Indian travel agents have given a thumbs up to Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) latest version of INSPIRE (In Singapore Incentives and Rewards) programme that was introduced in India recently.

The new INSPIRE for India will help agents tap on smaller corporate groups, with STB qualifying group sizes of less than 50 participants. The maximum incentive group size is 200.

Gardens by the Bay

“We have reduced the minimum group size to 25-50 for companies to be eligible for the INSPIRE 3.0 programme. It will help us reach out to non-metro cities in India,” explained GB Srithar, regional director (SAMEA) for STB.

Praveen Chugh, managing director, Business Travels, pointed out “even in metro cities, there are corporates with smaller incentive groups of less than 50 pax who will be interested to participate”.

He added: “With STB making changes in minimum group size requirement, travel consultants will be able to reach out to more companies and help to further grow the Indian MICE movement to Singapore.”

INSPIRE 3.0 includes customised experiences with attraction partners such as Focus Adventure, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore Flyer, Singapore Turf Club, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Mount Faber, Sentosa and Resorts World Sentosa.

Karan Anand, head, relationships at Cox & Kings, told TTGmice: “The programme provides incentive and meeting partners with a ready-made platform to engage with their principals in Singapore. The seven unique attractions, coupled with the reduction in minimum group size requirement, will play the role of a catalyst to reach out to new markets.”

“With an array of activities it offers such as nightlife, amusement parks and adventure activities, Singapore has been one of the top choices for Indian corporates. This is also reflected in the expenditure by Indian corporate travellers in Singapore which has been rising over the last few years,” added Manish Raj, vice president & business head – corporate travel services at VIA.com.

New data from American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has show that the Asia-Pacific region maintains its significance for Singapore’s business travellers, with all 10 of the more frequented international destinations falling within the region.

The latest rankings echo results for the previous two years, with Kuala Lumpur continuing to lead. Despite subdued business travel spend within the financial services sector, key cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo remain as critical business travel destinations for Singapore’s businessmen.

Sydney has replaced Taipei as the 10^th most popular destination.

Top 10 international destinations by ranking:

1. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2. Jakarta, Indonesia
3. Bangkok, Thailand
4. Hong Kong, China
5. Manila, Philippines
6. Shanghai, China
7. Tokyo, Japan
8. Seoul, South Korea
9. Mumbai, India
10, Sydney, Australia

Source: American Express GBT Singapore point of sale data destination analysis for January – November 2016.

Beyond Asia-Pacific, London leads the destination rankings while San Francisco and New York in the US take second and third positions.

Meanwhile, the study also found that there has been a growing desire among business travellers for alternative means of transportation and accommodation options.

“We are noticing an increased desire for greater traveller choice through more variety in airline options including low cost carrier options, as well as broader hotel choices”, said Carl Jones, vice president, global client management, APAC, American Express GBT.

“While companies are looking at ways to enhance the traveller experience to cater towards younger members of their workforce, it’s important to balance these desires with the realities of travel budgets and what is a realistic policy for your organisation.”

The data, provided by American Express GBT Global Business Consulting, is based on actual bookings through American Express GBT made between January 2016 and November 2016.

Sixteen influential Club Melbourne Ambassadors have been conferred awards for securing 12 major international conferences for Melbourne in 2016.

The conference wins are worth an estimated A$62.5 million (US$47 million) to the State of Victoria, and when combined, will attract almost 12,000 international delegates who will spend a total of 46,000 days exploring the destination.

Club Melbourne Ambassadors

Owned and led by Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Club Melbourne Ambassador Program was set up in 2005 and currently comprises 119 ambassadors.

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) has updated the menu for its TenOnCall (TOC) packages, presenting 20 new dishes and 80 reinvented ones.

The Centre’s executive chef, Hisham Bin Jaafar, said in a media statement that the refreshed menu was a project two months in the making, with his culinary team investing time in research and development.

(From left) The Centre’s chefs Amir Mohamad and Mohd Hafiz preparing cuisine at one of TenOnCall’s Chef Action Stations

Culinary highlights include roasted lamb ribs glazed with honey and chilli flakes; Bandung crèmeux – rose-flavoured mousse; and Charlie Brown – salted peanut brownie with chocolate crème and lemongrass yogurt ice-cream.

TOC packages, valid for 10 flexible meeting spaces at the Centre, are available in half- and full-day arrangements, priced from RM186.56 (US$42) and RM212.20 nett per person respectively.

Okinawa will be playing host to the first Japanese Routes Asia air service development forum this weekend at the Okinawa Convention Centre.

More than 930 route development professionals from 110 airlines, 170 airports and 20 tourism authorities are expected to attend the event from March 19 to 21. Now in its 15th edition, Routes Asia is aimed at boosting international transport connections.

The conference element of the event, the Strategy Summit, will give delegates the chance to hear from industry leaders such as the CEO of Hong Kong Express, Andrew Cowen; the president of Spring Airlines, Steven Wang; and Etihad Airways’ vice president international affairs, Vijay Poonoosamy.

Hosting the event will give Okinawa the opportunity to showcase its many attractions to the aviation industry. Airlines that have signed up include Air China, Air Asia, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Hainan Airlines, Norwegian and Qatar Airways.

After a four month refurbishment costing US$11 million, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur has unveiled its Grand Ballroom and function rooms that are located across three floors of the hotel.

The pillarless Grand Ballroom now measures 1,509m², and features high ceilings, an elevated stage, flexible partitioning systems, large LED screens and complimentary Wi-Fi. It can seat up to 1,800 guests in a reception or theatre setting, 1,440 guests in a banquet setting, and 660 guests in a classroom setting.

Grand Ballroom

Moreover, there are 13 new function rooms, named after the different states in Malaysia. Room sizes range from 45m² to 905m², and can host an average of 100 to 200 guests. As well, a Junior Ballroom can be made up by combining four function rooms; it can seat 400 guests in a banquet setting and 300 guests in a theatre setting.

Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur also has a dedicated events management team.

Bumi Surabaya, a five-star city resort in East Java’s capital, has opened three new meeting rooms and is planning to add another four this year to better position itself against the competition.

The three meeting rooms with portable screens have a capacity of 50 people theatre-style and offers free Wi-Fi.

Endah Retnowati, the resort’s director of sales and marketing, told TTGmice that flexible rooms are important, as “there is a growing demand for corporate meetings in Surabaya and they usually require a number of breakout rooms”.

Currently, the hotel only has one ballroom – which could be divided into three spaces – and two breakout rooms. The ballroom can accommodate 500 pax and 1,000 in round-table or theatre style respectively, while the rooms could accommodate 50 people in theatre-style.

“New hotels are coming online and they (have) meeting facilities which answer the needs of today’s customers. Therefore, we need to add meeting rooms to put ourselves (on par) with the competition to win business,” she said.

Corporate events currently contribute 30 per cent of business and Endah expects the hotel’s additional meeting facilities to grow the contribution to 50 per cent.

When asked what else would set Bumi Surabaya apart from the new hotels, Endah said: “We are the only hotel in the city that has a resort concept with lush tropical garden. Our Pasar dining concept is also a signature.”

Pasar, which in Bahasa Indonesia means market, is an indoor and alfresco dining venue which serves an all-day buffet across several cuisines. Private dining events for no more than 30 guests can be arranged at this venue.

Global travel management company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), has broken the US$2 billion new business sales barrier.

Overall, the company reported strong results for 2016. In the financial year ending December 31, 2016, CWT recorded over 58.7 million transactions across the business. Its app CWT To Go saw an increase in users of almost 40 per cent. Hotel attachment also grew substantially, with the introduction of new content and capabilities.

The CWT Energy, Resources & Marine business was again adversely impacted by further reductions in travel spend as lower commodity prices and political changes continued to affect the sector, resulting in a total transaction volume decline of 23 per cent. Despite this, CWT closed 2016 with US$23 billion in total transaction volume.

Meanwhile, CWT Meetings & Events organised almost 35,000 meetings and events, up 27 per cent on 2015, while the company’s consulting arm, CWT Solutions Group achieved a 13 per cent revenue growth.