More details of Penang’s largest convention and exhibition venue has been revealed as its opening draws closer.

The RM350 million (US$78.78 million) Setia Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre (Setia SPICE), which will open in March 2017, will be the first solar hybrid convention centre in the world, have a seven-acre park on the rooftop which will house a spice garden and a playground for children with special needs, a 4,546m² pillar-less ballroom that can accommodate 8,000 people in theatre style and be sectioned into four smaller halls, among other features.

Setia SPICE

Setia SPICE is part of an integrated project which includes the refurbished Penang International Sports Arena – now known as Setia SPICE Arena – with capacity for 10,000 people in theatre seating and can be used for plenary sessions, the Setia SPICE Aquatic Centre, and the Setia SPICE Canopy recreational area. By 2019, a four-star business class hotel with 453 keys will join the mix.

Koe Peng Kang, executive vice president of S P Setia, believes that the green credentials of Setia SPICE will give the complex an advantage in courting international clients who have a strict CSR policy and prefer to work with like-minded suppliers.

Senior manager, Yeoh Kheng Ho, said Setia SPICE, is looking at a business mix of 80 per cent local and 20 per cent international business in its first year of operations.

Ahead of its opening, the complex already has a stream of bookings, comprising annual dinners, weddings, small local conferences and meetings, said Yeoh. Two large international conferences are also in the bag, one of which is for over 8,000 people in May.

With this dedicated centre complemented by 2,000 rooms within a 10km radius, Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau will be able to bid for large conventions that require many breakout rooms, said its CEO, Ashwin Gunasekeran.

Hooi Lai Ngoh, honorary secretary of the Malaysian Thoracic Society and Malaysian Medical Association Penang Branch chairman, said Penang’s newest convention centre will fulfil the need for a single venue large enough to support massive medical meetings that usually have several concurrent sessions and an exhibition component.

Tony Goh, honorary secretary for Malaysian Association of Hotels Penang Chapter, said the state needs more business-class hotels to support Setia SPICE and the projected increase in business events once the centre is operational.

Currently the state has an inventory of around 11,000 hotel rooms and an average occupancy rate of over 60 per cent.

Malaysian inbound MICE players and suppliers have seen a further spike in business due to the weakened ringgit in light of the US election results last month. The currency has fallen nearly seven per cent since November 9, 2016, and today, the ringgit is trading at RM4.43 against the US dollar.

Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, revealed on the sidelines of the recent BE@Penang that incentive travel business from India and Indonesia for 1Q2017 was at least 20 per cent better than the corresponding period in 2016. He said that many organisers had locked in the rates in November as they thought the ringgit was at its lowest.

However, he shared that forward bookings from Thailand and the Philippines were slow. For Thailand, it was because business trips are being put on hold as the country mourns the passing of its King.

Das predicts that business would pick up from these two markets in early 2017.

Koe Peng Kang, executive vice president of S P Setia, also expects the weak ringgit to encourage local organisers to keep their events on home ground due to budget constraints.

Francis Teo, head, convention centre, Setia City Convention Centre in Selangor, added that the weak ringgit has also given rise to more Malaysians joining multi-level marketing programmes to further supplement their incomes. His centre has seen an increase in direct selling events as well as insurance related ones.

When asked for his outlook for 2017, he hopes that it’ll be a better year.

Pacific World will expand operations to include Mauritius, Turkey and the Dominican Republic as new destinations for their incentive clients for 2017, encouraged by demand for experiential programmes and an expected increase in budgets.

“The decision is a direct response to the growing demand that we have witnessed from our clients, who are increasingly searching for meaningful experiences that move their customers,” said Selina Chavry, global managing director for Pacific World, adding that high-end adventures, authentic local experiences, CSR activities and wellness retreats rank among the most sought-after programmes among clients.

Flic-en-Flac, a seaside village in the district of Riviere Noire, Mauritius Island

Chavry further pointed out: “It’s clear that incentives are on the rise again with the latest SITE Index research confirming that almost half of incentive travel buyers expect to see their budgets increase over the next 12 months, and 60 per cent say they plan to increase incentive eligibility for their programmes next year – the opening of these two new destinations give even more choices to our customers.”

On how the chosen destinations could measure up to the demand trends, a Pacific World statement described Mauritius as a year-round incentive destination with picturesque beaches, off-the-beaten-track villages and ancients legends.

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic boasts historic sites and opportunities to participate in socially-conscious travel activities; and Turkey offers varied experiences ranging from dining at 1,500-year-old Byzantine cisterns to partying at popular clubs.

The recent merger of Cvent and Lanyon Solutions will see the two providers of cloud-based enterprise event management technology combine business operations and become a privately-held company operating under the Cvent brand in the coming year.

On Tuesday, Vista Equity Partners, owner of Lanyon, completed its acquisition of all outstanding Cvent common stock for US$36.00 per share in a transaction valued at approximately US$1.65 billion.

Reggie Aggarwal, Cvent’s founder and CEO, has been named the CEO of the new company, while David Bonnette, CEO of Lanyon, will “work with the management team through the transition to a single company”, according to a statement.

Combined, Cvent and Lanyon have more than 800 technology professionals and over 700 customer-facing support staff.

Brian Sheth, co-founder and president of Vista, said: “There is an incredible opportunity to upgrade and expand the technology in the enormous and largely untapped meetings and events industry.

“With the leadership of Cvent’s highly-successful management team, working with our experienced Lanyon team, we are bullish on our ability to seize the green field opportunity ahead and remain the market leader in this segment,” he added.

Cvent has approximately 28,000 customers in 100 countries and has powered over two million events and sourced over US$50 billion total RFP value through their sourcing networks.

Members of Singapore’s elite Conference Ambassador Programme (CAP), set up by the Singapore Tourism Board to bring association events to the city-state, have raised the possibility of creating “hybridised” meetings that cross-pollinate industries.

The panellists who spoke on the topic Keeping Up The Pace: What’s Next For Association Events? during CAP’s 10th anniversary celebration last week, represented the environment, medical, scientific and agriculture fields.

(From left) Janet Tan-Collis, moderator, with panellists Anamah Tan, Chan Yew Weng, Perry Shum and Kenny Eng

Kenny Eng, president of the Kranji Countryside Association and deputy president of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth, said the Singapore brand was synonymous with “talent, knowledge and finding solutions for the world… people see Singapore as the future”.

“Singapore has managed to find agriculture solutions and I see the possibility of doing something with health. We can start with agriculture, link it with health and that goes with medicine and science,” Eng pointed out.

Moderator Janet Tan-Collis, president of SACEOS and CEO of East West Planners, agreed that Singapore, which made a success of concepts such as hosting the F1 night race and the building two casinos which many did not want, can provide the inspiration, aspiration and thought leadership.

In Singapore’s favour were critical factors like accessibility, said Chan Yew Weng, council member and scribe of the Academy of Medicine Singapore and council member (Education Committee) of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists. Meanwhile, Perry Shum, chair, Optical Society of America (Singapore Section) and associate vice president, IEEE Photonics Society, membership council, highlighted Singapore’s safety and pro-visitor visa regime to attract participants within a six-hour flight radius.

Supporting the proposal, Anamah Tan, founding member and executive committee member of the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers and advisor of the ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organisations, said a hybrid event focusing on women and climate change was workable.

Moving forward, the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau is providing stronger support for these ambassadors and other local associations when bidding for events to come to Singapore.

The Business Events in Singapore fund, which helps to defray costs when organising conferences here, has been enhanced to support local association members in attending relevant global business events to start their lobbying activities earlier and increase their chances of winning hosting rights for Singapore.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has recently launched a dedicated landing page, http://miceasia.ihg.com/thailand/ , for MICE events at its hotels and resorts across Thailand.

The dedicated portal, available in English, Thai and Mandarin, is aimed at facilitating the booking of meetings and events at 19 hotels and resorts across eight cities in the country. Bookers will be able to obtain detailed descriptions and visuals of the meetings spaces in each property to special promotional packages available at selected properties.

“As a MICE destination, Thailand has immense potential for growth. In 2015 the country was named Asia’s top MICE destination last year, and with the government’s plan to promote the country as the MICE centre of South-east Asia, we see an opportunity to grow our market share in this segment,” said Lincoln Barrett, vice president, sales & marketing, South-east Asia and Korea, IHG.

“We are confident that investing in a page dedicated to providing our loyal guests and bookers with all the information they need at their fingertips will go a long way in helping us gain a stronger foothold with our MICE offerings,” he added.

Clients who make bookings for meetings and events at any IHG hotel or resort in Thailand via the landing page will also benefit from the company’s IHG Business Rewards programme.

IHG currently operates 19 hotels and resorts across five brands in Thailand, with a further 15 hotels and resorts to open over the next three to five years.