CHINA’s biggest import and export trade fair has roped in travel distribution expert Travelport to promote attendance at the event to business travellers.

Yu Yi, deputy general manager of Canton Fair, told TTGmice e-Weekly that his company intends to “leverage on Travelport’s strong global corporate network to win new business visitors… and maximise brand awareness”.

Travelport, through its Destination Marketing Solution, will target B2B business travellers who are headed for Hong Kong and encourage them to extend their trip to Guangzhou where Canton Fair will be held from October 15 to November 5 this year.

Explaining the procedure, Anna Au-Yeung, global head of Destination Marketing, Travelport, said that once a targeted traveller is identified by the Global Distribution System, the travel consultant’s desktop will flash messages from Canton Fair to recommend the event to the traveller and to register the individual for the tradeshow.

The travel consultant will be rewarded for every registration and attendance, while the traveller will enjoy a waiver on registration fees and be given a US$100 coupon for use at the tradeshow or designated hotels.

Au-Yeung said: “Travelers today are gravitating towards trips that are tailored to their personal requirements and they value the services of a consultant who can plan their trips to cover all their needs. This process we have for Canton Fair enables our agency partners to provide a value-added service to their customers and increase their revenues at the same time.”

Acknowledging that “competition has become very keen”, Yu said Canton Fair must “maintain its pioneering lead and be innovative in expanding its distribution channels”.

Hence, besides engaging Travelport for marketing and ticketing, Canton Fair has been cooperating with chambers of commerce, travel agencies, airlines and marketing companies to introduce various business programmes.

“For example the fair has launched an Advertisement Reward for New Buyers, a programme that rewards qualified buyers for their first visit to the fair, and a Buyer Recruitment Program for our business partners. We also organise video conferences that broadcast live promotions with Canton Fair partners from different continents. On social media Canton Fair has a massive 250,000 followers on Facebook and that figure continues to grow,” Yu said.

This is Canton Fair’s second year of partnership with Travelport. In 2014 Canton Fair worked with Travelport to grow buyer registration through B2C business travellers.

BUSINESS sentiments among MICE players in South Korea are improving, following the government’s report on Wednesday that there have been no new MERS cases for the 17th consecutive day.

Kimberley Kim, a marketing official with event specialist MCI in Seoul, which organises around three major congresses and as many as 100 smaller MICE events in Seoul every year, is confident that the crisis will be over by the time the city hosts the World Allergy Congress in October.

Kim revealed that business had been impacted by the MERS scare.

She said: “We had a conference last month and a number of the people who were scheduled to attend called to cancel. It was an industry event and it went ahead in the end, but about 200 of the 900 delegates dropped out.

“But it is clear that the situation has improved and there have been no new cases for quite a long time now, so we believe the worst is over.”

Woo-tak Suh, a spokesman for the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas which sits in the heart of the city and close to COEX convention and exhibition centre, agreed that the outbreak appears to have run its course.

“MERS did have an effect on our business, but it was limited,” he said. “And we understand from the government that things are improving. We look forward to our guests returning very soon.”

While no official numbers are available on the impact of MERS on South Korea’s MICE sector, the Korea Tourism Organisation reported that June arrivals had plummeted 41 per cent dip, with numbers standing at 750,925, down from 1.27 million a year ago.

Taiwan footfalls tumbled 75.7 per cent, arrivals from Hong Kong shrank 74.6 per cent, and Singapore numbers fell by more than 62 per cent.

THE Singapore Chapter of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (IEEE OES) is at the final stage of bidding for the hosting rights to the OCEANS 2020 global conference on marine technology, science, education and policy, an event that is also sponsored by the Marine Technological Society.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly, Venugopalan Pallayil, general chair of the OCEANS 2020 organising committee and deputy head of National University of Singapore, Acoustic Research Lab, Tropical Marine Science Institute, said the results are expected to be announced after the OCEANS 2015 conference in Washington this October.

Should the bid be a success, Singapore can expect to welcome 650 delegates and over 50 exhibitors to its shores. It will also be the citystate’s second OCEANS, with the last being held in 2006.

Venugopalan revealed that the only other destination vying for the event is Chennai, India. “It is not a tough fight,” he said. “I am hopeful of pulling it through.”

Venugopalan is eager to score OCEANS 2020 for the benefit of the local oceanic engineering community.

He explained: “Fourteen years is a long enough time to bring the oceanic engineering community back to Singapore and show them what we can offer in terms of furthering this area of technology. In 2006 our organisation was young, just four years old, hence our reach to overseas organisations was limited. Today we are better known among the international community and we believe that organising a conference here would provide more visibility to Singapore, especially in the academic area.”

The conference will also seek new opportunities for collaboration in the technical area among local and overseas institutions, and an exhibition on products and services will be held to achieve this.

FILARCHIPELAGO Hospitality, a joint venture between Philippine Filinvest and Indonesian Archipelago International, is being repositioned as Chroma Hospitality to underline its serious interest in being “more entrepreneurial” – not just in managing but also in getting third party owners for its four hotel brands.

Chroma country manager James Montenegro said the repositioning will include an expansion programme comprising seven more hotels across all brands over the next four years, mainly in the Visayas where Chroma’s local partner, Filinvest, has extensive landholdings and mixed-used land developments.

Chroma has Crimson Hotels & Resorts, a luxury brand; Quest Hotel brand for MICE; Azure Beach Club which is co-branded with Crimson; and to be launched in end 2015/early 2016, Canvas Hotels and Resorts, a music-driven, hip and youngish brand.

The third Crimson hotel will open in Boracay in 3Q2016, while two more Quest properties will launch by 2018 – the 162-key Quest Hotel in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental and 167-key Quest Hotel in Tagaytay with a meeting venue for up to 500 pax.

A second Azure Beach Club will open at Crimson Boracay, after the first at Crimson Mactan.

The fourth brand, Canvas Hotels and Resorts, will debut with a 228-key hotel in Cubao, Quezon City in end 2015/early 2016, followed by a 185-key beach resort in Mactan, Cebu in 2018, and a 228-key city hotel also in Mactan by 2019.

“We are very positive about the market in Mactan and already have existing properties there. Cebu in general has a good reputation as a destination for MICE or tour groups,” said Montenegro.

He added that the Quest Hotel brand is “very successful” even in Indonesia and that in the Philippines, the 427-room Quest Hotel in Mactan has a comfortable and equal mix of domestic and foreign clients.

He however underscored the need to improve Philippine airports if the country wants to become a major MICE player in the region.

Quest Hotel has “a tremendous opportunity for growth in the Philippines but we need to get our airports geared up to support its growth”, he remarked.

MEETING planners can expect to stretch their dollar when they take an event to Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central.

The new Meet for Free in Macau offer gives planners the freedom to choose a reward that works best for their group. The four complimentary options are:

• Stay for Free – Receive one night free when booking a minimum of two nights
• Meet for Free – Get a free meeting package when booking meetings across two days or more
• Eat for Free – Receive up to HK$500 (US$64.50) F&B credit with every HK$500 spend per delegate
• Travel for Free – Get round-trip ferry tickets between Hong Kong and Macau and coach transfers to and from the ferry terminal

To qualify, planners must book a two-night stay for up to 750 rooms or 1,500 attendees at Sheraton Macao Hotel. Other terms and conditions apply.
Email sales.macao@sheraton.com.

SUSTAINABLE practices can help retain staff and lead to collective savings, and while they may be tricky to implement, these challenges can be overcome, said panellists at the recent Singapore MICE Forum.

Speaking at a panel discussion during the event, Kevin Teng, executive director, sustainability, Marina Bay Sands, said sustainability is a way to drive staff engagement.

While there is a degree of sustainability awareness among staff in the group’s properties, there is a gap between sustainability awareness and action, he said.

To this, Guy Bigwood, group sustainability director with MCI, suggested that sales and marketing and project team members should also take ownership of sustainability efforts, not just sustainability team members.

“Motivating sustainable action is deeply psychological. A simple example is the ‘subtle’ wording for the towel change message in a hotel room,” he told TTGmice e-Weekly.

“It may not be as compelling if you tell the guest how many people in the hotel did not change their towel, compared to saying how many on this floor, or how many in this room,” he added.

Moreover, general manager of Experia Events Lloyd Tan noted, “Acting sustainable is a significant leap and many companies are reluctant because of the ‘complexity’ (of steps needed for certification).”

To tackle this, companies can start by creating focused guidelines and choosing an area or an event to implement sustainability, while ensuring there is standardisation, panellists said.

Regarding the cost question, panellists agreed that although sustainable practices can be more expensive, there can be “collective” savings.

“Technology is changing, and solar panels are now 70 to 80 per cent cheaper and 40 per cent more efficient. If companies work more strategically, it won’t cost more,” said Bigwood. “For example, organic food may cost about 30 per cent more, but if there is better food waste control, the numbers can even out,” he added.

Furthermore, companies should take baby steps and be focused in their sustainability efforts, and all efforts should be “data driven”, advised panellists.

A SURGE in demand for Australia as an event destination among Singapore corporates is expected, as the Australian dollar softens against the Singapore currency.

Several local travel agencies that specialise in business events have indicated a likelihood of an uptick in bookings and enquiries for destinations Down Under, with one company already observing an increase.

Fascinating Holidays’ managing director, David Teo, told TTGmice e-Weekly that corporate enquiries on Australia have gone up by 15 per cent.

While changes in bookings for Australia have not surfaced for Simon Er, general manager of business events, DMC & tours, Global Travel, he believes that “the demand for Australia will increase over the next few months as the destination becomes more affordable and the value obtained is greater”.

Er noted that most corporate clients plan their trips six to 12 months in advance.

For business events that have already been confirmed in Australia, the stronger buying power has led to some clients adding extra activities to “offer more value to (delegates)”, said Teo.

Chan Brothers Travel’s spokesperson, Rebecca Chia, whose company has upcoming corporate programmes in Perth, remarked that dining and entertainment expenditure “at the destination may increase due to the attractive exchange rates”.

None of the event specialists expect extensions to length of stay and upgrades on hotels options and venues, as arrangements and bookings have already been made.

However Er said clients might offer their delegates turndown gifts or a local souvenir in view of “cost savings from the exchange rate”.

By Samuel Ng

MADRID Fusion Manila will return to the Philippine capital city in 2016 after a successful run in April, with organisers keen on bringing the prestigious culinary event to other Asian destinations too.

The inaugural Madrid Fusion Manila in April “went beyond our expectations when it came to attendees, participation of chefs and media coverage both in the Philippines and abroad,” explained Domingo Ramon Enerio III, COO of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB).

TTGmice e-Weekly understands that the Philippine Department of Tourism has the exclusive right to the trade name Madrid Fusion Manila for five years, but there are plans to bring the event to other Asian countries in the coming years.

“We can do Singapore or Malaysia,” said Inigo Canedo, managing director of one of the event’s organisers, Madrid-based Arum Estrategias Internacionalizacion SL.

Canedo, who is pleased with the “very good organisation” of Madrid Fusion Manila, said the organisers want to make the event “the most important trade fair in the Philippines” while being open to expanding it to other parts of Asia.
The next Madrid Fusion Manila, scheduled on April 7-9, 2016, is being planned to be even bigger with fewer Spanish chefs and more Asian ones.

Chefs who have confirmed their participation next year include Joan Roca of three-Michelin star El Celler de Can Roca, S. Pellegrino’s world’s best restaurant for 2015; Eneko Atxa of two-Michelin star Azurmendi Restaurant in Basque; and Yoshihiro Narisawa whose three-Michelin star Les Creations de Narisawa in Tokyo was recently ranked as Asia’s 8th best restaurant.

THE NEW Langkawi International Convention Centre (LICC) has secured 10 regional conferences in its first year of operations as well as played host to high profile events such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting in March and the ASEAN Leaders Summit in April, since its opening on March 1.

LICC features pillarless function rooms that are equipped with high-end audiovisual facilities such as Bose sound systems, and offers plenty of natural daylight at its foyer areas. The grand ballroom has a capacity for 1,000 people in a banquet setting and can be partitioned into three smaller spaces. Seven meeting rooms ranging from 21m² to 1660m²in size make LICC ideal for international conferences, product launches and fashion shows.

Events with overseas participants are well supported by a variety of accommodation options close by. LICC sits adjacent to The Westin Langkawi and is also managed by the hotel. Hotels located a short drive away include St Regis Langkawi which is slated to open in November, Bayview Hotel Langkawi, Adya Hotel Langkawi and Dayang Bay Serviced Apartment & Resort Langkawi.

Ganneesh Ramaa, manager of Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “Meeting delegates will have plenty of accommodation options. LICC will also complement Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre and put Langkawi on the map as a MICE destination.”

Saini Vermeulen, executive director of Within Earth Holidays, believes that LICC’s record of hosting high profile events will “make it easier for us to market Langkawi” to corporate clients and conference organisers.

“The fact that the new LICC, with its state-of-the-art facilities, has handled high profile events will give confidence to meeting planners and MICE organisers that Langkawi is (capable). Planners interested in holding an event in Malaysia now has another option,” Vermeulen commented.

He added: “Also, Langkawi has the required tourism infrastructure such as attractions and restaurants to support the leisure components of a convention programme.”

THE February opening of G Hotel Kelawai has placed holding company, G Hotel Penang, in a stronger position to attract larger-scale events.

The new hotel in Penang is just a two-minute walk from its sister property, G Hotel Gurney. Both hotels have a combined inventory of 520 guestrooms, 15 function rooms including a a grand ballroom at G Hotel Gurney, and nine F &B outlets. Cross usage and signing facilities are available for guests.

Kevin Cheah, executive assistant manager – sales & marketing, G Hotel Penang, said: “With the opening of the 208-key G Hotel Kelawai, we are aiming for meetings, conferences and others events with up to 500 people. Prior to this, we could not accommodate meeting groups of more than 300 delegates.”

G Hotel Penang intends to court MICE business from Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong through participation in travel tradeshows such as IT&CM Asia in Bangkok and ITB Asia in Singapore.

Cheah explained that these markets are attractive as they have direct air connectivity with Penang and are within three hours of air travel.

“Being centrally located next to two upscale shopping malls, Gurney Plaza and Gurney Paragon Mall, and near Penang’s famous hawker centre, Gurney Drive, George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site and beaches makes the hotel an ideal place to stay and have meetings,” Cheah remarked.

Meanwhile, G Hotel Gurney’s grand ballroom was unveiled in June with a new look. A refurbishment project gave the venue new carpets and wallpaper, a permanent LED screen, Bose speaker system, mood lightings, Herman Miller designer chairs and a more robust Internet capability with speeds up from 100MBps to 150MBps. It can accommodate up to 700 people in theatre style.