Raffles Cambodia has appointed Oliver Dudler as cluster general manager of the Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh and Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, Siem Reap.
Prior to joining Raffles Cambodia, Dudler was with Raffles & Fairmont Makati Manila.
The Swiss national brings with him over 20 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry. Previous appointments include management roles with The Peninsula Chicago, The Peninsula New York, The Peninsula Beijing and The Peninsula Manila.
Novotel Samui Resort Chaweng Beach Kandaburi has announced the appointment of its new executive chef, Stefano Leone.
The Italian has over 25 years of experience, having sharpened his knives in four- to five-star hotels in Canada to a Relais & Châteaux property in Bermuda, and from city hotels in Egypt and Indonesia to several beach resorts in Africa and Asia.
He will be upgrading the hotel restaurants’ offer with more imported ingredients and dishes with a Mediterranean twist.
Xavi Gonzalez has been appointed as general manager at The St Regis Singapore.
The Spaniard has nearly 20 years of international experience in the hospitality industry, cutting his teeth in management roles within Marriott properties such as The Ritz-Carlton Penha Longa Golf & Spa Resort, Portugal; The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong as well as The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place.
He also played an instrumental role in several rebranding and launch projects including the opening of The New York EDITION, and most recently led the opening of The Sanya EDITION.
Oakwood Worldwide has appointed Yasuko Sugiyama as general manager of Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Shin-Osaka – scheduled to open in summer 2018.
Prior to joining Oakwood, Sugiyama was area manager for Booking.com, where she managed the offices in Sapporo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Okinawa.
The hospitality veteran has more than 25 years of experience across the serviced apartment and hotel sectors in Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Japan.
Penang’s business events brought about an estimated economy impact of one billion ringgit (US$256 million) in 2017, as revealed by Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau’s 2017 business events industry review.
The 2017 Review was launched by the chief minister of Penang Lim Guan Eng, who further shared that Penang hosted a total of 2,511 events, with 267,518 participants. This also translated to RM1.4 million for room costs, and an accumulated 457,806 room nights.
“We have seen an increase from the 1,251 events held in 2016 to 2,511 events in 2017. Besides that, PCEB supported 94 international and national events in 2017, an increase from 37 events supported in 2016,” shared PCEB CEO Ashwin Gunasekeran.
The 2017 Review is a result of the year-long data collection initiative by PCEB to document the success of Penang’s Business Events industry. The in-depth review provides statistics and comparisons of all the sectors and markets that contribute to the business events industry in Penang. The review also showcases PCEB’s initiatives and achievements throughout 2017.
It also contains a summary of PCEB’s activities and events organised during that year. The PCEB annual review gives the Business Events industry partners an insight into the segments and markets of Penang that were available, and which areas had potential for growth.
To download the 2017 Review, please visit https://www.pceb.my/corporate-overview.php.
Chinese technology solutions provider and RFP platform 1000meetings has pulled off a coup with international meetings and events industry company MCI China adopting its tailor-made software to meet the needs of the industry operating in the country.
Julien Delerue, 1000meetings general manager, who comes from an IT background and founded the company 10 years ago in Shanghai, said the software will help MCI China transition to a paperless operation, increase its visibility with a few clicks, and help it source for hotels and suppliers more efficiently.
Describing the solution as “wholistic” and likening it to “SAP enterprise software for agencies in the industry”, Delerue said MCI China test piloted the system for six months for its corporate meetings section.
Overseas expansion is on the cards and Delerue has earmarked Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as Singapore where there are plans to open an office.
He shared that 1000meetings is filling a gap for companies facing a challenge finding solutions not covered by technology solution providers operating in Asia.
Frankie Gao, managing director, MCI China, said its key strategy is to go digital and live for its major accounts.
“We are happy to partner 1000meetings. The team has engaged us to understand our core values and business model to tailor certain systems to speed up our strategy and ensure our business operations efficiency.”
Gao added the software is “bringing the world to us and escalating our business, projects and finance operations, and where all information is live and data well stored”.
On the biggest benefit of adopting the 1000meetings software, Gao commented: “It will not just be limited to operational efficiency. There will be a major boost to our business profitability where we can also control our operational costs to integrate with and enhance our strengths as the industry leader.”
Berjaya Hotels & Resorts announced at Singapore Airshow 2018 that it will begin running twice-daily flights between Kuala Lumpur’s Subang Airport and Redang Island in June, with the aim of filling its Redang Island resort rooms.
Operated by the group’s sister company Berjaya Air, the flights reduce travelling time between the two points from five hours to an hour, said Hanley Chew, CEO of Berjaya Hotels & Resorts.
The charters will be run on two pre-owned ATR 42-500 aircraft, refurbished with new interior and 36 passenger seats each. Guests can check into their rooms in the Subang lounge before boarding the plane.
Flight tickets will be sold with all-inclusive resort packages, which include a 3D/2N stay in a twin-sharing suite and will cost upwards of RM3,500 (US$896), confirmed Chew.
He added that this move aims to help Berjaya’s two Redang resorts – Taaras Beach & Spa and Redang Island Resort – attract smaller business events groups, such as board meetings or small team retreats. Meanwhile, Berjaya is also “pouring a lot of investment to refurbish” its hotels.
The company is currently working with agencies in Germany, Italy, the UK, Japan and Singapore, and is seeing a pick-up in demand from the latter two countries, Chew shared.
He also revealed that Berjaya is currently “in talks” to establish connections between Redang and Seletar Airport in Singapore. This route is expected to be introduced around end-2018 to early-2019 with a new aircraft.
Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), which oversees the development, management and promotion of the Sentosa island as a resort destination, has identified business events as a “new target market” from this year on.
Speaking to TTGmice in an interview, SDC’s CEO Quek Swee Kuan said the business events segment “becomes a very important source of business” for the island’s hotels during the weekdays when rooms are widely available.
“If you look at Sentosa’s arrival patterns, weekends are packed, while weekdays see many (available rooms),” he said.
To keep Sentosa busy on the weekdays, SDC is hoping to pull in meetings, corporate incentives and “smaller-scale conferences which our hotels with ballrooms are ready to handle”.
With this new objective in mind, SDC has started “leveraging Singapore Tourism Board’s incentives for (business events)”, and is working with the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers and its island partners that are also hungry for business events. SDC plans to attend relevant trade events and to bid for business events together with like-minded island partners.
Association meetings are also on SDC’s radar, and Quek’s team was at the PCMA Convening Leaders conference in Nashville, US, last month to meet with global association chiefs.
In terms of geographical targets, Quek pointed to the western side of the globe. Destination marketing work in the longhaul market has kicked off with SDC’s participation in IBTM last November, and it will again promote its business events capability at ITB Berlin next month.
“We have so many attractive points for the MICE market, such as open spaces that can work as unique venues – something European groups will like, but not enough about them are being shouted in the marketplace,” he remarked.
Come this summer, Oakwood Worldwide will open its first property in Japan outside of Tokyo, the Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Shin-Osaka.
Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Shin-Osaka offers 185 rooms and serviced apartments comprising 59 hotel rooms and 126 serviced apartments. The hotel rooms are furnished with a bed and a desk while the apartments come fully furnished with a kitchen.
The property also offers a guest concierge and front desk services, regular housekeeping, as well as high-speed Internet and a gym.
It is within walking distance to Shin-Osaka Station.
Oakwood currently operates eleven properties in Japan, with two other properties aside from Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Shin-Osaka opening this summer – the Oakwood Residence Shinagawa, Tokyo and Oakwood Apartments Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Hilton opens outpost in Cabo Verde
Hilton has opened a new resort on the island of Sal in Cabo Verde, a nation on a volcanic archipelago off the north-west coast of Africa.
Each of Hilton Cabo Verde Sal Resort’s 241 spacious guestrooms features a 50-inch LED television, Wi-Fi and a balcony or terrace. All rooms span at least 39m2, while suites offer at least 75m2 of space.
Amenities include four dining options, a 24-hour fitness centre, spa with eight treatment rooms, and a nautical centre for diving and sailing enthusiasts. For event planners, the resort offers 1,000m2 of flexible meeting and events space, including a 300m2 ballroom.
Hard Rock goes to Switzerland
Hard Rock Hotels has opened its first hotel in Continental Europe, the Hard Rock Hotel Davos in the Swiss Alps.
Located in the circa 1882 Alexander House, the hotel features 110 rooms, including 31 serviced one- to three-bedroom apartments, all of which feature Sleep Like a Rock bed linen.
Facilities onsite include two bars, the brand’s signature restaurant Sessions, spa with five treatment rooms, workout facility, and a yoga studio (opens August 2018). For meeting planners, there are three conference rooms.
World Congress for Psychotherapy returns to Vienna
The World Congress for Psychotherapy will be returning to Vienna – its inaugural host – for its 10th instalment. It will be held at the Sigmund Freud Private University from July 25-29, 2023.
About 4,000 scientists and researchers are expected to attend the event which will focus on the latest trends in psychotherapy at a series of 500 lectures, seminars and workshops. For the first time, the event will feature “Freudian walks”, during which participants will discuss the latest scientific breakthroughs.
