Bali’s fashionable district, Seminyak, has gotten a tad more chic with the arrival of iL Lido Bali Italian restaurant which is perfect for romantic dinners, relaxing corporate gatherings and everything else in between.
Concept Inspired by the leisure islands of Venice’s Lido and Singapore’s Sentosa, il Lido Bali is the brainchild of Beppe De Vito, who has combined Balinese hospitality with Italian elegance to create his latest baby. The result is an uber-chic and relaxed restaurant which promises authentic Italian food that is value for money. It also offers prime options for world-class wines, fine spirits and craft cocktails.
The dinner set menu is priced from 580,000 rupiah (US$45) per person while the buffet menu starts from 780,000 rupiah per person.
MICE application The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor spaces. The Courtyard in the middle, which draws shade from surrounding trees, along with the Portico, can accommodate 150 guests while the Pergola houses 24 seats.
There is also a private room which is suitable for an intimate gathering of 30 people, and a 30-seat bar.
In all, the restaurant can comfortably host a sit-down event for 200 guests and standing cocktails for 300 people.
Planners will appreciate the many open spaces here, which adds flexibilty to theming efforts. I imagine a sit-down dinner with acoustic music, a buffet dinner with entertainment, or a cocktail party with a fashion show can all be easily arranged here.
Service The restaurant delivered on its promise as far as the food is concerned. Service is friendly but there is room for improvement. The restaurant was not busy when we were there, so the service staff could have afforded to be more attentive to our needs by clearing the crumbs off our table or replenising our empty glasses.
Once home to Hotel Inna Putri Bali, one of the earliest hotels to be built in Nusa Dua in the mid-80s, the building’s latest incarnation is Inaya Putri Bali. Although it underwent a thorough reconstruction that started in 2012, the building has retained the Balinese and Indonesian architectural elements.
Rooms The resort has 460 rooms, of which 306 are deluxe rooms and 117 are deluxe rooms with pool access. The other room categories include suites and villas.
My ocean-view suite is huge – 90m2 in size – and conveniently located near the restaurants and lounge. There are two balconies – one connected to the living room and another to the sleeping quarters. I loved the latter which became my favourite spot to sip my morning coffee.
Views of the gardens and the ocean are stunning.
MICE facilities I like that the meeting facilities have their own entrance which sits away from the main one to the hotel. From this entrance, event attendees can go down an unsheltered walkway – my only complaint – to arrive at the ballroom’s pre-function area.
Another walkway connects the main hotel building to the meetings complex.
Facilities include the Mengiat Ballroom and two meeting rooms on the upper floor and breakout rooms on the lower floor. A staircase connects the two levels.
Mengiat Ballroom can take 800 pax, theatre-style and is equipped with a sound system and Wi-Fi. Pandawa and Balangan meeting rooms next to it can each accommodate 50 pax, or be combined for larger gatherings.
Three meeting rooms downstairs can each can take up to 50 pax, theatre-style.
A separate kitchen supports events held here.
Inaya Putri Bali’s sprawling gardens and beach are suitable for outdoor events.
Other facilities There are five F&B outlets, with capacity ranging from 50 to 250 seats. For recreation, there are three-tier infinity pools, spa facilities and water activities such as kayaking and windsurfing.
Insufficient hardware to support large-scale events continues to be a bugbear for Sri Lanka’s MICE players, writes Feizal Samath
A new convention centre in Sri Lanka is on the cards while the industry has pulled off a major coup in cajoling a top French travel association to hold its congress in the country. The congress of the Syndicat National Des agents de Voyages in October will bring over 500 agents and their guests to the country.
These should be enough reasons for Sri Lanka’s MICE stakeholders to celebrate but the mood is still sombre as current and upcoming event infrastructure is seen as being inadequate to support their desire for mega events.
Sri Lanka presently offers the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) and theSri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre. The former houses multipurpose facilities for meetings and a separate exhibition centre, with the main hall capable of accommodating only 1,500 seats. The latter, managedby Singapore-based Pico Group, can also accommodate 1,500 pax but lacks proper parking facilities. Furthermore, this facility will likely be demolished once its contract ends in three to four years, to make way for the construction of a financial centre.
Vipula Wanigasekera, a MICE veteran and former general manager of the state-run Sri Lankan Conventions Bureau (SLCB), lamented: “No one really understands conferences and exhibitions. There is no proper strategy and MICE is seen as a small component of travel, just another add-on.”
Expressing frustration with the upcoming convention centre, which will be only 1.6 hectares in size, Wanigasekera said: “The space allocated for it is, in my view, only enough for parking!”
The new venue, to be located outside of capital city Colombo, is the government’s response to urgent calls from local MICE stakeholders to resolve the capacity crunch.
For years now, local MICE stakeholders have been demanding a bigger convention centre with capacity for over 5,000 people, break-out rooms, areas for special dinners as well as entertainment and residential facilities. They bemoaned that while successful MICE cities like Singapore and Dubai can accommodate more than 10,000 to 15,000 pax in one of many venues, Sri Lanka’s largest conference centre can seat a meagre 1,500 guests.
So, in November, the government set aside three billion rupees (US$20.6 million) for the construction of the country’s third venue. Today, a blue-print is being prepared.
But experts argue that this is simply not enough, especially with the impending loss of the Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre.
A worried Ziyan Ameen, president of the Sri Lanka Association of Professional Conference, Exhibition & Event Organisers (SLAPCEO), told TTGmice that the remaining venues would be “miniscule compared to our competitors” who have several larger multipurpose venues.
What is rosy, however, is the state of Sri Lanka’s incentive event business which has been flourishing. Trade players expect this segment to continue to see good growth, thanks to the country’s diversity of locations and attractions.
Adding another obstacle to Sri Lanka’s MICE quest is the high taxes. According to the MICE head of a local firm, taxes on bringing a foreign musician or band into Sri Lanka can amount to 46 per cent of the entire event cost.
Local MICE stakeholders want more unique venues in Sri Lanka
and have suggested making existing attractions, such as the
Colombo National Museum, available for event hire Picture by
saiko3p/shutterstock
Accommodation in Colombo, where most of the events are held, is also woefully inadequate to support large-scale meetings. There are now about 4,000 rooms in the capital.
New hotel brands like Shangri-La, Sheraton and Hyatt that are coming into the capital will add 1,000 rooms to the room inventory, but the numbers are still insufficient to make Sri Lanka a worthy global competitor for big events.
The largest meeting in Colombo was in January 2015 when Phillips India held its convention for 1,500 guests. Attendees had to be housed in three to four hotels while meetings were hosted in two hotels at different times.
What the country needs is a stronger convention bureau with more funding and a good strategy in place, according to Ameen.
“We (also) need special venues for theme dinners, for example the Colombo National Museum grounds or a sports complex that can be transformed into something exciting. We don’t have (such venues) at the moment,” Ameen added.
Although Prema Cooray, SLCB chairman has acknowledged these shortfalls, he remains excited about Sri Lanka’s MICE future, confident that India will continue to be the industry’s key to success.
Cooray said: “Our focus will be to concentrate on India (as always). The potential for MICE is huge and (the market) is advantageous to us as we are (located) very close.”
He added that many international companies have moved their corporate headquarters to India from Singapore or Europe, which will encourage more business travels from India.
The southern cities of India – Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore – which are just a short flight from Colombo will be the centre of SLCB’s marketing efforts. Cooray said access is affordable and frequent, as SriLankan Airlines flies 110 times a week to these cities.
Sri Lanka’s Golden Temple of Dambulla is a UNESCO World
Heritage Site
{Taking Numbers}
34 The number of international conventions and meetings in Sri Lanka this year that SriLankan Airlines is supporting as official carrier
61 The number of overseas tradeshows and fairs that Sri Lanka Tourism is taking part in to promote the country
145,773 The number of Indian arrivals in the first five months of 2016. India is Sri Lanka’s largest source market and biggest provider of MICE footfalls
{Developments to Watch}
Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts has become the first hotel chain in Sri Lanka to establish a Chinese-friendly environment, encouraged by the vast increase in Chinese inbound numbers. Two hotels in the chain – Cinnamon Grin both Mandarin and English, trained its front-line staff in basic Mandarin, and dedicated an entire floor in both hotels to Chinese guests. Rooms on this floor feature Chinese décor, Chinese tea and reading materials in Mandarin.
Cinnamon Air’s commencement of daily flights from Colombo to Hambantota in early June has vastly improved access to Sri Lanka’s developing southern coast. While it used to take 2.5 hours to journey between the two points, the flight cuts it down to just an hour, a convenience much appreciated by time-strapped business travellers and event attendees.
Opened earlier this year in the former war-devastated northern town of Jaffna, the 55-keys Jetwing Jaffna is the destination’s first upmarket hotel. Its ability to accommodate small meetings with 30 to 50 guests means it will help attract corporate interest to Jaffna’s unspoiled beaches and rich cultural offerings. Jaffna, meanwhile, is looking to build up its tourism sector.
The National Monument in Jakarta’s Merdeka Square Picture by saiko3p/shutterstock
Indonesia’s first MICE industry champion is born and it has hit the ground running with plenty to juggle, including securing its own financial stream. Mimi Hudoyo reports
“Developing and promoting all 16 MICE destinations in the country is one of our programmes (but) we need to set our priorities.” Budi Tirtawisata Chairman, Indonesia Convention and Exhibition Bureau
For Indonesian MICE stakeholders who have been hungry for a national body to coordinate and lead the promotion and development of the country’s business events industry, the formation of the Indonesia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (INACEB) is regarded as an exquisite feast.
Budi Tirtawisata, chairman of INACEB, described the industry’s welcome as being “enthusiastic” and “overwhelming”.
He said: “We received requests from convention centres in Manado and Jakarta to become members even before we’ve established the (joining) criteria. A number of professional associations have also approached us for assistance in bringing congresses here. Even Aceh has asked us how it can also develop a MICE industry.”
Warm welcome aside, INACEB has its work cut out for it.
Budi said: “Developing and promoting all 16 MICE destinations in the country is one of our programmes (but) we need to set our priorities.”
And for now, INACEB’s priority is to focus on destinations that can handle conferences with more than 1,000 delegates. These destinations are Jakarta, Bali, Bandung, Surabaya, Jogjakarta, Medan and Makassar.
For the promotion of Indonesia’s incentive capability, Budi said far more destinations would qualify for support.
Ida Bagus Lolec, head of incentive division of INACEB, added: “Currently, Bali is (about) the only destination in Indonesia for incentive programmes but there are other destinations with potential because of their culture, people, nature and culinary offerings.”
MICE stakeholders agree that what these destinations need is greater creativity in packaging attractive products to entice international incentive groups.
INACEB will also need to tackle the financial challenge and obtain sufficient resources to keep it going and deliver on its promises.
The association had announced its lofty goals of positioning Indonesia in eighth spot on ICCA’s Asia Pacific ranking by 2019, up from the current 12th, as well as move Indonesian cities into the top 30 global rankings by ICCA and UIA.
It also vowed to contribute two million MICE arrivals – 10 per cent of the total 20 million target footfalls – by 2019.
Unlike other countries where the government fully funds such an association, Budi revealed that this wasn’t the case in Indonesia. As such, INACEB is a private organisation that also acts as a strategic partner of the Ministry of Tourism.
While the ministry has pledged some funding – US$10 million which will come into use in 2017 – INACEB must also find its own financial stream in the long run.
Budi explained that INACEB has no control over the funds provided by the government, as they are channelled into supporting programmes.
For 2016, some of INACEB’s programmes are incorporated into the ministry’s own programmes which were rolled out last year.
Other forms of support from the government include database compilation and website construction. According to Budi, the website should be up and running this year.
Budi pointed out that financial control is needed because the current government programmes do
not include support for site visits, delegate-boosting activities and bidding, and these – if required – will need to be created in the next budget term.
The government has a rigid financial regulation which requires budgets to be used entirely and for approved programme requirements.
When asked about the lack of support for site visits, delegate-boosting activities and bidding, I Gde Pitana, deputy minister for international tourism marketing development, Ministry of Tourism, clarified that they do exist although such activities go by different “business terminologies” in the ministry’s books.
He explained that support for INACEB’s bidding activities would be referred to as sales missions, while site visits would be referred to as familiarisation trips.
“Therefore, there is nothing (for INACEB) to worry about,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, since its launch on March 28, INACEB has kept busy with participation in MICE industry tradeshows such as IMEX along with the tourism ministry. Rocky Kalalo, INACEB executive director, also shared that the board has held meetings with industry players and assisted professional associations in inviting international events to Indonesia.
Rocky said: “There is interest from medical and earthquake engineering associations, for example, to organise conferences in Indonesia.”
INACEB is working on “quite a number of events aiming to take place in 2017”, and an international exhibition on philately in Bandung is one of them.
At press time, INACEB was putting together a programme for 2017, which will be submitted to the Ministry of Tourism for approval.
Clockwise from top: Jakarta’s city centre; Indonesian gourmet delights; Balinese Legong dancers; Tamansari water castle in Yogjakarta
{Taking Numbers}
2.5 The target revenue – in billions of US dollars – that Indonesia hopes to make from MICE by 2019, representing around 10 per cent of total tourism revenue
15 The position Bali takes in ICCA’s latest global ranking of cities for meetings. The destination hosted 38 meetings in 2015
31.4 The percentage of total arrivals to Indonesia that had come for business and convention in 2014, according to latest available data from the Ministry of Tourism Tourists enjoy a drink while watching the sunset in a beach bar along Seminyak
beach, just north of Kuta, in Bali
{Developments to Watch}
Terminal 3 Ultimate, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta is in its final stage of development at press time.It is expected to be fully operational by 2017. Designed to be an air hub like the airports of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the new terminal can handle up to 25 million passengers a year.
Even better access into Indonesia can be expected with a third runway which will begin construction next year.
Garuda Indonesia’s reinstatement of a daily Singapore-Medan service in June bodes well for North Sumatra and its capital, Medan. The province has been promoting itself as a business event destination, particularly touting Medan’s readiness for MICE. Medan has hotels of various categories, a convention centre and an airport with capacity for eight million passengers a year.
The European Commission’s recent decision to remove its safety ban on three Indonesian carriers – Lion Air, Batik Air and Citilink – has presented more opportunities for secondary Indonesian destinations to host business events with European participants. Lion Air, especially, has extensive routes and frequencies around Indonesia.
NET space sold at Asian trade fairs jumped by 5.6 per cent to almost 19.7 million square metres in 2015, according to figures released in an annual UFI report.
The largest market is China, where 56 per cent or 11.19 million square metres of total space was sold. This is five and a half times the space sold in Asia’s second largest market, Japan (2.05 million square metres).
The China market grew 7.1 per cent, while India posted strongest growth at 7.8 per cent.
In addition, South-east Asia continued to record considerable growth as the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam grew by between 7.2 and 7.8 per cent last year – well above the regional average of 5.6 per cent.
Elsewhere in Asia, net space sold in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan expanded by 3.7, 3.2, 2.2 and 1.2 per cent respectively.
By the end of 2016, Asia’s venue capacity is expected to exceed 7.8 million square metres – while number of venues would likely reach 207, more than double the 100 venues in operation in 2004. Of this gross indoor capacity, China would account for over 70 per cent with 5.5 million square metres floor space and 108 venues.
SHARING preliminary results from an ongoing study by MCI Group on how associations in Europe, Latin America and Asia are performing, Oscar Cerezales, COO-Asia Pacific noted that sponsorship matters are among the top concerns.
Some 80 per cent of respondents say sponsorship is one of the top three challenges faced by their associations, and of these, 69 per cent has named this issue as the top concern.
Breaking down the numbers further, Cerezales revealed that 70 per cent of Asian associations regard sponsorship as the top concern, while 83 per cent and 56 per cent of those in Latin America and Europe, respectively, felt the same way.
“The good news is, sponsorship is here to stay and growth is amazing for all media except the Internet and mobile,” Cerezales told the audience at the PCMA Meetings Forum Singapore.
“What is changing is the way sponsor prospects regard sponsorship activities. They have a lot of options and are choosing wisely. Remember, you are not the only association around, and your conference is not the only one they can support,” he added.
Cerezales offered several tips on what associations can do to get more sponsorship. They include approaching sponsor prospects a year ahead of the event, offering a customised sponsorship package that appeals to the prospect’s business interest, using data as a key in sales pitches, providing a year-round sponsorship opportunity, and leveraging multiple channels or platforms, among other things.
The study is expected to be completed by the end of this year, and results will help the MCI Group to more accurately access the health of its client associations as well as the identification and resolution of areas of weaknesses.
JW MARRIOTT Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square has unveiled its latest meeting package with a focus on well-being. The Well-being Meeting Package incorporates a revitalising workout, organic cuisine, and a body-and-mind soothing activity for meeting delegates to help them meet better.
“We aim to cultivate a unique meeting experience that helps guests feel productive, inspired and creative,” the hotel’s general manager, Silvio Rosenberger, said.
“The newly launched well-being meeting package reverses the formal traditional meeting module by incorporating mood-enhancing touches for delegates. These not only meet the guests’ need for a balanced feeling, it also promotes efficiency.”
Priced at RMB680 (US$102; excluding a 15 per cent surcharge), the offer is available for groups with a minimum of 10 people who book the use of meeting facilities. The group will avail the following benefits: one hour of fun exercise prior to the start of the meeting; healthy meeting-inspired coffee breaks; 15-minute shoulder massage during the meeting break; customised organic lunch; and a one-month gym membership card for every RMB8,000 spent in each meeting.
AMADEUS is customising a new online and mobile corporate travel solution for Asia to be rolled out starting October, following the launch of Amadeus cytric Travel & Expense in Europe earlier this year.
At a Corporate Travel World (CTW) Forum held in Singapore during the First Tourism Technology Asia event last week, Frederic Saunier, Asia-Pacific head of Corporate IT, Amadeus, said the tool will make its debut in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan.
In addition to being a unified solution, the tool is also integrated with Microsoft Outlook booking and comes accompanied with a mobile companion with expense reporting capabilities, Saunier shared.
Amadeus spokesman, Chris Waite, added: “We plan to launch in Singapore in October and will probably have more to say by the CTW Asia-Pacific event in Bangkok in September.”
Over a year ago, Amadeus acquired i:FAO, a leading provider of travel management technology solutions and its flagship cytric solution.
MEETING planners can enjoy more rewards when they hold their meetings with IHG Singapore’s portfolio of hotels.
These include: double IHG Business Rewards points which can be redeemed for room nights and more at over 5,000 hotels worldwide, and five per cent off the total group meeting expenses with a minimum spend of US$1,000.
This is valid for qualified groups, events and meetings booked by September 30, 2016, for stays until December 31, 2016. A minimum booking of 10 rooms is required, while the minimum spend varies with group size, space requirements and dates requested.
Housing more than 4,300m2 of meeting space and 3,047 guestrooms across all its hotels, IHG Singapore offers a comprehensive suite of both meeting facilities and accommodation options to cater to varying preferences.
IHG Singapore comprises the eight hotels: InterContinental Singapore, Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium, Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre, Holiday Inn Express Singapore Clarke Quay, Holiday Inn Express Singapore Orchard Road and newly-opened Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong as well as Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong.
For enquiries or bookings, please call 1800MEETING, email 1800MEETING@ihg.com or visit emtg.ihg.com to submit an online request for a proposal.
THE Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) will have a “busy year” ahead in 2017, with three key industry events on its calendar.
Veron Poh, IES project manager who is responsible for the association’s meetings and events, said the line-up included the International Applied Engineering Economics Conference in June at Marina Bay Sands, the 3rd World Engineers Summit in July at Suntec Singapore, and ASPECT, a railway engineering related conference done with the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (UK) in November.
The World Engineers Summit is IES’ flagship event, and the 2017 edition will take on a stronger academic slant, with a focus on low carbon future and sustainable development, to attract a larger foreign audience.
Poh said the Summit aims to attract more than 1,000 attendees – similar to its first two editions in 2013 and 2015 – but with 60 per cent of delegates hailing from overseas.
In 2015, the Summit drew 80 per cent locals and only 20 per cent foreign delegates.
In addition to these three major events, IES also works with similar associations overseas, such as the Institution of Chemical Engineers in the UK, for joint events in Singapore, and organises smaller member gatherings and training programmes.
“With the number of events we do growing this quickly, I will need more hands on deck and hope to grow my team to cope with all the activities next year,” Poh said, adding that she is currently supported by two other staff.
A polished urban retreat designed for business travellers, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown combines thoughtful design, seamless service, and exceptional facilities.
The five-star property excels in backing its expansive facilities with seamless service and personalised attention, setting the benchmark for luxury in Bangkok.
