ESTABLISHED regional organiser CEMS revived its Kuala Lumpur operations in October last year, returning to a market it had quit after almost 30 years of absence.

Country manager Hellen Woon has been appointed to oversee operations in Kuala Lumpur.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly, CEMS’ group managing director, Edward Liu, explained CEMS’ decision to regain its position in Malaysia.

“First of all, Malaysia is our closest neighbour and it would be easier for us to manage things out of Singapore. Secondly, we had the experience of operating an office in Kuala Lumpur, during the 1983-1985 period. We ceased operations in Malaysia during the recession at that time. Thirdly, we have an event, Café Malaysia, ready to be launched in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Café Malaysia is an example of an event that answers the needs and demands of the Malaysian economy, which forms the mission of CEMS’ Malaysia office.

The exhibition will be held at the MATRADE Exhibition Centre from May 7-9.

“We also organised Glasstech Asia in KLCC two years ago, and the event was highly successful. We are likely to repeat the event in the near future,” he told TTGmice e-Weekly.

The company also believes that Malaysia’s MICE industry is on the ascent, “in tandem with the steady economic expansion in the country”, Liu remarked.

“With the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community at the end of this year, we believe that more Chinese and foreign organisers and exhibitors are keen to hold exhibitions in Malaysia to take advantage of this growing MICE industry in the country,” he pointed out.

“In the past few years, foreign organisers such as ITE Group from the UK and Sphere Exhibits from Singapore have entered the market and acquired some local organising companies.”

FREE fuel vouchers and a night-time bonfire are being offered by the Sebel Kirkton Park for business events held at the resort between now and end-June.

Available via The Conference Shop – a new, free website service to help companies plan business events in regional areas – the special offer gives corporate organisers a A$500 (US$385) fuel voucher to cover the journey from Sydney, and a post-dinner bonfire under the stars, complete with mulled wine, hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Surrounded by Hunter Valley’s famous vineyards, the resort offers 71 rooms and free Wi-Fi to all delegates. Meetings can be held in its five conference rooms and four breakout rooms.

The offer is valid with a minimum spend of A$10,000. Special conference accommodation rates from A$155 per delegate per night are also available, including breakfast.

For more details, visit www.theconferenceshop.com.au.

THE Tokyo metropolitan government has announced the latest appointment of tourism representatives in 12 cities in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, to be overseen by the Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The cities are Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Munich, Milan, Madrid, Sydney, Beijing and Seoul.

Chitose Maeda, director for city sales, tourism division, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, said: “We are excited to work closely with our 12 representatives including the two additional cities, Beijing and Seoul, to promote Tokyo as one of the greatest tourism destinations in the world. All 12 representatives’ wealth of knowledge and well-established relationships in the industry make them a great asset to Tokyo.”

It is the first time the city appoints representatives in Beijing and Seoul.

Japan is working towards 20 million international visitor arrivals by 2020, when it will host the summer Olympic Games.

US-BASED MD Events has opened an office each in Singapore and Sacramento, bringing its current global network of operations to six.

The two new offices, joining existing ones in London, St Petersburg, Philadelphia and Hong Kong, will comprise three divisions to deliver MD Events’ specialisations in life sciences, corporate and destination management.

General manager Tarquin Scadding-Hunt said in a press statement that MD Events needs to base its services where clients need them.

Scadding-Hunt said: “Singapore is a hotbed of business for a number of industries, especially pharmaceutical R&D, which was demonstrated recently with companies like Takeda and GSK establishing a presence there.

“There (are) lots of activity in the US’ West Coast and we think it is a logical step to expand our footprint in the US.”

Jowyn Tan, account director of Asia and Australia, told TTGmice e-Weekly that she expects all three divisions in the Singapore office to flourish.

“Singapore is home to regional headquarters within Asia for the pharmaceutical industry and we are expecting at least a 30 per cent increase in meetings for the life sciences division within the next five years. The corporate division is specially tailored for our existing and new clients dealing in non-life sciences meetings. We will be increasing our client base to other industries including IT, electronics, banking & finance, and insurance, etc.

“Meanwhile, our DMC division allows us to demonstrate our knowledge of Asia and Australia. We will expand our client base to event companies that are not based in this region,” Tan said.

Commenting on the company’s decision to open a second office in the US, Agnès Canonica, general manager of the Americas, said: “(There are) many life sciences companies in the San Francisco and San Diego area. In addition, we are targeting IT companies on the corporate side of things, so our presence in Sacramento aligns with our growth strategy.”

Canonica revealed that most of the demand for the US, specifically the West Coast, is from the north-east corridor where most of its current clients are located.

“In a couple of years, we feel that will be spread evenly throughout the East Coast, Midwest (Chicago area) and West Coast, in addition to Canada, based on our diversifying marketing strategy.”

She expects demand from Asian clients to rise five years from now.

INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) has launched booking programme IHG Business Rewards, a new addition to the IHG Rewards Club.

The programme offers rewards for business bookings of guestrooms, meetings and other events at over 4,700 IHG hotels across the world.

Members will only require one card for their IHG Rewards Club and IHG Business Rewards memberships, enabling them to view all of their earned points in one account.

Bookings will help members achieve Gold or Platinum status within the programme, redeem hotel stays, air travel, electronic goods and restaurant vouchers and access special offers and promotions with their accumulated points.

MYANMAR’S Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has announced plans to establish Nay Pyi Taw as a MICE destination, having established a central organising office in the capital city as a “one-stop shop” for organising MICE events.

“Nay Pyi Taw is an ideal place for MICE tourism because we have international-standard hotels and convention centres. Also, transport is very good and there is no air pollution,” Khin Than Win, director of tourism promotion and international relations department under the ministry told TTGmice e-Weekly.

Major MICE centres in Nay Pyi Taw include Myanmar International Convention Centres 1 and 2, and the Kempinski Hotel Nay Pyi Taw.

The city had previously hosted the ASEAN Tourism Forum, ASEAN Summit and World Economic Forum on East Asia.

Upcoming events include the International Ecotourism Conference in May, Myanmar Hospitality and Tourism Conference in June and a high-profile golf tournament in November.

The ministry has plans to establish flights between Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay with Air KBZ and provide tours of the parliament building for foreign tourists.

Meanwhile, new carrier Apex Airlines announced this week that it will use Nay Pyi Taw as its headquarters.

However, industry members say the city is not yet a popular tourism destination.

“We have offered promotion tours to Nay Pyi Taw and some locals are interested,” said Kay Zin Tar, managing director, Sincerity Travel. “However, very few foreigners are interested to visit there.”

THAILAND Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) will introduce its new brand campaign Thailand CONNECT the World to the Japan market through an upcoming roadshow in Tokyo later this month.

The Thailand CONNECT the World: Japan Business Events Road Show 2015 will be held on April 21 at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, gathering more than 200 buyers, suppliers, international media and industry experts in a series of events including an international press conference, a showcase of Thailand’s MICE sector and a welcome dinner reception.

Nopparat Maythaveekulchai, president of TCEB, confirmed: “The event will provide new insights into Thailand’s MICE industry as well as the overview of trade and relations between Thailand and Japan, and the Thai government’s policy in building the confidence and moving forward to the ASEAN Economic Community.

“A new marketing promotion created especially for Japanese MICE market will also be announced.”

Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has also pledged its support for TCEB’s Spice Up Your Business Agenda campaign to increase MICE visitor numbers and spending.

The campaign includes an aggressive digital marketing plan, development of an innovative Thai MICE web portal, and launch of a mobile application for MICE travellers and professionals to allow easy access to the Thai MICE database.

A series of online marketing promotion and PR campaigns will be conducted throughout 2015 in high-potential key markets.

Targeted at international business travellers, delegates, visitors and exhibitors attending trade exhibitions or organising meetings in Thailand from now until December 2015, the campaign also offers discounts, value-added services and complimentary facilities.

Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, executive director of advertising and public relations, TAT, said: “MICE travellers have high-spending power. Their contribution to the Thai economy starts from making business deals and topped up by the recreational spending that follows.

“TAT aims to increase the number of quality tourists…It will accommodate and facilitate MICE travellers as well as attract them to come to Thailand and stay longer for leisure. Therefore, the benefits of the campaign are far beyond the MICE industry – it helps the tourism industry as a whole.”

CONGRESS Rental Singapore (CRS) introduced a ‘revolutionary’ conference system with multi-tasking capabilities last month.

Called the Bosch DCN Multimedia Conference System the sleek tablet-size gadget provides audio, video and multimedia content, Internet access, participant touch-screen capabilities, superior audio quality, and IP based on OMNEO architecture.

The system is recommended for U-shape or hollow-square meeting configurations, but can also be used by head-table attendees to view video presentations without having to turn around.

Customer categories CRS is recommending the new system for include government agencies, corporate, and associations meetings. Jeremy Ducklin, managing director, said the product was used at meetings in the banking and finance sector in Singapore and Tokyo this year.

He added that CRS is the only company that carries the Bosch DCN for rental in the region but it is exploring the possibility of launching the system in Malaysia.

THE Health Inspector Union of Sarawak Health Department (HIUS) is organising the International Environmental Health Conference in Kuching this October.

This inaugural conference, themed Threats To Health: Uncovering Issues, Challenges and Prevention for a Healthier Environment, Safer World, is expected to attract more than 1,000 delegates, both local and international, said Sabri Sahari, president of HIUS.

The two-day conference starts on October 27 and will be held at Pullman Kuching. It will include plenary sessions and symposiums only for delegates, as well as exhibitions and CSR activities that will be open to the public.

Plenary and symposium sessions will include topics on environmental health management and enforcement, critical issues pertaining to global health, pollution, climate change, trans-boundary and non-communicable diseases, genetically modified food and organisms, world environmental problems as well as best practices in occupational safety and health, among others.

Meanwhile, exhibitions will be held at both Pullman Kuching Hotel and the adjoining Hills Shopping Mall.

CSR activities will include free health checks and screenings.

THE organisers of the annual SingaPlural, the anchor event of Singapore Design Week, are on a hunt for a new home next year, as this year’s venue – 99 Beach Road, the former Beach Road Police Station – will go on sale next month.

Organised by the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) since 2012 and held in conjuction with International Furniture Fair Singapore/ASEAN Furniture Show, The Décor Show and Hospitality 360°, SingaPlural was hosted at multiple venues across Singapore in previous editions. This year, however, main programmes were held in a single location.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly in an interview, chairman of SingaPlural 2015 and vice president of SFIC, Mark Yong, explained that having key activities in a single venue allowed for a better concentration of visitor traffic, closer interaction between exhibitors and visitors, and a longer stay by attendees.

Attendance figures were unavailable at press time.

The former Beach Road Police Station, which sat vacant for more than two years, was chosen as it provided a “raw canvas” of a backdrop for the design installations.

“The venue is very important, as sometimes we need it to be there before content can flow in,” Yong said, adding that while Singapore has many convention venues, and hotels and malls with event spaces, these are “too glossy” and will take away the “flavour of the installations”.

“Singapore is land-scarce and it is very hard to find the right space. In fact, we looked at 15 locations before setting our hearts on 99 Beach Road this year. We will speak with the Singapore Land Authority and other parties for venue ideas. It could be an old school, or perhaps the Gilman Barracks,” said Yong.