Park Hotel Farrer Park has appointed its director of sales. He has held directorial positions in areas of sales and marketing throughout his 20-year hospitality industry career.
Buoyed by mega events
The year 2016 had been a year of big business events for Macau, particularly those hailed from China. Some of these heavyweights include the Tai Hu World Culture Forum with 800 delegates, Herbalife (China) Extraordinary Tour 2016 with 7,000 delegates, Greater China Nu Skin Academy with 5,000 delegates, and Jeunesse Greater China Meeting with 10,000 delegates.
In all, there were 905 China business events in 3Q2016, including 257 meetings, 17 exhibitions and three corporate incentives.
Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) expects the number to climb slightly by the end of 2016, although official figures for the final quarter are not out at press time.
In comparison, there were 909 events from China in 2015.
Macau, which is adding capacity for large-scale events as well as major infrastructure and diverse attractions that will appeal to the Chinese market, can expect to see further growth, according to an IPIM spokesperson.
With mega Chinese corporate gatherings flourishing in Macau, the destination now hopes to grow corporate meetings and incentives from China this year and is dangling its supply of high-end accommodation, ease of access from China and the lack of a language barrier to charm planners.
According to an IPIM spokesperson, Macau is seeing great success in this pursuit.
Supporting IPIM’s efforts are revisions made at the start of this year to two existing programmes aimed encouraging business events to head to Macau. Both the Convention and Exhibition Stimulation Programme and the International Meeting and Trade Fair Support Programme now offer an extended deadline for application; introduction of subsidies to finance the planning and management costs for the hiring of local PCOs; and the introduction of transportation subsidies to encourage trade visitors to explore the community.
These revisions, which came into effect on February 21, aim to optimise the application procedures and attract a greater number of international business events to be organised in Macau, thus promoting economic diversification.
The private sector has been keeping busy too, in their efforts to win over more Chinese planners.
Ruth Boston, vice president, destination marketing and sales with Sands China, told TTGmice that its intensified marketing efforts in China’s first and second tier cities have led to significant growth in 2016.
“Mainland China is our number one market, with the majority of business coming from Beijing and Shanghai. There is also significant growth from Chengdu, Tianjin, Nanjing (and Guangzhou),” said Boston.
In 2Q2016, Sands led roadshows into China to promote the opening of its new The Parisian Macao integrated resort, which started welcoming guests in September 2016.
Despite Macau’s expanding inventory of high-end properties, Boston regards the luxury business events market as a strong performer for Sands resorts.
“The incentives market along with the multi-level marketing sector saw growth in 2016, and we are hoping to expand and capture more of this market this year. 2017 is already showing positive growth compared to this time last year,” she added.
Opened in October 2015, the 1,600-key Studio City integrated resort has seen good business from China. According to its spokesperson, Chinese corporate groups are open to using the resort’s unique facilities, and have rented its 300-seat theatre for private functions. The spokesperson said China would continue to be a prime target for business events coming into the property this year.
At Grand Hyatt Macau, corporate demand is rising from China, the hotel’s third biggest source market in 2015 and 2016.
General manager Paul Kwok said noted that corporate meetings delivered the highest numbers to his hotel in 2016. Moving forward, he plans to grow business by courting China Fortune Top 500 companies.
Kwok added that Macau’s plentiful large venues make it attractive for direct marketing companies which tend to lead massive delegations for events.
Also reporting a good year with Chinese business events in 2016 is Tina Lit, director of marketing and business and AGM with CITS, who has seen meetings driving growth.
“We expect a better year in 2017 as the Macau government is strongly supporting the trade with many initiatives like subsidies for overseas meeting groups. And with many new hotels coming online this year, clients will enjoy more accommodation options and room rates will become more (affordable),” Lit said.
JTB swoops in on Kuoni Global Travel Services
Barely a month after Thomas Cook India announced its purchase of Kuoni Global Travel Services’ DMC network in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, JTB Corporation today announced its acquisition of all shares of Kuoni Global Travel Services for an undisclosed price.
The Kuoni Global Travel Services acquisition is a move to bolster JTB Corporation’s ambitions to become a top global DMC, as the partnership is expected to strengthen the inbound business services and increase the market share in Europe.
It will also support the expansion and strengthening of the global MICE services in Europe and the US markets, which is complementary to existing JTB MICE business, the company said in a statement.
Thomas Cook’s acquisition does not include Kuoni Destination Management Europe and Kuoni Destination Management US, which remain in the portfolio of Kuoni Global Travel Services.
Reto Wilhelm, CEO of Kuoni Global Travel Services, said: “JTB is one of the biggest and most respected market players in our industry. Joining JTB provides our company with the best positioned owner, which will help us realise the full potential of Kuoni Global Travel Services.”
Eijiro Yamakita, president & CEO of the European regional headquarters of JTB, said: “Kuoni Global Travel Services is one of the world’s leading travel companies with an important presence especially in Asian leisure and corporate groups visiting Europe. The acquisition offers an excellent opportunity to be a unique operator by gathering the network and knowledge. It enables the provision of detailed services to meet each customer’s needs with high added-value and the expansion of the inbound business.”
In the past few years, JTB has been expanding the inbound travel business to Europe, a major destination for travellers. By 2020, it is forecasted that foreign visitors to Europe will reach approximately 620 million (a 150 million increase from 2010), driven especially by China and Asian markets.
In addition to the Japan market, JTB has enhanced the outbound travel business from growing markets. In February, JTB also bought a 40 per cent share of Panorama Tours Indonesia to grow its Indonesian outbound business and inbound business into Japan.
The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant competition a1uthorities and compliance with any other local legal requirements.
Kuoni Global Travel Services in a statement says it will continue efforts to be a neutral land operator to work with many companies other than JTB, paying full attention on the protection of any sensitive information.
JTB swoops in on Kuoni Global Travel Services
Barely a month after Thomas Cook India announced its purchase of Kuoni Global Travel Services’ DMC network in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, JTB Corporation today announced its acquisition of all shares of Kuoni Global Travel Services for an undisclosed price.
The Kuoni Global Travel Services acquisition is a move to bolster JTB Corporation’s ambitions to become a top global DMC, as the partnership is expected to strengthen the inbound business services and increase the market share in Europe.
It will also support the expansion and strengthening of the global MICE services in Europe and the US markets, which is complementary to existing JTB MICE business, the company said in a statement.
Thomas Cook’s acquisition does not include Kuoni Destination Management Europe and Kuoni Destination Management US, which remain in the portfolio of Kuoni Global Travel Services.
Reto Wilhelm, CEO of Kuoni Global Travel Services, said: “JTB is one of the biggest and most respected market players in our industry. Joining JTB provides our company with the best positioned owner, which will help us realise the full potential of Kuoni Global Travel Services.”
Eijiro Yamakita, president & CEO of the European regional headquarters of JTB, said: “Kuoni Global Travel Services is one of the world’s leading travel companies with an important presence especially in Asian leisure and corporate groups visiting Europe. The acquisition offers an excellent opportunity to be a unique operator by gathering the network and knowledge. It enables the provision of detailed services to meet each customer’s needs with high added-value and the expansion of the inbound business.”
In the past few years, JTB has been expanding the inbound travel business to Europe, a major destination for travellers. By 2020, it is forecasted that foreign visitors to Europe will reach approximately 620 million (a 150 million increase from 2010), driven especially by China and Asian markets.
In addition to the Japan market, JTB has enhanced the outbound travel business from growing markets. In February, JTB also bought a 40 per cent share of Panorama Tours Indonesia to grow its Indonesian outbound business and inbound business into Japan.
The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant competition a1uthorities and compliance with any other local legal requirements.
Kuoni Global Travel Services in a statement says it will continue efforts to be a neutral land operator to work with many companies other than JTB, paying full attention on the protection of any sensitive information.
Hainan heads west for European MICE business
Having seen success in domestic Chinese business events, the Hainan government has now turned its attention to the international market, in particular those in Europe.
Fam trips for potential buyers and roadshows in Europe are part of Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission’s action plans, spokesperson Anastasia Yang told TTGmice in an interview. This is in addition to the Chinese province’s first ever participation in IMEX Frankfurt this month.
Ying Sun
Yang noted that it was Hainan’s first independent presence at a tradeshow for the business events industry, as the destination had previously only participated in similar exhibitions under the China country pavilion.
Ying Sun, director of Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission, and Fangxu Chen, president of Hainan Provincial Conference and Incentive Travel Industry Association, led the Hainan delegation at IMEX Frankfurt.
Some 20 tourism enterprises, attractions and business event service providers from Hainan were represented, such as Hainan Province MICE Association, Himice Conference Exhibition Co, Hainan Hongrui Exhibition Management Co, and Hainan Tourist Hotel Association.
According to a press statement, Hainan welcomed 60.2 million travellers in 2016, 30 per cent of which were from Europe.
When asked if there were specific segments of business events Hainan was most confident in attracting from Europe, Yang said the government has intentions to win over the full spectrum of events.
“We believe our resources are good for all (types of business events),” Yang said, pointing to Hainan’s range of high quality hotels and meeting facilities, good customer service standards, sunshine and beaches, natural rainforests, rich culture and enticing cuisine as being magnets for European planners and event attendees.
The province is currently connected to Europe via flights operated by 23 airline companies that offer frequent scheduled and chartered flights from cities such as Rome, Frankfurt and Moscow. While not all are direct services, Yang said access for Europeans is easy through other Chinese international airports, as there are frequent domestic flights onwards to the province.
Continued efforts to improve air access from Europe are being made. For instance, the Hainan government was in Germany recently to negotiate with Frankfurt–Hahn Airport for direct flights.
Hainan’s easy access through major Chinese city gateways like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu has also given rise to twin-city itinerary potentials, according to Yang.
She emphasised that combining different destinations with varying appeals could enhance business event programmes, and Hainan’s destination specialists are able to help planners customise something suitable.
Hawaii Tourism Authority to host inaugural business exchange
The Hawaii Tourism Authority will be hosting its first Experience Aloha Business Exchange Meeting next month to lure more business events from China and Hong Kong.
The five-day programme will invite about 100 event planners and intermediaries from various source markets to view business event offers on its islands, as well as facilitate a one-day business exchange with 75 local industry partners.
Wailua Falls, Kauai
Hawaii Tourism Authority’s director of Hawaiian Cultural Affairs, Kalani Kaanaana, shared that the Hong Kong market thinks of Hawaii as a leisure destination and usually overlooks the destination for business events.
“In fact, we have 10 major markets and each one has a MICE representative,” said Kaanaana, adding that Hawaii offers vast ideas that can complement and enhance any business event experience, such as visiting private islands and volcanoes, or a helicopter ride.
From January to April 2017, Hawaii welcomed 7,000 Chinese delegates on business and incentive programmes, a year-on-year increase of 90 per cent. At press time, Hawaii is due to welcome another 30 groups this year, consuming a potential 11,000 room nights. The groups hail from industries such as finance, insurance, FMCG, direct sales networks, sports and education.
Melbourne to host inaugural global C2 conference
On November 30 and December 1, 2017, Melbourne will play host to the C2 Melbourne business conference, the first time the event has been held outside Montreal.
The two-day event will bring together commerce and creativity to explore trends, opportunities, disruptions and shifts on the horizon. It also seeks to help innovators find creative solutions to commercial and social challenges, in a surprising and imaginative environment.
Melbourne CBD
Six previous editions have been held in Montreal, and the event attracts over 6,000 executives worldwide, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
The initial proposal was put together by the Victorian State Government, MCI and Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB).
MCB’s CEO, Karen Bolinger, said: “With C2 Montreal named the number one innovative business conference for two consecutive years, we knew this was an event of our city’s calibre. Melbourne is a city that cultivates and throws its support towards creativity in innovation. This is what enabled us to be so determined in our pursuit of securing this event.”
“With a programme that incorporates immersive experiences such as brain dates, labs, workshops while suspended from structures, brainstorms while walking through indoor snowstorms and a festival village, C2 has hit the nail on the head in delivering an environment that meets the demands of today’s delegates,” Bolinger said.
President of C2, Richard St-Pierre, said Melbourne is the ideal testing ground to anchor the C2 brand in.
“As the team at C2 was imagining where we may go for the first ever large-scale C2 outside of Canada, we sought cities with a rich culture, an intoxicating energy and a readiness to work together to set the stage that will reset imagination and unleash new ideas for business leaders, innovators and creatives from around the world,” St-Pierre said.
Minister for small business, innovation and trade, Philip Dalidakis, said the state was excited to have secured the C2 event.
“The Victorian Government is investing heavily in innovation because we know it is the key to the business ideas that will drive our economy in the future. Victoria is proud to be hosting C2 which will be a great forum for new ideas and for showcasing our culture of innovation and vibrant start up ecosystem to the world,” Dalidakis said.
The location for the C2 Melbourne will be announced in July. Tickets are currently on sale and available from www.c2melbourne.com.
The designer draw
Design Hotels, head of travel trade relations, Henning A Schaub takes Karen Yue behind its business events push
What made Design Hotels come up with Co-LAB MICE Edition (held in Paphos, Cyprus, May 11-14)?
One of the founding values of Design Hotels is creating communities. It is vital to connect and bond over shared experiences, which is the reason to launch a new platform for our member hotels to engage and interact (with the trade) on a personal level.
The last couple of years have shown that larger travel trade fairs do not always provide the ideal surroundings that Design Hotels would like (for trade buyers) to experience our brand in a memorable, emotional way, which is important for relationship building. Our individual hotels have so many stories to tell – we rather do this over a locally-sourced meal or while exploring the beautiful nature around our hotels, than in a conference hall.
Are there plans to hold Co-LAB MICE Edition several times a year and in different regions of the world?
It will become a fixed event in our annual calendar. We are currently planning the 2018 MICE Edition and have exciting ideas for new destinations, which will surprise and inspire participating buyers and hoteliers alike.
When looking at future destinations for our events, we are considering a variety of different factors such as accessibility, popularity of the destination – we love to showcase niche, unknown places, potential activities and authenticity of the location, as well as the right fit of requirements for our hosting member hotel.
Asia-Pacific is a really interesting region and a growing market with an exciting list of potential new member hotels. We would definitely love to host a future edition in the region. (But for now) our main source market for MICE requests is EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).
Is Design Hotels’ MICE approach new?
The MICE market has always been an interesting one for the majority of our properties and it is important to keep on looking for new ways to approach it. By the nature of our portfolio, typically small- to medium-sized corporate groups requiring 20 to 60 rooms can be well accommodated in sometimes very unusual and inspirational settings. Our hotels perfectly cater to incentives or product launches as well as board meetings or smaller conferences. Lifestyle brands, fashion and new media, in particular, enjoy the individuality of our hotels for their events.
Co-LAB MICE Edition featured meetings in hip and relaxed settings
Tell me about the event’s attendees.
For 2017, our hosted buyers originated from all over Europe. The UK and German-speaking markets are typically strong for our hotels, and they were therefore well represented. But we also had buyers from Italy, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), France, the Scandinavian countries and Hungary.
We had a good mix of senior representatives from agencies and corporates who have a proven interest and business in lifestyle-oriented boutique properties. During the selection process, we discussed and evaluated the qualification individually in order to accommodate everyone’s expectations and needs. We are happy to accept proactive applications always, as an interest in our brand and story is valued as much as the continuous support of clients that we hold established partnerships with.
Some 65 properties have been selected for this showcase – how do you qualify these properties?
During the Co-LAB MICE Edition, buyers met with an exciting mix of (properties from) city destinations and business event favourites such as London, Paris, New York City, Barcelona, Vienna and Berlin in addition to some remote gems like Georgia, Rotterdam. There were also several alpine mountain resorts. All selected hotels cater to group and incentive traveller requirements and have corresponding services, facilities and amenities.
How many member hotels are capable of receiving corporate groups and business events?
Two-thirds of all Design Hotels members can accommodate groups and incentives at a very high level. However, the Design Hotels selection criteria are very diverse and… a business events orientation is not a must-have. We look for properties that stand out due to their story – the individuals behind the hotel, their approach to architecture, design and hospitality, the hotel’s integration into the local community, and the guest experience, to name a few. If we get some outstanding meeting spaces thrown in, even better!
What do you think is driving the corporate sector to take greater heed of design-led hotels as an option for business event venues?
We have seen that many corporate clients have a preference for an inspiring and individual (event) atmosphere and venue, like those offered by our member hotels, instead of a one-size-fits-all boardroom. And this is no longer only true with lifestyle companies. An ambience that allows (participants to) loosen (their) tie and have a local experience – even during a business meeting – is valued by many nowadays.
Business Events Australia gets new dedicated website
Tourism Australia has launched a brand new website, www.australia.com/businessevents, solely dedicated to business events.
The site now sports a brighter design, where images and videos are featured prominently. The website also offers direct access to Tourism Australia business events representatives and Australian business events products and destinations, allowing users to easily make contact with sources of information on holding a business event in Australia.
“Australia is leading the way when it comes to delivering business events that exceed expectations, and our new website was created to ensure we also set a benchmark in providing planners and decision makers with an innovative, informative, visually-stunning and easy-to-use website,” said John O’Sullivan, managing director Tourism Australia.
In creating the website, Tourism Australia undertook comprehensive research with international business events planners and decision makers, to ensure the new site delivers relevant up to the minute information on Australia in the most accessible and appealing ways.
“The feedback from planners and decision makers told us that being able to access personalised assistance is crucial when planning business events. That’s why we have fully recreated the site to ensure we can continue to meet the needs of planners and decision markers, by providing an exceptional user experience for those considering Australia as the destination for their next business event,” said O’Sullivan.
Malaysia’s new hotel rating system gets thumbs up from trade
Beginning June 1, Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture will introduce a new hotel classification and rating system, which trade players generally believe is fairer and more representative than the existing star-rating system.
The new classification houses categories of city hotels, highland hotels, island/beach/lake/river resorts, innovative hotels and boutique hotels. Further details of the new rating system are not available at press time.
Brinchang town, Cameron Highlands
Shaharuddin M Saaid, executive director, Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners, who was on the committee to review the classification criteria, said the old rating system – in basing its requirements on city hotels – put island and hill resorts at a disadvantage.
Citing examples, Shaharuddin said: “Based on the old system, a hotel needed an executive floor and lounge to be rated five stars. This was alright for a city hotel which received business travellers, but not necessarily for island and hill resorts where guests were holidaymakers.”
Hotels also needed to have a swimming pool to be rated four stars and up, although the criteria was not as important in beachfront hotels or hill resorts, he added.
The Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa’s managing director, Anthony Wong, said: “In the past, hotels must have two restaurants to be classified as a four-star property. We only had one and were classified as three-star under the local rating, although TripAdvisor and travel agents rated us as a four-star.
“We didn’t see a need to have more than one restaurant as there were many restaurants outside our hotel, giving visitors plenty of choices.”
Ganneesh Ramaa, manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, similarly opined that the new classification will provide a more accurate picture to agents and partners.
“Based on the old system, Cameron Highlands only has two properties that fit the five-star category, when (in reality) there are many more hotels that provide the services of a five-star. The old system of one-shoe-fits-all simply cannot be applied.”
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