Sabah Convention Bureau is Malaysia’s newest state convention bureau, just set up earlier this month. It is headed by industry veteran Gordon Yapp.
Sabah is now the third Malaysian state to boast its own convention bureau, after Sarawak and Penang. Sabah Convention Bureau reports to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah.
Yapp: will focus on digital marketing to promote the destination as a place for business events
Yapp, who was previously the general manager of Sabah Tourism Board, spoke to TTGmice on the sidelines of the inaugural ASEAN MICE Conference in Chiang Mai on January 24.
He explained that the bureau was formed by the state government to drive business events into the destination, in anticipation of the Sabah International Convention Centre which is scheduled to open in early 2019.
The state’s first convention centre, being developed by Yayasan Sabah Group, covers some 6.1 hectares and spans five levels with a total built-up area of 92,000m2. It has the capacity to host up to 5,000 delegates.
Yapp said his to-do list includes building a strong team, gearing the bureau up for business lead acquisition, and developing marketing collaterals. He added that destination promotion efforts will first be focused on digital marketing.
“We want to attract regional and Asian corporate incentives and association meetings of up to 3,000 delegates. The key sectors we wish to attract for meetings here in Sabah are related to biodiversity, marine life, education, medical, science and the arts (areas the state is strong in),” he shared.
The Khonkaen International Convention & Exhibition Centre (KICE) opened last week, and riding on its coattails is the hope that more international business events will head to the north-eastern region of Thailand.
Channarong Buristrakul, co-founder of Khon Kaen Think Tank, said the 25,000m2 centre opens up new opportunities for Khon Kaen, as conferences and exhibition spaces were previously limited to hotels and universities.
Khon Kaen is one of the five MICE cities gazetted by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau
“The biggest (business) event in Khon Kaen to date is 5,000 pax, held about three years ago. But with the KICE, we can have a conference for 10,000,” he said.
He added that although Khon Kaen lacks a convention bureau, the private sector, along with the support of 80 businesses, has raised enough funds to set up Khon Kaen MICE Management – a private sector initiative formed last year – to play the role of a local convention bureau. It is now looking at attracting regional business events from Laos and Vietnam.
He acknowledged that the destination has to work on its branding, and create more awareness of its business event capabilities.
Channarong said: “We don’t have enough attractions (such as the) seaside, beaches and mountains. We also need to create more activities and attractions for pre- and post- tours. However, we are strong in agriculture, education and medical, and these are the sectors we want to attract.”
KICE, located 15 minutes from the local Khon Kaen airport, is the third largest convention and exhibition centre in Thailand. It is privately owned and managed by CP Land.
Global DMC and event management specialist Pacific World has identified a series of notable trends in business events, among them a greater importance placed on CSR activities, a stronger desire for emotional engagement with a destination, and more expansive usage of technology and social media during an event.
The findings will be published in a new study conducted by Pacific World, set to be launched in a month’s time.
Chavry: desire to engage with local communities still tops
Elaborating on these top findings in an interview with TTGmice this morning, Selina Chavry, global managing director, said the rise in CSR requests are “driven by the millennials who are now forming a larger part of event attendance”.
“They have different expectations of a meeting or incentive programme, and want to be engaged differently. They are socially aware, and not looking to only do the typical things in a destination. They want to give back to local communities,” she said.
When asked if lethargy could set in for the typical CSR activities such as building schools and cleaning beaches, Chavry said there was, and her team “is constantly challenged to come up with new CSR possibilities that also meet the client’s own CSR missions and bjectives”.
“We are seeing a stronger desire for emotional engagement – how event attendees connect with the local people and walk away with a memorable experience. Our product developers are watching this closely as they create products and activities,” she added.
“As well, we are taking a deeper look at how technology and social media are being integrated into corporate programmes. How will technology and social media be used to encourage interaction among attendees, for instance.”
While these are global trends, Chavry said the one biggest trend affecting Asia-Pacific destinations, particularly in how they are presented in event programmes, is the growing desire among event attendees to engage with the local communities.
She explained: “This is in part driven by a changing perception of what Asia is. I see that particularly for China. There is a perception, for example among US clients, of China being not as developed. They could not believe it when we showed them the technology every day people are using in China. Transactions are all on mobile devices and people no longer carry money. And when I showed them all the functions a single WeChat app could do, they were blown away and now think they’ve been left behind. In terms of infrastructure, even the secondary cities are advanced and modern.”
Chavry believes that Pacific World’s products and activities can “reposition Asia in clients’ mind”.
Preparations are well underway for Vietnam to host ATF 2019 in Halong Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh.
Vietnam’s minister of culture, sports and tourism, Nguyen Ngoc Thien, told TTGmice: “The people of Quang Ninh province are ready to welcome delegates and guests.”
ATF will be rotated to Vietnam next year; boats sailing in Halong Bay pictured
Planning for the event has been ongoing since 2009, with a swathe of new products created in the province to host delegates and guests.
This includes Quang Ninh Exhibition of Planning and Expo Centre, which will host the event and features 21,000m2 of floor space.
Nguyen added that the highway connecting the capital of Hanoi with the province, which is home to World Heritage Site Halong Bay, is slated to be finished ahead of ATF, cutting transport times from about four hours to 1.5.
And, as previously reported by TTG Asia, Van Don International Airport is slated to welcome its first flights ahead of ATF.
Hopes are also high that Vietnam will reap the rewards of hosting the event, with it showcasing to ASEAN that it is capable of putting on large-scale conferences in a destination he described as “very active”.
He said: “By organising ATF, we hope to increase connectivity and flights between Vietnam and the ASEAN member states, and aim to drive sustainable tourism.”
Nguyen also predicts a rise in domestic and intraregional tourism in the wake of the event.
“The tourism industry will be further and wider promoted, and (travellers from) ASEAN countries will visit Vietnam more and more,” he said. “It will also help to promote further the image of our country, the people and culture, and Vietnam will be known more to friends and tourists across the world.”
After Vietnam, Brunei will be the host of ATF 2020 as the annual tourism event rotates around the ASEAN 10 member countries according to alphabetical order.
The Ascott Riverside Garden Beijing; it started operations in October 2017
Serviced residence specialist, Ascott, is aiming for a portfolio of 160,000 units globally by 2023, twice its current inventory.
Ascott has clinched contracts to manage four properties with 1,200 units in new cities such as Malacca in Malaysia, and Davao in the Philippines, while deepening its presence in Guangzhou in China and Cebu in the Philippines.
The Ascott Riverside Garden Beijing; it started operations in October 2017
Its Somerset property in Malacca, Ascott’s largest property to date, will benefit from an upcoming free economic zone and sea port. Meanwhile, its foray into Davao will anchor Ascott in the Philippines’ third fastest-growing economy which also serves as the economic and tourism hub of Southern Philippines. As well, Ascott’s fifth property under its lyf brand will be in Cebu.
Kevin Goh, Ascott’s CEO, said in a statement: “With the global economic upswing and international travel arrivals hitting a new high, we are confident of exceeding 80,000 units this year.
“We will also grow our franchise business, particularly through our Citadines and Quest brands, and form strategic alliances with leading companies that have a pipeline of properties for us to manage. We will focus on key gateway cities in our two biggest markets, China and South-east Asia, as well as markets such as Australia, Europe, Japan, South Korea and the US,” he added.
With these new additions, Ascott currently has more than 160 properties with about 30,000 units under development worldwide. About 35 of these properties with more than 6,500 units are scheduled to open this year, half of which are in China, and a quarter in South-east Asia.
The new management contracts have increased Ascott’s portfolio in South-east Asia to about 23,000 units in 111 properties across 34 cities. Its newly secured properties in Guangzhou has also strengthened Ascott’s foothold in China with over 20,000 units in about 110 properties across 31 cities.
Conrad Centennial Singapore has appointed Timothy Tan as director of business development.
Reporting to Heinrich Grafe, the hotel’s general manager, Tan will lead efforts to increase revenue, individual and group reservations as well as event sales through new business and the expansion of existing partnerships.
Prior to joining Conrad, he was director of sales for Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, Cotai Central and The St. Regis Macao, Cotai Central.
Tan has garnered two decades of experience in the travel and tourism industry, having worked with major hotel companies and tour operators – such as Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific, and HPL Hotels & Resorts – in Singapore and Australia.
In 2012, he also served as a member of the regional council of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE).
With ASEAN Tourism Forum taking place on home ground this year, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has taken the opportunity to elevate its yearly effort to connect South-east Asia’s business events stakeholders by launching the ASEAN MICE Conference.
The one-day event took place yesterday at Shangri-La Hotel, Chiang Mai, and featured prominent speakers from across Thailand and beyond who shared intelligence, ideas, perspectives and projections of business events development across the South-east Asia region.
Moderator Surapit Promsit; Tourism Promotion Bureau, Pattaya’s Onvara Karapin; Chiang Mai University’s Pairach Piboonrungroj; and Khon Kaen Think Tank’s Channarong Buristrakul speaking at one of the panel sessions
Speakers included notable individuals such as Paul Vallee, managing director of BestCities Global Alliance; Pairach Piboonrungroj, director of MICE Excellence Centre, Faculty of Economics, Chiang Mai University; Amelia Roziman, chief operating officer of Sarawak Convention Bureau; and Yungho Park, executive director of Gyeongju Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Supawan Teerarat, senior vice president, strategic business development & innovation with TCEB, said the programme content was carefully curated to offer attendees “valuable learning opportunities and a global perspective” on how their country and the region in general can grow as a destination for business events.
Prior to the debut of ASEAN MICE Conference, TCEB organised an annual networking event in Thailand that brought together NTO officers and business events stakeholders from across the region.
Supawan speaking at the event
“We’ve been doing that since 2014, but it is a small gathering. When Thailand started planning for ATF 2018, TCEB approached the Ministry of Tourism and Sports though minister Kobkarn (Wattanavrangkul, the former minister) and asked if we could do more for the business events community. The conference was hence born,” explained Supawan.
She added that it was imperative to facilitate deeper conversations among ASEAN members on the development of the region’s business events capability because “there are countries that are not as active as others in attracting business events (and they can benefit from knowledge and best practices shared by) the forerunners, the strong and leading destinations”.
The programme also brought in CVB heads of successful second- and third-tier cities in Asia for this purpose of learning from the best.
“We want to convey the critical message that it is not only the capital cities that can welcome business events. Second- and third-tier cities can too, as long as the infrastructure and community are ready,” she said.
When asked by TTGmice if the conference would be hosted at future editions of ATF, Supawan said: “We have not started that discussion, and on whether TCEB would support (future editions). But we certainly hope something will happen and that the conference will be continued, at least in cities that are strong in business events.”
Tourists wearing hanbok and taking photos at Gyeongbokgung Palace
Two major companies from Malaysia and Indonesia will bring a total of 2,700 employees to the South Korean capital, the first two to do so in the new year.
Sahajida Hai-O, a marketing specialist in Malaysia, sent 1,200 employees in January, while Indonesia-based Tupperware will send 1,500 employees in March.
Tourists wearing hanbok and taking photos at Gyeongbokgung Palace
The Malaysian group arrived in eight groups from January 15-22, with delegates touring Gyeongbokgung Palace while dressed in Korean traditional clothes and visiting Seoul N Tower, Namdaemun Market, Myeongdong shopping district and other major tourist attractions.
The Indonesian group will visit Seoul in March and have signed up for a K-pop experience programme and a sight-seeing tour of Bukchon Hanok Village, Dongdaemun Market, Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Folk Museum.
Seoul Tourism Organization and the city of Seoul supports foreign groups that visit Seoul by providing between 20,000 won (US$18) and 30,000 won per foreign visitor, on the condition that they stay in the city for at least two consecutive nights and up to a 100 days.
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.
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