Following the attack of a lone gunman at the Resorts World Manila (RWM) casino on June 2, Marriott Grand Ballroom (MGB) and Marriott Hotel Manila – both located within the RWM complex – initially saw some booking cancellations.

Michelle Garcia, Marriott Hotel Manila’s director of marketing communications, said while no events took place at MGB on the day of the attack, there have been “rooms cancellations from last Friday until last week”.

Marriott Hotel Manila

Currently it’s back to business as usual for the hotels, and Garcia expects the situation to improve. She is confident that MGB and Marriott Hotel Manila will still be chosen for events due to the tight security, and since the incident did not take place on those properties.

Makati-based Travelexperts’ consultant Analiza Misa said some clients heading to MGB and Marriott Hotel Manila were considering cancelling their bookings.

As a show of confidence, Misa assured clients that they would be escorted by an agency representative in Manila to all destinations.

A DMC head, who requested anonymity, believes that the Marriott properties will recover quickly, given that MGB is the most advanced venue in the country while Marriott Hotel Manila has one of the highest occupancies in the metro.

As well, Garcia pointed out that they were on top of the situation and offered regular social media updates to the public, as well as their clients, since the unfortunate event.

The Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS) has created a youth wing.

This is part of MACEOS’ succession planning, and provides a platform for younger members to network and become more engaged with the association’s happenings.

Jason Teh (extreme left) with his committee memberJason Teh, a MACEOS member since 2013, has been appointed youth president and is part of a committee of nine. Teh is the account director, exhibitions & events marketing division at Pico International in Kuala Lumpur.

Through MACEOS Youth, Teh hopes to attract young talents to join MACEOS to build a larger membership filled with people below the age of 40 for the business events industry.

He added: “It is also about finding avenues to engage with university students involved in event management courses, and to provide them with an opportunity to learn more about the industry. It is also a good way for them to network and build their contacts while still in university.”

Francis Teo, honorary secretary at MACEOS, concluded: “The youth wing is a good way of getting youths involved in activities within the organisation, and for us to impart knowledge to the next generation of leaders.”

MCI, a provider of engagement and activation solutions for the meetings and event industry, has joined forces with C2 International to bring the C2 Melbourne conference to Australia for the first time.

Melbourne will host the business conference in its first iteration outside Montreal on November 30 and December 1, 2017.

For C2 Melbourne 2017, the theme will be “Ecosystems”, and the programming will explore fields like technology, arts and design, marketing, impact and leadership.

Visit www.c2melbourne.com for news and updates, including location, key note speakers and programme.

Sofitel has announced the largest Sofitel property in the Middle East with development partner MKM Commercial Holdings.

Expected to open in late 2019, Sofitel Dubai Wafi will join the luxury brand’s growing portfolio of 14 hotels and 4,400 rooms in operation and under development in the Middle East.

Sofitel Dubai Wafi will feature 501 luxury guestrooms, inclusive of 86 suites, ranging in size from 55m² to 625m², in addition to 97 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom serviced residences to be operated on an extended-stay basis. Facilities include a 1,115m² ballroom, 10 meeting rooms, a number of dining concepts, SoSpa, gym, outdoor pools with private cabanas and a kids club.

Corporate clients will appreciate the convenient access to primary business and exhibition centres including the Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai Healthcare City and the Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre.

Sami Nasser, COO, Luxury Brands, AccorHotels Middle East, said “this impressive project that will undoubtedly become a future flagship for Sofitel in the region”.

He added: “The development of this property is aligned with our strategy to operate one of our leading luxury brands across strategic locations in the Middle East.

“Within the UAE, we’ve established a strong presence with four operational hotels across landmark locations including Abu Dhabi Corniche, Downtown Dubai, the Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Residences, and now Wafi – a major shopping destination set to undergo a comprehensive retail and leisure expansion.”

Grand Hyatt Singapore has introduced a line-up of wellness activities that organisers and planners can use to help delegates feel revived and stimulated.

Designed for a variety of purposes, with different levels of difficulty, and with some incorporating a greater focus on teamwork, these activities come in bite-sized “Take Five” periods, complimentary for in-house events.

To get the blood pumping, five minutes of condensed strength training or a “Dice Dancing” team game can be integrated into the day’s programme, although planners can also opt to have participants begin the day with “Power Hours” such as morning group runs or in-house exercises.

These wellness programmes also include less physical options – for example, quick code-breaker games, or neck and shoulder massages.

“We look at the whole day meeting experience and work with meeting organisers on how we can infuse action, thought and communication to sustain memory retention and energy,” said the hotel’s spa director Karu Nanithi.

For more information about events at Grand Hyatt Singapore, please call (65) 6416 7377 or e-mail singapore.grand@hyatt.com.

The Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) is collaborating with Tourism Malaysia offices in Delhi and Chennai to jointly organise a roadshow to Kathmandu, Delhi and Colombo.

To be held from June 12-17, 2017, this is an attempt to boost visitor numbers from the business events and medical segments from South Asia.

MATTA vice president inbound & domestic, KL Tan said: “This is the third time we are collaborating with Tourism Malaysia and conducting a roadshow to these three cities, as revenue from the business events and medical segments is three times more than the average leisure segment.”

“Kathmandu and Nepal are new markets for business events but we believe it has the potential. Delhi is more mature, and we’re also looking at other Indian cities to hold similar roadshows next year,” added MATTA’s exco member for India, Ganneesh Ramaa.

He pointed out that it was time to promote Malaysia as the government had recently introduced an e-visa facility and waived the visa fee of 1,000 rupees (US$16), and reduced the visa processing fee from 5,500 to 1,600 rupees.

Richard Vuilleumier, managing director at Panorama Holidays Malaysia, said his company was participating in the roadshow as he wanted a bigger share of the South Asian leisure and business events segments.

He elaborated: “We have a representative in Jalandhar to help us build the leisure and MICE markets in India. However, Kathmandu and Colombo are both new markets which we want to tap.”

The roadshow will involve 22 suppliers from Malaysia including 17 DMCS, the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, and key attractions such as Resorts World Genting and Perak’s Movie Animation Parks Studio.

Spooked by massive, modern convention centres emerging in neighbouring Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Hong Kong stakeholders have urged the government to quickly expand its existing exhibition and convention space.

Speaking at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association’s annual conference last week, Adsale Exhibition Services’ chairman, Stanley Chu, stressed: “We do not favour the idea of a third venue in the city as this will not solve the problem of trade organisers that want to hold a large-scale event under one roof.

“Instead, the government should expand existing spaces such as the AsiaWorld-Expo and Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) in order to sustain growth. The city will lack about 132,000m² of space during the high season in the coming 15 years, so if we don’t expand, somebody like Shenzhen, will do it for us.”

Chu cautioned that the rapid development in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou will gradually erode Hong Kong’s role in the tradeshow business. For instance, the 500,000m² Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center – touted as the world’s biggest exhibition venue – will complete its first phase (400,000m²) in December 2018.

This sentiment is echoed by HKCEC (Management)’s managing director, Monica Lee-Müller, who hopes that existing venues can be expanded within the next two decades.

“The adding of infrastructure for exhibitions – to improve effectiveness and buyers’ experience – requires more government support and a clarity of vision. Visitors enjoy (Hong Kong’s) convenience, standard of facility and infrastructure, so we have to keep improving on this,” said Global Sources’ CEO, Craig Pepples.

According to HKECIA, 56 international event applications were turned down in 2013, due to a shortage of space. The combined total space of AsiaWorld-Expo and HKCEC currently stands at 136,000m².

Changi Airport has unveiled the latest features in its upcoming lifestyle complex Jewel, with designer play attractions, dining outlets and walking trails crowning the 14,000m² Canopy Park at the topmost level.

CEO of Jewel Changi Airport Development, Hung Jean, shared that Jewel hopes to attract transit passengers – which make up 30 per cent of Changi Airport’s traffic – as well as travellers from various FlyFerry, FlyCruise and CoachFly trips.

Sky Nets

She revealed that Jewel will also provide early check-in services for passengers across all carriers and terminals, including for airlines whose counters have not yet opened for check-in.

“Jewel is meant to elevate the tourism mindshare that (Changi Airport is) getting internationally,” Hung said. “If you have a longer transit, there’s so much more to do at Jewel.”

The main draw will be the Canopy Park’s three main play areas, open to visitors of all ages. The Sky Nets will consist of a 50m-long walking net suspended at 25m and a 250m-long bouncing net at eight metres above ground.

They are respectively designed by European consultants Officium and Chien Noir, both known for their net and rope installations around the world.

Canopy Mazes

The opposite end will feature a sprawl of two Canopy Mazes created by international maze designer Adrian Fisher. The first will be Singapore’s largest hedge maze with 1.8m-high hedges, changeable paths and a lookout tower; the second is an outdoor mirror maze complete with an infinity chamber.

Finally, Singapore consultancy Playpoint is collaborating with Dutch design company Carve to create the Discovery Slides, a massive art sculpture that doubles up as four play slides. This structure will also provide a 6.5m-high observatory deck for visitors to enjoy views over the rest of Jewel.

Other features that were also announced include four Foggy Bowls for young children to play in mist and a 50m-long glass-floored Canopy Bridge suspended 23m above ground.

The Canopy Park will also have a communal Canopy Plaza of F&B offerings that can be converted to host events for up to 1,000 attendees.

Jewel is slated to open in early 2019.

St Regis Hotels and Resorts’ ongoing brand repositioning is promising more exquisite and experiential guest programmes that will benefit the intimate-sized, C-level meetings its properties tend to attract.

Central to the new branding campaign is the “Live Exquisite” tagline and a positioning built “all around living exquisitely” while retaining the heritage, traditions and rituals the brand is known for, according to Lisa Holladay, vice president and global brand leader for St Regis.

Holladay pointed to the St Regis-sponsored 2017 Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup, held the past Monday at The Singapore Polo Club, as an example of how the new Live Exquisite promise is delivered. She said that the polo game in the afternoon featured a lifestyle event that is a firm tradition with the St Regis brand – and one that is appreciated by St Regis followers and guests – while the charity ball that evening was held in an unexpected botanical paradise setting in The St Regis Singapore’s John Jacob Ballroom.

“It means so much to us when Prince Harry (the guest of honour) remarked in his speech how impressed he was with the theme and the ballroom’s setup. The hotel delivers our positioning of living exquisitely,” she told TTGmice.

Supporting the repositioning is a new print campaign which uses beautiful lifestyle photographs in different settings as well as a stronger reliance on the St Regis Connoisseur programme which calls upon trend setters who share the same lifestyle as St Regis guests, to provide ideas on how impressive travel experiences should be delivered at St Regis properties.

The programme, which now counts professional polo player Nachos Figueras and singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum among its ambassadors, will soon be joined by Chinese millionaire and jewellery designer Wan Bao Bao. Wan will also design a unique piece of jewellery that will be retailed in limited quantity at St Regis hotels and online boutique.

More unique guest experiences “created through the lens of the St Regis Connoisseur programme” are in the pipeline, revealed Holladay.

Presently, the St Regis experience includes inviting guests to world-class polo events and Jazz Legends performances at its properties worldwide, and these have proven popular with both leisure and business travellers, according to Yeoh Fay Linn, senior director, brand management & marketing Asia Pacific, Marriott International.

The focus on exquisite experiences will also benefit C-level meetings held at St Regis properties.

“When executives come together for a meeting, they also want a memorable experience. I see opportunities for our properties to help curate unique experiences for meeting groups (and) that is another initiative we are focused on going into the end of 2017 and next year,” said Holladay. “Whether the traveller is here for leisure or business, the Live Exquisite promise should be communicated through all the (hotel’s) touchpoints.”