WORK is under way on a new 60,000m² convention facility adjacent to Chubu Centrair International Airport, which serves the city of Nagoya.

The project was first announced in February and the facility is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2019, according to Masahide Akita, assistant director of the Aichi Prefectural Government’s Exhibitions Site Section.

Nagoya already has a major convention and exhibitions facility, the Portmessse International Exhibition Hall, in the harbour district but the local government hopes the new conventions space will complement that site.

Akita told TTGmice e-Weekly: “We believe that the convenient location – just a five-minute walk from the airport – will be attractive to (event) organisers.”

Some 35 billion yen (US$326 million) is being invested in the project which, when completed, will have six halls, each of 10,000m², as well as extensive parking space. The island is also linked to the mainland by road and a rail link.

The airport island already has three hotels, although they primarily cater to business travellers with an overnight transit. A new hotel designed for longer stays will be built next to the new exhibition hall, with an expected completion in 2020.

Akita added that the local government hopes Nagoya and the prefecture of Akita – located between Tokyo and Osaka – can emerge as a unique alternative destination for conventions and exhibitions.

AMERICAN Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has appointed Theodore Lau as vice president and general manager, ASEAN and entrusted him with the company’s commercial operations across the South-east Asia region.

Lau joins GBT from Dentsu Aegis Media where he was CFO, South-East Asia, and was responsible for all financial, commercial and operational matters within the region during the integration between Dentsu and Aegis Media.

Prior to that, he worked with Ogilvy & Mather for 16 years, where he held a number of leadership positions.

Lau is based in Singapore.

JUST over a year since the opening of its Event Centre, the Gold Coast Turf Club has announced plans to build a hotel onsite as part of the organisation’s 2025 vision.

Featuring some 200 rooms of which four levels are corporate suites, the hotel is part of a strategic plan that Dale St George, CEO of the Gold Coast Turf Club, said he had been working on with the board over the last six months.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly, St George said: “Racing is racing. It goes through its ups and downs. There has to be other streams of income. As well as a hotel, we’re looking at a tavern, some retail space and other development opportunities.”

Currently, a memorandum of understanding has been signed with a neighbouring landowner and preliminary drawings of the hotel have also been done. It occupies prime real estate alongside the straight of the racetrack next to the Event Centre.

St George said the organisation hopes to have hotel plans ready for Council by the end of the year, and ideally a July 2018 opening.

“We sit between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, and we need to engage the tourist population by having a hotel, and the corporate market by providing meeting facilities which are already in place. Without accommodation, it is difficult,” he elaborated.

Meanwhile, St George said the Event Centre, which opened in March 2015, was “slowly building” its momentum.

“I’d like to see it running at 65 per cent occupancy. We’re looking at A$2 million (US$1.52 million) turnover for the events space alone.”

AIRBNB’s new partnerships with global TMCs, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), BCD Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), will bring its content to a greater audience of corporate travellers while satisfying corporate duty of care requirements.

With GBT, the partnership will first allow individual travellers of GBT clients to book Airbnb accommodation on Airbnb.com using a corporate email address. In the coming weeks, GBT and Airbnb will integrate Airbnb booking information into GBT’s reporting platform, “enabling corporate reporting and traveller tracking which supports duty of care responsibilities”, explained a GBT spokesperson.

This arrangement will go live in the US in the next few weeks, allowing all GBT clients there to book Airbnb content worldwide, before expanding it to markets elsewhere later this year.

With BCD Travel, which has an existing partnership with Airbnb, Airbnb data will be integrated into BCD Travel’s DecisionSource business intelligence and security solution. This will allow BCD Travel’s clients to interact with maps and detailed reports in real-time and bring Airbnb accommodation bookings into view for managed travel.

With CWT, Airbnb for Business content will be made available to its clients, allowing travellers more options and flexibility as well as a highly personalised itinerary.

While post-booking security measures are in place, the TMCs will not be able to guide clients in making a safe Airbnb accommodation choice – one of the concerns among corporate travel managers who have rejected sharing economy accommodation options.

In response to TTGmice e-Weekly’s question on this aspect of security measures, Suzanne Lee, spokesperson with BCD Travel, Asia-Pacific, said: “DecisionSource does not provide risk assessment for individual Airbnb properties (just as) it does not provide individual risk assessment of hotel properties. But it does help companies with travellers staying at Airbnb accommodations by tracking them and alerting them when an incident takes place in their neighbourhood so companies can communicate with them as necessary.”

The GBT spokesperson, too, explained that “travellers and their respective employers will continue to decide the type of accommodation that is most suitable for their needs, and determine their policies accordingly”.

However, he added that travellers can look out for Airbnb’s Business Travel Ready options.

Such properties have five stars for at least 60 per cent of reviews; have hosts that respond to 90 per cent of booking requests within 24 hours and do not cancel confirmed reservations within a week of the check-in date; provide 24-hour check-in; offer business amenities such as Wi-Fi, laptop-friendly workspace, etc; and are an entire home or apartment.

EASIER access to information essential for event planning well as richer content are being promised on the revamped Destination Asia Events website.

Launched on June 28, the redesigned website now provides event planners with a thorough understanding and overview of event options available in the 11 Asian destinations the company has operations in.

Users are able to view destination facts and extensive information on hotels and venues. For select destinations there is also an option to directly download event videos, programme overviews and ready-made presentations that are useful in creating winning proposals to clients.

China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia take the online offering further by making available virtual, 360-degree-view tours of the destination.

The new responsive site can work across all devices, ensuring every client has the best possible experience when navigating through its pages.

“We are excited about our new event website and the valued information it provides for clients who seek to remain ahead of their competitors,” said Victoria Sertic, COO of Destination Asia Events.

“The new site was required to better support our clients, providing them with the tools they need to succeed when competing against others. It also complements the support provided by our professional, local meeting and incentive staff who lead the way in providing faultless event services for groups of any size visiting Asia.”

A LINE of specialised tours that connect event delegates with some of Asia’s most inspiring people who will impart knowledge on Asian cuisine, history, arts and culture, have been launched by Buffalo Tours.

Also available to leisure tour groups and individual travellers, the Master Class line boasts 14 unique tours in seven Asian countries. Event groups can expect to enhance their programme with a guide who is a stone conservationist in Angkor Wat; Indonesia’s most famous chef, Degan; and a famous painter who explores the history of Hanoi through art.

Matt Masson, Buffalo Tours managing director, said: “Many of our customers are looking for unique and exclusive experiences that they will remember forever. These experiences and workshops from local masters provide an out-of-the-box insight into our destinations.

Some of our Master Class experiences include preparing traditional Chinese home cooked meals, capturing the unique architecture of Kuala Lumpur through photography, learning the secrets behind making the legendary Singapore Sling, or exploring Saigon’s history through paintings.”

Masson added that the Master Class delivers Buffalo Tours’ commitment to connecting people and cultures through extraordinary journeys.

Master Class follows close on the heels of Buffalo Tour’s late-June launch of a dedicated MICE division, Buffalo Events.