$300, you can get a European destination for five days/four nights, full board. Entrance fee to parks and attractions in Dubai is also expensive.”
Adam Kamal, manager at Aidil Travel & Tours in Kuala Lumpur, agrees, adding that “a lack of awareness about Dubai in the Malaysian market” raises the challenge.
Pascal Dupuis, general manager of the five-star Address Boulevard, echoed Kamal’s observation.
He, too, sees the lack of awareness about Dubai’s products and services as the destination’s biggest challenge, especially with new markets.
Dupuis said: “Dubai is a dynamic city which has seen a meteoric rise and has emerged as a huge commercial hub. There is something new opening almost every month, be it new attractions, shopping outlets, restaurants and golf courses.
“(Events specialists) need to be constantly updated about these products and to see it for themselves for a first-hand experience.”
Jakobsen acknowledged that Dubai was always seen as being second to Europe as a business events destination, and that changing the perception would take time.
He remarked: “We need to send the message out that Dubai is an affordable destination. Over the last few years we saw a stronger presence of three- and four-star hotels. The theme park entrance tickets are also at a reasonably-priced level.”
As of November 2017, Dubai’s room inventory consisted of 35,702 rooms in the five-star category, 25,119 rooms in the four-star category, and 21,501 rooms in the one- to three-star category. There are also 131 hotel apartments of standard category, providing a total of 14,927 keys, as well as 64 hotel apartments of deluxe/superior category, providing a total of 9,588 keys.
To make Dubai even more attractive and value for money, Dubai Business Events provides marketing funding to organisers when more than one country is bidding for a particular event.
Jakobsen said: ”The subvention programme will depend on the size of the group, number of room nights generated, time of the year and whether it is aligned with the key industry sectors that Dubai wants to attract.”
These key industry sectors include healthcare, education, energy, transport, technology, water, space, robotics and aviation. They have been identified as part of UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda which sets the key themes for the socio-economic development of the emirates.
This story was first published in TTGmice April 2018 issue, as part of a Dubai destination feature. Access TTGmice electronic magazines by clicking here.
Concept
The modern restaurant is dark and chic on the outside, and styled like the home of a moneyed celebrity who entertains often. There are large living rooms with cosy booth seats, nooks for friendly get-togethers, karaoke studios, and themed dining rooms – even one just for Korean barbecues.
As the restaurant is also a popular venue for SM Entertainment artistes, there is a private elevator from the basement carpark to allow VIP guests to escape inquisitive eyes. Planners with VIP corporate guests will appreciate this convenience.
The menu at SMT Seoul features Seoul-style cuisine with Western, Chinese and Japanese influences, and much attention is paid to plating, promising guests a feast for the eyes too.
MICE application
Playground on the lower level is suitable for larger luncheons and dinners, and seats 80 people.
Penthouse on the third and fourth levels feature multiple private dining rooms and semi-private spaces, and can accommodate 50 people seated.
On the fifth, topmost floor is the Rooftop Terrace, an open space that makes a perfect blank canvas for creative events. It takes 100 guests in a standing cocktail setup, including a private room that is good for 13 guests on its own.
For private events, menus can be tailored and a chef’s table can be arranged in one of the themed rooms.
Contact Address: 58, 97-gil, Apgujeong-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul Tel: (82-2) 6240-9300
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
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
