Hanoi’s five-star Apricot Hotel has appointed Nguyen as its new hotel manager. She was last Prestige Hotel Hanoi’s general manager and had held various positions at Sunway Hotel in Hanoi from 1999 to 2010.
Kelly Kuhn
Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s Kuhn is now president, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Global Partners Network, based in London, having moved from her former role as president, Asia-Pacific.
Kai Chan
Previously general manager, South-east Asia for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Chan is now president, Asia-Pacific, and part of the global executive team. She is based in Singapore.
Jansen Low
Furama RiverFront has picked Low for the position of director of sales & marketing. Low brings with him more than 20 years of experience in both hospitality supply, demand and vendor environments, and was last with Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, Cotai Central.
Carl Jones
American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has named Jones its vice president for global client management in Asia-Pacific. Based in Singapore, Jones will lead global client management in the Asia-Pacific as well as GBT’s global mining, marine and energy portfolio. He joins from Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
Anne Scott
Scott is now general manager of The St Regis Kuala Lumpur Hotel and Residences, set to open in 2Q2016. A familiar face in the Starwood family, she was last general manager of The St Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort in Hainan, China.
Amelia Roziman
The Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) has promoted Roziman to the position of general manager, marketing and sales.
The former global marketing and communications director will now manage SCB’s departments of marketing, sales, bids and communications.
New brand, growth plan for BCEC as it hits 20 years
BRISBANE Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a brand rejuvenation and a strategic plan for growth.
BCEC general manager, Bob O’Keeffe, said the new brand is designed to shape a future BCEC.
Said O’Keeffe: “We see our 20th anniversary as a catalyst for change. We are taking this opportunity to look forward, to challenge the status quo.
“We intend to broaden our culture of innovation across all aspects of our operation, raising the bar even further working with our clients and partners, and taking our event delivery to the Next Level with a strong strategic plan for growth and enhancement.”
The new brand, along with fresh advertising materials, was developed over several months with Ogilvy Brisbane, exploring the competitive environment, locally and internationally, incorporating research and new marketing trends.
Managing director of Ogilvy Brisbane, Russ Vine, said: “While the venue is well established and runs like clockwork, it is not without edge (and) excitement.”
BCEC has a strong track record of hosting high calibre international and local events including the 2014 G20 Leaders Summit. It has hosted more than 17,000 events and 11 million visitors.
Vine pointed out that “Next Level is not always about being bigger or better – it means going beyond expectations and striving to make events a success. This might be Next Level service, cuisine, lighting or staging, and Next Level innovation, harnessing technology or simply thinking outside of the box”.
As part of the new branding, BCEC has also launched a new mobile friendly website.
Graeme Caplen, director of Entegy who re-built the BCEC website, said BCEC.com.au is fully mobile optimised and designed for visitors and clients who are on the go.
“(The) website will evolve with the centre as it delivers on its Next Level promise,” Caplen said.
Starwood to reward sustainable meetings adopters
STARWOOD Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts has rolled out a new meeting offer which dispenses 2,000 bonus Starpoints to meeting organisers who book its sustainable meeting packages with any participating hotels in the region.
As part of the programme, participating hotels offer a comprehensive range of options that are environmentally friendly and socially responsible, and that promise to enhance the customer experience. Steps taken towards this end include featuring locally sourced produce and sustainable seafood on the menu, doing away with table coverings or using reusable ones, and having having recycling bins in all meeting spaces.
Starwood vice-president, sales – Asia Pacific, Nichlas Maratos, said in a media release: “Starwood is committed to drive sustainability efforts and our Global Citizenship work is a great reflection of this.
“However we recognise that besides making sure that our internal operations and infrastructure are ecosystem friendly, our efforts should also include our customers and make it possible for them to actively participate in and be involved in this initiative.”
For environmentally conscious planners, the Meetings Impact Report (MIR) is offered free and assesses the environmental impact of individual events via indicators such as energy and water consumption, waste management and sustainable food choices. Once the MIR is calculated using the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative, meeting planners can offset the event’s carbon footprint with a list of donation opportunities through South Pole Carbon, Starwood’s global carbon-offset partner, that advance emission-reduction projects around the world.
The offer is exclusive for Starwood Preferred Guest and SPG Pro members, and is valid up to October 31 for arrivals by December 31, 2016. A minimum spend of US$10,000 is required.
Perth Convention Bureau gets funding support from opposition party
WESTERN Australian Labor Party (WA Labor) will invest A$5 million (US$3.7 million) per annum in the Perth Convention Bureau (PCB) to boost the hospitality and tourism sectors’ ability to create jobs and diversify the economy.
WA Labor’s investment will mean a 62 per cent increase in funding compared to the cuts announced by the Liberal Government in the 2015-16 State Budget.
Tourism Council Western Australia estimates that the annual investment will create over 340 new jobs in the state and maintain a total of 1,260 jobs each year.
In 2014/2015, the business events market directly contributed A$112 million to the state economy and created over 900 jobs.
A joint media release by WA Labor and PCB states that the bureau regularly provides a return on investment more than two to three times its Sydney and Melbourne counterparts and operates on a much lower cost basis than competing bureaus.
Mark McGowan, WA Labor leader, said: “It makes smart economic sense to invest in organisations that have a high return on investment like the Perth Convention Bureau to create more local jobs for Western Australians.”
With more than 2,000 additional hotel rooms coming on line in the near future, WA Labor’s investment in PCB will grow the visitor numbers required to fill these rooms.
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