Asia/Singapore Monday, 12th January 2026
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Pushing the boat out

By S Puvaneswary
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Sunset falling over Kuching city in Sarawak

Kuala Lumpur is not the only MICE-ready city in Malaysia anymore. Secondary destinations – Penang, Kuching and Putrajaya – are also devising new ways to court business events, association meetings and corporate groups.

Kuching
Since 2016, the Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) has been focusing on the research and business development of business events in key industries such as agriculture, infrastructure development, urban planning, women and children, and education.

Amelia Roziman, SCB’s general manager – marketing and sales, said: “Despite the slowdown of the oil and gas sector in the economy, for us, it is business as usual. We also believe that there are plenty of opportunities out there to mine still.”

Sunset falling over Kuching city in Sarawak

SCB will continue laying the groundwork to grow the business events industry through education programmes which contributes to preparing the industry and associations when they bid for major international and regional conferences.

“Sometimes there is a conference which Sarawak and its related local association has the potential to win. Our challenge is building the confidence and motivating the association to bid. Education is what fills that gap,” stressed Chew Chang Guan, SCB’s general manager, government & industry relations.

For local associations keen on bidding for an international conference, the bureau will provide sponsorships that can bring the latest research and trade opportunities in sectors the state is keen on developing further. Once the bid is won, marketing support is provided for delegate boosting purposes in order to maximise attendance.

An important win for Sarawak last year was the the 55th ICCA Congress in November as it provided recognition to the state for its ability to provide international standards, value and services. Sarawak was the first, second-tier city in Asia to host the ICCA Congress.
Place Borneo’s director/principal consultant Gracie Geikie, who was a member of the bid team, said: “Not many destinations can sell you both culture and nature like Sarawak’s cities of Kuching and Miri. I believe it is this very essence that conference organisers should choose Sarawak, not just to meet and share knowledge, but to add experiential value to their organisations and delegates.”

Penang
Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) was formed in early 2016. Last November, PCEB diversified into the major events sector and organised the George Town Literary Festival 2016 with Penang Institute. This year, PCEB will be the sole producer of the 2017 festival which celebrates the literary world.

Aside from the festival, PCEB will tap the Chinese and India business events segment for the first time. In March 2017, they organised roadshows with MyCEB in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. PCEB will also be organising its own sales calls to the metro cities in India later in the year.

Both India and China are important markets for Penang as there are direct connections to Guangzhou, Sanya and Wuhan, and Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru.
PCEB’s CEO, Ashwin Gunasekeran, shared: “We will focus on attracting association meetings and incentives from both markets. Penang has the hardware and the software to cater to big groups of up to 15,000 delegates.”

PCEB will intensify efforts to attract international conferences and meetings related to areas such as medical, electronics and science.The state of Penang is home to 400 multinational companies in the electronics sector and it is also the top destination in Malaysia for medical tourism. Approximately 60 per cent of the nation’s medical tourism receipts are derived from Penang.

“Once we have sourced for leads, we will engage relevant parties who can be the local hosts and encourage them to bid for international and regional conferences,” said Ashwin.
Moreover, the second edition of the state’s Meetings Planners Guide will be published in 1H2017 and distributed to meeting planners and business events organisers. It will include new sections such as listings of business events suppliers and restaurants, in addition to existing sections on hotels, unique spaces and convention centres.

Putrajaya
Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) is the main driver for attracting international business events to Putrajaya. The centre has numerous meeting spaces which can hold up to 6,000 delegates, is supported by 1,500 rooms of four- and five-star properties in the vicinity.

Oh Kin Tat, general manager, sales operation at Putrajaya International Convention Centre, said: “We will form a committee – made up of four- and five-star hotels with meeting facilities – by 1H2017. These hotels will support PICC and the local association, by providing complimentary rooms and hosted meals, to the organiser when there are site inspections.”

Last year, steps were taken to further expand the business.

Oh said: “Since May 2016, we had our own in-house research team to look for potential leads from the ICCA database, and these were shared with local associations.”
The centre has also invested in having its own culinary team of 41 chefs who can tailor-make meals according to clients’ preferences.

Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “Putrajaya is an upcoming MICE destination. Its location makes it convenient for MICE organisers to move equipment to and from the airport. Putrajaya also has a lot of off-site venues for holding dinners such as on a cruise, on a bridge or in the wetlands.”

Revved up to go big

By Caroline Boey
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Panoramic night view of Hangzhou

Hangzhou is sending out a strong message that it is determined to become an even bigger business events destination, having pulled off a successful G20 summit in September last year.

Some observers are even saying that Hangzhou – dubbed Shanghai’s back garden and with its picturesque vistas, tourism attractions and an infrastructure development boom – could rival the glamorous port city that is one position ahead in ICCA’s China ranking. High-speed Rail connects the two cities and travel time is about an hour.

Panoramic night view of Hangzhou

In Hangzhou’s favour is support from the government, which is shifting its focus from tourism to business events. The development of a new CBD, improved international air access, cheaper prices and cleaner air all make the city worth a serious look.

Zhao Hongzhong, vice director, Hangzhou Tourism Commission, said: “We want to create ‘Summit Hangzhou’ to mean a place to hold meetings.”

Hangzhou has obvious strengths in its business events capacity.

Zhao said: “With the Hangzhou International Expo Center (HIEC), we can handle groups of 10,000 people.”

HIEC’s Sky Garden is equipped to host outdoor mega-events, while the four-star, 262-room North Star Hangzhou International Expo Center Hotel within HIEC has five meetings rooms and Chinese and Western restaurants that can each seat 350 people.

When complete this year, the nearby 400,000m2 Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center will boast a 80,000-seat main stadium, a 10,000-seat tennis centre, an aquatic centre, a convention centre, athletic facilities, a retail pavilion, restaurants and a multiplex cinema.

International air access continues to increase, Zhao added. Flights between Hangzhou and Japan, Pattaya and Jakarta have resumed. And in 2016, new flights were launched to link Hangzhou to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney, Vancouver, Paris and Bali. Addis Ababa will be added this year and Lisbon and Copenhagen in 2018.

To attract more international association meetings from Europe and Belgium, Hangzhou invested in its own stand at ITBM World in Barcelona for the first time last year.

Jackson Wang, deputy managing director, Hangzhou New China Travel Service, said the stand with five companies was even bigger than Beijing’s, which it used to share exhibition space with.

He added that there was interest from Russia, the US, Singapore, the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

“With the flights to Vancouver, we are targeting the US East Coast in 2017 and are looking at using Doha as a transit point,” he shared.

The G20 summit had sparked the creation of new business events products, including Treasure Boat, a Chinese-style vessel built to take G20 leaders on a West Lake cruise, which can now be used for charters for up to 150 people.
The 25-minute Qiantang River light show themed City, Water, Light and Shadow was another G20 project. A total of 700,000 LED lights are used to illuminate more than 30 high-rise buildings along the river.

Even with these developments, Roger Shu, deputy general manager of Hangzhou Convention Exhibition & Travel (HCET), said there was still a lack of hotels near HIEC.

HCET intends to attract more international hotel brands to the city and is constructing a purpose-built conference and exhibition facility.

HCET itself is a new PCO tasked with creating new business events. Shu said: “PCO numbers in Hangzhou are small and one of the things we want to set up this year is a ‘bid factory’ with regional DMCs, hotels and other industry players.”
Looking ahead, Shu, who was formerly MICE manager, Business Events Hangzhou (BEH) and Hangzhou Tourism Promotion Centre, proposed: “The first step is to establish a Conference Ambassador Programme; then, the bid factory can get leads from ICCA’s database, create a taskforce and HCET can partner BEH.

Step two, he added, is for HCET to create new business events for around 2,000 delegates.

“For 2017, HCET will be ‘delegate-focused’ and its immediate job is to help Hangzhou raise service standards by creating a welcome package at railway stations offering a VIP welcome, Chinese-hospitality style,” he said.

In the swim of things

By Julian Ryall
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A fringing coral reef grows along the edge of a lush tropical Island in the Solomon Island

The Solomon Islands will host the Pacific Games in 2023, the first time the nation will serve as a venue for a major sporting event, and an opportunity for investment in hotels, transport and all the other infrastructure that will subsequently raise the islands’ profile as a business events destination.

Honiara, the capital city of Solomon Islands, was named in May 2016 as the host city of the Games. It will bring in athletes, spectators and media personnel from 22 South Pacific nations and was hailed as “the biggest ever windfall” for the nation’s tourism aspirations by Josefa Tuamoto, CEO of the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB).

A fringing coral reef grows along the edge of a lush tropical Island in the Solomon Island

“We are hopeful that this major event will act as a catalyst beyond the sporting and business opportunity, especially for new hotel development and related tourism infrastructure projects in and around Honiara,” Tuamoto said.

It is anticipated that the new accommodation will include well-known international hotel brands.

“We look at the construction of extra room inventory from a two-fold perspective,” Tuamoto said. “Given these new properties will be up and running long before the Games actually take place, it will be providing much-needed inventory for our capital city in the process. We also see these extra rooms as a catalyst for the development of our fledgling MICE industry.”

Garedd Porowai, senior travel consultant for Honiara-based Charis Travel Services, said the Solomons already receive a number of high-profile events each year.

“We have the headquarters of the Forum Fisheries Agency, which hosts five or six annual regional meetings and sees anything up to a couple of hundred participants at the larger conferences,” he told TTmice.

“We have other organisations that pull in a lot of MICE travel, such as churches, NGOs, conservation entities and various governmental projects, but 2023 and the Pacific Games will definitely be a big year for us,” he added.

Until relatively recently, facilities for business events in Honiara were largely limited to the Kitano Mendana Hotel, which has conference facilities for up to 150 people, a comprehensive business centre and restaurants. The hotel can also arrange transportation and tours for incentive groups. A newer addition is the Heritage Park Hotel, which has meeting and banqueting facilities.

The islands’ top accommodation is provided by the Coral Sea Resort & Casino, which recently opened its top-of-the-range beachside bungalows in January. A further 30 suites are on course to be completed by August, while finishing touches are also being added to the pool, the spa, the Boardwalk Bar & Restaurant, a private beach, a jetty –where drinks and meals are served – and a marina.

Moreover, the property has recently reached an agreement with an Australian hotel and brewery and will be offering incentive programmes through off-licenses across Queensland in the future, said Anthony Fargas, director of the Coral Sea Resort & Casino.

“This will give us good exposure in Australia and will bring us our first incentive tourism guests,” he said. “I anticipate that once we start mass marketing, and through strategic alliances with Australian-based travel agencies, the numbers will sharply increase for us in 2H2017.”

The Coral Sea Resort & Casino is seen as a keystone in the nation’s plans to develop its business events sector and the casino building attached to the main property has been designed so that a second storey can be added, Fargas said. It will be a convention and functions facility for as many as 500 people.

According to the SIVB’s Tuamoto, the government predicts that the business events sector will play a major role in the tourism industry over the next five years.

“While our MICE activity is still relatively small, and currently we mainly see incentive and small conference groups, the sector will play a major role in the Solomon Islands, benefitting from the generation of foreign exchange, employment and foreign investment,” he said.

“We know we have a big job ahead of us and we have a long way to catch up to other destinations,” Tuamoto stressed. “But we also know the many unique benefits the Solomon Islands can accrue from this source of tourism.

“The beauty of the Solomon Islands is that while Honiara is ideal for larger meetings groups, our other islands lend themselves perfectly to pre- and post-meeting opportunities with which participants can avail themselves of some amazing activities.”

China Silk Museum

By Caroline Boey
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China Silk Museum

First opened in 1992, the museum, located on a 40,000m2 southern Chinese garden site, was given a facelift and reopened in time for the G20 summit in Hangzhou that ran from September 4 to 5 last year.

Concept Silk production in Hangzhou dates back to the 13th Century and the museum houses six permanent galleries showcasing the history of silk, the Silk Road, silk artefacts and modern Chinese and western silk fashion. There are also areas for sericulture, weaving and textile training and research.

China Silk Museum

The museum provides a look at raising silkworms, dyeing, weaving, the earliest pattern loom models and preserved silk items from China as well as European painted and embroidered silks mainly from the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Its interactive video wall at the entrance introduces silk and silk weaving from all over the world.

MICE application The museum provides a beautiful backdrop and its opening act after its renovation was a G20 spouses’ tour of the facility.

The museum is now considering how it can collaborate with meetings planners interested in using the venue.

For now, the Brocade Café and sunken open air space can be used for cocktails and receptions and visitors can do a bit of shopping and buy designer silk products at the Jingluntang World Silk Boutique and local silk products at the Sibo Silk Shop.

The museum organises public lectures by industry experts and offers hands-on experience for visitors, who can try their hands on the looms to create items made with different types of yarn, dyeing, etc.

In addition, the museum, which owns the most advanced technology in textile conservation in China can show visitors how silk treasures are treated, repaired and packed for joint projects with partners like the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Service The escorted service for the site inspection was efficient, insightful and professional.

Website: http://en.chinasilkmuseum.com/
Contact: (86-571) 8703 5150
Operation hours: 09.00 to 17.00; (Mondays) 12.00 to 17.00

Keen coordination, communication

By Karen Yue
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Infinitus China gala dinner

Event brief
Infinitus (China) Company, which manufactures and distributes skincare, healthcare, and beauty care products, wanted to award more than 12,000 of its employees with a free trip to Thailand, where they visited Bangkok and Pattaya. In a show of hospitality, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau hosted four welcome gala dinners on May 16, 18, 23 and 28 for the group at Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Centre (PEACH), each for 3,000 delegates.

The team at PEACH was informed of the event on February 2016, while the gala dinners were due to take place just three months later in May.

Infinitus China gala dinner

Challenges
The four gala dinners presented various operational challenges to the PEACH team due to the sheer number of attendees and the fact that every dinner required four different menus to cater to the different guest segments – VIPs, company delegates, vegetarians and Muslims.

Maria Gequillana, PEACH spokesperson, said: “Because of this, we had to provide a large quantity of food while meeting each different requirement.”

A wide range of menu choices that satisfied the dietary considerations of the attendees was given to the client ahead of time, but confirmation arrived late and along with that came a string of “intricate special requests that made things a little difficult for our team”.

On event days, the F&B team also had to ensure food quality was not compromised while some dishes were prepared in advance.

Another major challenge was the need for traffic control “to ensure the smooth arrival and departure of such a large number of people”, said Gequillana, who added that the 3,000-strong group arrived in more than 100 buses within an hour for every night of the gala dinner.

Also, manpower was stretched – first, during dinner setup, especially for the first and second dinners which were held just two days apart; second, during food service when 100 staff must serve 12 dishes within 45 minutes. As well, the first dish – a seafood boat – must be served in a synchronised parade.

Solutions
Despite challenges in menu planning and execution, PEACH overcame them through its experienced F&B team that is used to handling large-scale events and is focused on processes, cleanliness and food quality.

Gequillana shared that Royal Cliff Hotels Group – which PEACH is part of – is certified with the prestigious Food Safety Management certificate, issued in conjunction with the ISO 22000 accredited by the British Standard Institute.

To bring the crowd under control, Gequillana said several meetings were held beforehand with Pattaya Traffic Bureau to ensure a smooth traffic to and from PEACH, as well as between the various internal departments and the event organiser to address potential issues.

“A traffic control/management system was provided by our security department where all staff involved were made to learn and understand how to direct traffic and efficiently lead attendees to and from the venue,” Gequillana told TTGmice.

Other measures on site included programming all escalators to run towards the dinner hall at arrival and away from it at the end of the event; placing security officers at escalators to prevent overcrowding; and creating entrances and exits that are small enough for just one person to pass through to create an organised queue.

To address manpower challenges, PEACH activated its Dream Team, a team comprising staff from different departments who will help with the setup of major events.
“This extra manpower helped us finish this rapid turnover successfully in such a short period of time,” remarked Gequillana.

To ensure a seamless food service on the four big days, all staff involved had to undergo rehearsals to be familiar with the process and timings, and attend debriefings at the end of every dinner.

Key takeaways
“(This project taught us) the importance of being prepared by identifying and assessing potential issues that might occur beforehand, which allowed us to create contingency plans,” said Gequillana.

“Being prepared also involved (having) our entire team understand their specific roles and responsibilities during the event’s execution.”

“Another lesson (for us) was (the need to) discuss details with the organisers beforehand so that our team clearly understands what needs to be delivered,” she added.

Event: Infinitus China gala dinner
Client: Infinitus China
Venue: Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall
Date: May 16, 18, 23 and 28, 2016
Number of participants: 12,000, split into four groups

Thomas Zhong

By TTGmice
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Thomas Zhong
Thomas Zhong

Pan Pacific Hotels Group has appointed Thomas Zhong as vice president, operations support and pre-openings. He was most recently the director for performance management at the Singapore corporate office of Raffles Hotels and Resorts, where he spent five years.

A royal lesson on cooperation

By Julian Ryall
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Event brief
The Japan-Spain Symposium is an annual event that has been held since 1997 and is one of the most important bilateral events on the diplomatic calendars of the two nations, which take turns to host the event.

Spurring tourism was a big topic in this year’s discussions, alongside social issues, such as on ageing populations.

Shortly after Shizuoka City The Nippondaira Hotel were selected to host the 18th symposium, the embassy of Spain in Tokyo sent word that King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia would attend. Japan’s Imperial Household Agency responded immediately that Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko would also be present.

Challenges
Given that the heads of the Spanish and Japanese royal families were due to attend, security was a major concern initially.

Shinichiro Suzuki, head of the MICE & International Affairs Division of the City of Shizuoka, said the organisers moved immediately to secure additional funds to ensure that security was of a suitable standard and that facilities were up to scratch.

The number and scale of associated events to mark the royals’ attendance were also increased.

The additional work meant that the event was pushed back to April, giving the organisers approximately six months to complete preparations – an extremely narrow window. One seasoned organiser said preparing an event of such scale normally requires three years.

Solutions
There was no substitute for hard work, extensive cooperation between the divisions within City Hall with a stake in the symposium, as well as local event planning companies, media outlets, volunteer organisations, and other organisations.

At the last minute, however, the Spanish king and queen were obliged to cancel their visit to Japan due to political problems at home. On the evening before the event was scheduled to open, the Imperial Household Agency announced that the Emperor and Empress would also have to withdraw due to the series of major earthquakes that had struck Kyushu, causing widespread damage and loss of life.

“It is impossible to predict political or geological upheavals, so we simply had to roll with the punches and try to deliver the best possible event, despite everything,” said Suzuki.
Still, the symposium and associated events went ahead smoothly. On the day of the discussions, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted an official luncheon and a dinner party in the evening was hosted by Shizuoka Mayor Nobuhiro Tanabe.

Former Miss Universe Riyo Mori, a goodwill ambassador for Shizuoka City, made a special appearance at the party. Ms Mori speaks perfect English and was able to mix and mingle naturally with the Spanish guests.

In addition, over the three-day duration, there were photo exhibitions, cultural performances and displays of the products of several companies from Spain and Japan.

Key takeaways
Said Suzuki: “While, unfortunately, neither royal couple was able to attend the symposium, we were able to gain priceless experience in preparing to host VIP guests.”
When prince and princess Akishino visited in October 2016, this knowledge was put to good use, he explained.

Another learning point was that having a good venue and convenient access are major pluses, but it is important to also highlight local attributes, said Suzuki.

“Shizuoka gives a stellar view of Mount Fuji from Nippondaira Hotel, and we were blessed with beautiful weather during the symposium, so our guests came away with a ‘uniquely Shizuoka’ experience.

“We also served a number of local specialties such as oden stew and bluefin tuna that landed at our Shimizu Port, not to mention locally brewed junmai daiginjo sake made with our renowned, ultrapure water.

“I believe we were able to give this big group of Spanish VIPs a very strong sense of what makes Shizuoka so special among cities in Japan.”

Event:The 18th Japan-Spain Symposium
Organiser/Client The City of Shizuoka and The Nippondaira Hotel
Venue: The Nippondaira Hotel, Shizuoka Prefecture
Date: April 15-17, 2016
Number of participants: 200 for the symposium; about 20,000 for related events

Kaci McAllister

By TTGmice
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Kaci McAllister
Kaci McAllister

Kaci McAllister is now general manager for Destination Asia China. She joined the company in early 2014 to lead product development throughout China.

Louise Daley

By TTGmice
0
Louise Daley
Louise Daley

AccorHotels has appointed Louise Daley as deputy CEO, Asia-Pacific, on top of her current role as CFO, Asia-Pacific. Since June 2015, Daley has served as executive vice president and CFO, Asia-Pacific. She has been with AccorHotels for 26 years.

Antony Box

By TTGmice
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Antony Box
Antony Box

Antony Box has been appointed director of sales and marketing for Marco Polo Hotels, Hong Kong. He was last director of sales and marketing, and regional director of business development at The Westin Resort Macau.

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