AccorHotel’s Novotel brand has been selected for a four-star hotel to be developed next to the new wing of Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

The 347-key Novotel Melbourne South Wharf will sit close to the expanded exhibition space of the MCEC, providing business and leisure guests more high-quality accommodation options on the Yarra River’s south bank.

Scheduled to open by 1Q2018, the new-build encompasses Novotel signatures such as Live N’ Dream bedding, interactive TVs and FairTrade bathroom amenities as well as free barista coffee at breakfast.

AccorHotels’ Pacific chief operating officer Simon McGrath: “Significant investment in infrastructure such as this Novotel hotel will further increase the capacity for Melbourne to attract significant events, conferences and exhibitions and cater to the domestic and international travel markets.”

Novotel Melbourne South Wharf will complement other Novotel properties in the city – Novotel Melbourne on Collins, Novotel Melbourne Glen Waverley and Novotel Melbourne St Kilda.

The embattled Philippine travel trade is using every avenue to improve the destination’s image, following the latest attack of a heavy indebted gambler at the casino of Resorts World Manila (RWM) last Friday after a series of unfortunate events in recent months.

The RWM casino attack, which claimed 38 lives including the gambler’s, came on the heels of ongoing clashes between the military and ISIS affiliated terrorists in Marawi that led to the imposition of martial law in Mindanao. An earlier failed terrorist attack in Bohol and terrorist threats in central Visayas had also led to travel advisories from various countries.

Marlene Insigne, tours division manager, Southeast Travel Corp, said they immediately sent assurance to their clients and counterparts abroad, attaching the letter of Benjamin Santiago, director, National Capital Region (including Manila) on the Department of Tourism addressed to tourism stakeholders.

Santiago in his letter urged Philippine stakeholders to assure their counterparts abroad that Manila and the nearby regions remain a safe destination for visitors, emphasising accurate information dissemination is critical.

“We continue to work closely with you by providing you with reliable updates on matters that may affect tourism and your businesses and assist in minimising any adverse effect that may arise because of lack of information or worse, inaccurate reporting in the media,” he wrote.

Insigne said that a group of eight from the US has not cancelled their booking for this week at Belmont Hotel, part of the RWM complex, which she expects to have tighter security.

Bernadette de Leon, general manager, Amiable Intertours, said that while they can only “wait and see until things get better”, the Philippines still has time to recover its image.

De Leon said that the RWM attack is “an isolated case” and not an act of terrorism, adding that martial law in Mindanao is only for 60 days and will be lifted once the terrorists are defeated in Marawi.

Fe Abling-Yu, one of the founders of the Asia Premium Travel Mart (APTM) which will be held in Manila on June 20, said the mart is hit by some cancellations “but that this is also the best time to promote the Philippines”. She is also encouraged that there are over 10 APTM buyers and media who will go on a Davao fam trip.

On Facebook, travel agents began challenging their friends here and abroad to post pictures of the Philippines to show it as a great place. “Let’s counteract the negativity and help ourselves,” said Rajah Tours president Jojo Clemente.

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, always a slow period for business events, has turned out particularly bad this year for business hotels in Malaysia, the situation exacerbated by reduced corporate budgets on the back of a weak corporate environment and the national currency slump.

Susan Yap, director of sales and marketing at The Westin Kuala Lumpur, told TTGmice: “It is more difficult to convert leads from corporate companies this year. They tell us they are not sure about having the meeting, or it might be postponed.

“The lead time for small meetings is also very short. We’re getting bookings coming in three days prior to the event. In the past, it used to be at least 10 days for small groups of 20 pax or less.”

To compensate the slowdown, the hotel has designed one-stop breaking of fast packages in its function spaces for corporate organisers. The packages include food, traditional music, decorations and prayer facilities.

Zoe Seow, director of sales with Four Points by Sheraton Puchong, another business hotel, noted that local meeting organisers tend to be more price sensitive this year and are looking for better meeting package rates, rather than add-ons.

Seow elaborated: “They know this is a good time to get better rates. Our Ramadan full-day meeting packages are 20 per cent cheaper than the normal packages. We still offer two coffee breaks but those who choose not to have lunch can exchange for a dinner voucher which they can utilise during the fasting month.”

Four Points by Sheraton Puchong is also generating revenue from the breaking of fast spreads to balance out lower revenue from meetings.

When contacted last week, The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa’s director of sales and marketing, Sally Fadjrina, revealed that meetings were only coming from domestic account, many of which were from Kuala Lumpur. While business was slow, Fadjrina said clients are attracted to the more affordable rates now available.

Fadjrina expects business events from Asia-Pacific to pick up in 4Q2017.

Also seeing a tough month of corporate event business is Syed Razif Al-Yahya, group managing director of Sutra Group of Companies, who revealed that government agencies and government linked companies had slashed budgets last year and had trimmed it down further this year.

Concur will join SAP’s Seoul office in its latest expansion announcement, allowing it to offer expense solutions to large conglomerates, enterprise businesses and multinational companies with operations in South Korea.

“South Korea is an important part of Concur’s global growth strategy,” said Won Joon Hyoung, president, SAP Korea.

“We currently have strong business interest and momentum in South Korea, despite not having a local office. The outdated expense and travel management solutions widely deployed in the market today are not capable of providing data and insights that help businesses make more informed decisions. By investing in Concur’s operations in South Korea, our goal is to lead the domestic market in travel and expense management.”

Barry Long has been appointed as vice president of global sales, Asia Pacific for Concur, and Jaesung Kim is head of sales for Concur Korea. Concur will be building additional sales, solution consulting, marketing, service delivery and business development teams in the coming months.

In 4Q2016, among its current customer base in Korea, Concur saw more than 125 per cent YOY growth in expense transactions, and more than 113 per cent growth in reimbursed expense spend.

According to GBTA’s BTI Outlook, total South Korean business travel spend was US$32.6 billion in 2015. The BTI Outlook projects spend volume will grow at a rate of 4.4 per cent per year through 2020, outpacing the 2.6 to 2.8 per cent economic growth.

South Korea currently ranks among the top 10 countries for business travel spend, according to GBTA. With the launch, Concur is now operating in all 10 of the top global markets for business travel.

Nick Evered, senior vice president and general manager for Concur Asia Pacific, hopes to continue Concur’s strong performance in South Korea through the SAP partnership.

Concur, which was acquired by SAP in 2014, offers a fully connected travel, expense and invoice platform ecosystem that integrates its products, suppliers and partners.

Marking the latest milestone for the construction of Adelaide Convention Centre’s new East Building is the installation of the venue’s rotating seating platform – said to be the largest in the world.

The two 18m revolving drums can be rotated 180 degrees within minutes, allowing the building to be quickly reconfigured for events, conferences and concerts.

The East Building will also feature hinged seating stored in the roof, which can be lowered to convert the room from an exhibition area to a theatre-style space.

The East Building will also feature hinged seating stored in the roof, which can be lowered to convert the room from an exhibition area to a theatre-style space.

The two rotating drums can each accommodate up to 320 people, with the East Building having a total capacity of up to 3500 seats.

At the height of construction there have been more than 400 workers on and off-site involved in construction and when complete the redevelopment is expected to support more than 1,200 South Australian jobs a year.

The East Building forms Stage Two of the redevelopment and is scheduled to be officially opened in August.

The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation has launched the Jabodetabek Airport Connexion (JAConnexion), a bus service connecting 15 hotels and seven malls in Jabodetabek (Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi) to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Initiated by the Jabodetabek Transportation Management Board, the service is operated by four major bus operators deploying a total of 91 buses.

Officials at the launch of JAConnexion. Photo credit: kabartangsel.com

Indonesia’s minister of transportation Budi Karya said: “Soekarno-Hatta (sees) traffic of 150,000 (people) a day and 25,000 (more) work at the airport. Such a transportation service has become mandatory, but 91 buses are not enough. I expect by the end of the year, we will have 400 buses.”

JAConnexion will give travellers an alternative mode of airport transport on top of the Jakarta Lite Rapid Transit train service, which will start operating soon.

Among the hotels and malls enjoying the shuttle connections are Alila Jakarta, Hotel Borobudur Jakarta, Sari Pan Pacific, Grand Indonesia, Taman Anggrek and Plaza Senayan.

The service costs 50,000 rupiah (US$3.75) from hotels and half the price from malls.

New Zealand is an attractive destination not just because of its scenery and activities but because it is a safer choice than Europe, opined agents attending last week’s MEETINGS 2017 in Auckland.

“My customers are avoiding Europe now,” said Astrid Soeseno, president director of Rotama Tour in Indonesia.

 “Europe has often been the more popular choice because of the perceived value for money. But recently, a lot of things have happened (there) and there’s been a lot of bombings, so people are more likely to consider New Zealand or Australia,” Soeseno explained.

Soeseno was one of 29 international hosted buyers who experienced New Zealand’s offerings in a fam trip organised by Tourism New Zealand in conjunction with MEETINGS 2017. Programmes included sailing on an America’s Cup yacht, visiting picturesque vineyards, skydiving and bungy jumping.

“I think New Zealand definitely has a lot to offer,” said Jessie Heng, managing director of events company Crystal Edge Singapore. “The only thing is visitors won’t have enough time to cover so much goodness. But it’s a good problem to have.”

For Chinese delegates however, there are a few things that would hold back an enthusiastic endorsement of the country for business events.

“New Zealand is good for meetings,” said Linda Tsai, vice general manager of MICE for Apple Tour in Shanghai and Taiwan. “But we need more airline capacity from China, large convention centres as well as restaurant food for Asian diets.”

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has served a notice to revoke the travel agent licence of MISA Travel for “(ceasing) to carry on the business of a travel agent and being unable to fulfil its obligations towards customers”.In a statement, STB advised affected consumers to contact MISA Travel regarding the status of their booking or seek a refund. In the event that the agency cannot be reached or fails to provide the relevant service or refund, consumers with applicable travel insurance should approach their insurance providers.

Those not covered by travel insurance can approach the Consumers Association of Singapore or the Small Claims Tribunal, STB said.

STB also stressed that consumers should take precautionary measures such as purchasing travel insurance that covers unforeseen events such as travel agent insolvency and making instalment payments.

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.