CWT’s latest 2017 Meetings & Events Forecast states that the industry will see overall growth, despite decreased client meeting expenditure in some regions.

“Heading into 2017, our forecast predicts significant growth in meetings and events for regions around the world,” said Cindy Fisher, vice president and global head, CWT Meetings & Events. “By being flexible with timing and destinations, planners can take full advantage of the current market to optimise their meetings and events and produce better results.”

Fischer: good outlook for 2017

Globally, analysts predict that GDP growth will be slightly lower in 2017, making it the time for planners to get the best value for money and to reduce the cost per attendee.

Here are the key takeaways for the Asia-Pacific region:

• The number of meetings is expected to increase by 25 per cent while group size will grow by five per cent. This will lead to a rise in costs per attendee (three per cent).
• Destination wise, Singapore remains attractive given its security, political stability and international connectivity despite not being a low-cost city. The significantly less-expensive cities to hold meetings are Bangkok, Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. Thai and Vietnamese cities remain popular, but demand for Bangkok has decreased due to recent political events.
• Due to the weak Australian dollar, Sydney is relatively cheaper than previous years. But it is still more expensive relative to other emerging Asian cities.
• Pharmaceutical companies will continue to drive meetings and events in the region
• Meeting buyers will be concerned with F&B costs as they are expected to rise globally due to increased production prices, changes in imports and exports, and increased special dietary requests from attendees.

Meanwhile, the study has also noted that while Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) is expanding in Asia-Pacific, it remains one of the least mature regions. This is because the region consists of many highly-fragmented emerging markets, and processes tend to be highly manual and may not fit a global technology framework.

Regardless, SMM continues to gain ground in China and Singapore as meeting buyers who have implemented end-to-end meetings solutions are realising 12-20 per cent cost savings on average.

Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan have joined Kyoto’s Nijo Castle in welcoming private events in a bid to offer MICE planners a greater variety of unique spaces.

Kagoshima’s Sengan-en traditional gardens, which is attached to a former Shimazu clan residence, set up a MICE office in April to reach out to MICE buyers. The gardens are ideal for small-szied events. On its grounds are a traditional teahouse that can accommodate 100 guests for a tea ceremony and a 400-seat restaurant specialising in dishes using Kagoshima ingredients.

Katsuren Castle ruins

Sengan-en also lends itself to demonstrations of Japanese culture, ranging from traditional dance and martial arts through music recitals. It once hosted a Louis Vuitton event, with a runway laid down for a fashion show.

Okinawa’s 13th-century Katsuren Castle has been made available as a MICE venue through Uruma City Tourism and Products Association. By coordinating the use of the site as a MICE venue, the local association aims to offer experiences tailored to each group’s needs, as well as protect the site’s historical and cultural assets.

Kentaro Suzuki, executive director of the Uruma City Tourism Association, said “the historic spot touches visitors’ hearts as a unique venue.”

Groups of up to 200 people can enjoy dining and entertainment in the third enclosure, the inner part of the castle. Performances on offer include the Eisa, Lion and Ryukyu dances, which honour ancestors, drive away evil spirits and express love, respectively. Another option for event planners is the musical, Kimutaka no Amawari, which is performed by local junior and high school students as part of a project to support youth, promote cross-generational work and revitalise the area, according to Suzuki.

Meanwhile, Nijo Castle which began welcoming MICE groups in 2014 is looking to make more venues within, such as Ninomaru Palace, available to event planners.

An advisory panel to the Kyoto city government has recommended that more effective use be made of the castle, particularly given the expense of protecting the castle and conducting restoration work.

The city has committed 10 billion yen (S$97 million) over the next 24 years to restoration works but needs to find new revenue sources to cover those costs.

“We are considering opening other parts of the castle to promote understanding of our cultural properties and to provide a source of income for renovation works,” said Masahiro Hirade, who is with the MICE division of the Kyoto City Culture and Citizens Affairs Bureau.

Nijo Castle’s Ninomaru Palace was used in mid-October to host an exhibition related to the World Forum on Sport and Culture. Hirade hopes the history and design of the palace would attract MICE buyers as soon as the proposal is approved.

It is likely that rooms in the palace can be used for concerts and demonstrations of traditional Japanese culture, as well as banquets or parties, Hirade opined.

“But we do need to hold discussions before we open the palace to MICE users because it is the most important building in the castle,” he added.

Experts have said that priceless ceiling paintings will likely have to be replaced with replicas to protect the originals.

This article is written by Julian Ryall and Kathryn Wortley

Image Asia Events has launched what is said to be Thailand’s first and only in-depth, interactive online portal for the MICE industry, a platform that promotes the country for business events, connects suppliers with buyers, and aggregates MICE news content from other sources.

According to Grenville Fordham, Image Asia Event’s founder and managing director, the meetinthailand.com portal will debut first with Phuket. Work has started on phase two which covers Koh Samui, Krabi and Khao Lak, before moving on to Bangkok.

Fordham said: “The trial Phuket content is representative of what this website can be, to both buyers and suppliers in the MICE and wedding sectors.”

MICE suppliers can access and update their product information in a secure back-end environment, while buyers can search for and contact suppliers using an automated RFP feature while being guided by an interactive checklist to ensure no detail is forgotten in the event planning process.

“I’ve seen event buyers waste time and money on inspection trips to Thailand, armed with inadequate information – often a local DMC’s interpretation of what they might want,” said Fordham.

“The idea behind meetinthailand.com is that no buyer should need to leave the office and travel to Thailand without a meaningful shortlist of venues, suppliers and opportunities preselected on the basis of comprehensive, up-to-date information.”

NAGOYA-ZA, a kabuki café in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, has launched a package that includes dinner and accommodation for MICE groups.

The kabuki performance relates a traditional Japanese myth about three gods who laid the foundation of Japan by fighting dragons. The audience is encouraged to take part in the story by cheering and throwing provided objects onto the stage. Guests will be seated traditional-style on cushions placed on tatami matting.

“The theatre is specially built for this show,” said Hiroshi Furukawa, theatre manager. “And our show does not require the audience to understand Japanese so we’d like to welcome more guests from overseas.”

The package will include a dinner of famous local specialities and accommodation at Nishiasahi Café Restaurant and Guest House through Nagoya-za’s booking agent, Tourism Designers Co.

“In the future, we plan to have a greater variety of packages available as we collaborate with shops at our base, Endoji Shopping Arcade,” added Furukawa.

Performances, plus a talk session after the final curtain, are on every afternoon and evening on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and are 90 minutes in duration.

UFI is bringing on board two new hires to help deliver and improve the association’s growing roster of events, committee activities and other industry initiatives.

Elia-Beissel, new programme manager at UFI

Nicolette Elia-Beissel is joining as programme manager. She was most recently operations director at the Durban International Convention Centre for four years, after being promoted from the roles of acting operations director and exhibition manager.

In the earlier stages of her career, she was with Rai Exhibitions and Events (now known as Thebe Reed Events & Exhibitions) based in Johannesburg, South Africa. As project manager, she worked on international shows as well as her own show in Sandton Johannesburg, Meetings Africa.

Jana Hofmann, new events manager at UFI

Meanwhile, Jana Hofmann is joining UFI as events manager. For the last six years, she worked as a project manager for the German-based trade show organiser fairtrade Messe, managing various projects in an international exhibition environment with a focus on emerging markets such as Ghana, Iran and Nigeria.

The new hires join the global exhibitions association as it continues to organise numerous events, ranging from the UFI Global Congress to the UFI Global CEO Summit.

Both Elia-Beissel and Hofmann will be involved in the 83rd UFI Global Congress in Shanghai from November 9-12.

THE newly minted I’m Hotel in Makati is hoping to lure corporate groups with its onsen spa and other novel water treatment concepts when it soft-opens in November.

I’m Hotel, a brand so named to project guests’ personalities and preferences for an experiential stay, is owned by a Singaporean group and is a sister property to Hotel H2O in Manila. It will first open with 100 rooms, an onsen spa, an infinity pool, MICE facilities and most other facilities. The remaining 334 rooms will open in 1Q2017.

Director of marketing, Melissa Lim, said I’m Hotel targets travellers from Australia, the US, the UK, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China.

“Based on our studies, the latter four markets will be particularly interested in our onsen spa concept,” she told TTGmice e-Weekly.

I’m Onsen Spa covers 3,800m² of space over six storeys, with state-of-the-art facilities including carbonated bath technology from Japan; 69 beds; executive and VIP rooms for small exclusive gatherings; relaxation lounges. Premium rooms have a bathtub atelier who will draw a bath with customised scents and light bites and beverages.

I’m Hotel elevates swimming into a sensorial experience with an acrylic-bottomed, see-through infinity pool that can be seen upon entering the lobby.

Lim said the hotel has several venues for events. The 80m² Palmera room can take 40 pax in a classroom setting, while Narra Ballroom can seat 400 people for a banquet.

WHILE corporate travel budgets in China increased only marginally in 2016, cost-effective and efficient solutions as well as employee safety are emerging as some key concerns among Chinese organisations, according to new findings from the China Business Travel Survey (the Barometer) by CITS American Express Global Business Travel.

Average growth for travel and expense (T&E) budgets in China in 2016 was 4.86 per cent, consistent with 4.8 per cent growth in 2015.

Of the surveyed organisations, 52 per cent maintained stable T&E budgets for the last 12 months and 61 per cent indicated they will not increase their budgets in 2017.

While the uncertain economic climate impacts enterprises, the majority of organisations surveyed indicated that travel is a core business function and they will continue to invest in and improve their managed travel programmes. 36 per cent said they will need to find smarter ways to spend their budgets to support travel activities, and 29 per cent will try to find ways to increase travel to further accelerate business growth.

Moreover, the proportion of spending on international air travel against domestic air travel decreased this year. The domestic portion this year is an average of 73 per cent (up from 66 per cent in 2015) and international is 15 per cent (down from 19 per cent in 2015).

Meanwhile, the Barometer indicates the top three priorities in formulating business travel policies include: ‘employee safety’, ‘employee’s mental and physical conditions’ and ‘work efficiency of the employee during and after the business travel’.

Among the companies that have changed travel policies during the last 12 months, 28 per cent did so in response to the need to enhance processes and policies in relation to duty of care. Of these, 57 per cent implemented feeds to security service providers, 47 per cent mandated air bookings with a designated agency, and 32 per cent mandated hotel bookings with an appointed agency.

As well, nearly 30 per cent of organisations said they would consider updating their business travel policies in future to address traveller needs, mainly to take into consideration the use of enhanced safety measures.

And while there was a considerable movement away from the practice of using multiple TMCs or agencies in 2015, there has been no further significant change when it comes to using multiple TMCs. However, nearly 59 per cent of multi-agency users surveyed are considering using fewer agencies.

53 per cent of organisations surveyed undertook projects involving enhancement of their travel technologies solutions during the last 12 months.