FOUR Seasons Singapore last week unveiled a snazzier rooftop event space with a rejuvenated pool and new bar, and two redecorated function rooms, coinciding with the hotel’s 20th anniversary.

The luxury hotel hired renowned design firm HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates was engaged to redesign the spaces on its 20th floor.

The result is its two rooms, Windows East and Windows West, boasting floor-to-ceiling windows for natural light, chandeliers, and new wood panelling, with one room in white wood and the other in dark wood.

Both come with wide balconies and can accommodate between 50 and 60 people each, or five tables for roundtable sessions, Neha Chowdhury, sales manager, told TTGmice e-Weekly at the launch.

Four Seasons has also added a new poolside bar, an extension of its destination watering hole One-Ninety Bar by Javier de las Muelas that was opened in the hotel lobby earlier this year.

The entire revamped area holds up to 150 pax for casual receptions.

In an email interview with TTGmice e-Weekly, Austin Watkins, director of marketing, said the hotel has this year witnessed a notable rise in MICE traffic, which accounts for 20 per cent of Four Seasons Singapore’s business.

He said: “Our major source markets trend similarly to airport deplanement records, but our hotel tends to see a larger percentage of American and European clients. While China has risen in recent years, we have seen a cooling in 2014.”

Besides the rooftop events space, the hotel also has two ballrooms that can seat 320 and 150 guests respectively for roundtables. The private foyer in front of each ballroom, enclosed by doors, are a unique selling point for MICE groups, said Chowdhury.

THREE of the Philippines’ biggest associations have merged their health and wellness events under the roof of the Second International Beauty, Health and Wellness Expo to be held in Manila end of August, indicative of a rising trend in event mergers.

Coming under the Expo umbrella are the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PCCI) Philippine Health and Wellness Conference and Happiness is Wellness Festival, and Management Association of the Philippines’ (MAP) and People Management Association of the Philippines’ (PMAP) National Wellness Summit.

“This is the biggest collaboration we have had in our 13 years of operations,” said Expo organiser Mitch Ballesteros, who is also CEO of Ex-Link Events.

Apart from the big three, other industry movers and shakers have also linked their own events to the Expo.

Ballesteros said the trend of merging events under one roof is growing as the expertise and resources of organisations can be unified for a wider local and global reach.

“Collaboration is more practical and affects more people,” said Emy Chavez, president, Philippine Council for the Advancement of Association Executives (PCAAE). “It’s like outsourcing. You also need people to help market your own ideas and initiatives…There’s strength in numbers.”

PCAAE, for instance, has tied up with Makati Business Club (MBC) to introduce the latter’s Integrity Initiative to PCAAE members in a session in October. “We are trying to convince all associations that form part of PCAAE to scatter the principles of integrity and MBC has a big part in it”, said Chavez.

MIDDLE East destination Dubai has secured the bid to host the 2015 International Dragon Award Meeting (2015 IDA Annual Meeting), which will take place from August 22 to 25 next year.

The IDA Annual Meeting, which will be held at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center, is an international Chinese life insurance and financial services industry event recognising top insurance and financial professionals.

“The reason to choose Dubai is not only because it is one of the most attractive tourism destinations, but also (because it) has a state-of-the-art business and convention centre, which is equipped with the latest facilities. There is confidence that Dubai’s accessibility in terms of airlift, the number of well-designed hotels, and the highest quality service standards will make the 2015 IDA Annual Meeting a successful business event,” said Richard Wu, chairman of the Worldwide Chinese Life Insurance Congress that organises the event.

Steen Jakobsen, director of Dubai Business Events – the Official Convention Bureau, commented: “We are honoured that Dubai was selected as the first city outside of Asia to host the International Dragon Award 2015 event, and we are very much looking forward to showcasing this remarkable city to the thousands of delegates who will be attending.

“China is an increasingly important market for Dubai, which is particularly well suited for Chinese visitors thanks to its high standards of hospitality and vast array of leisure attractions which include some of the best hotels and shopping malls in the world,” Jakobsen added.

THREE Marco Polo harbourside hotels are offering promotions for full- and half-day meetings, with a range of add-ons thrown in as well.

Meeting groups that book 10 or more guestrooms can take up Marco Polo Hotels’ deal at any one of its three properties – Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel, Gateway Hotel, and Prince Hotel.

Half-day packages include half a day’s use of the meeting room from 09.00 to 13.00, one coffee break, and a buffet lunch at a designated restaurant. Full-day packages encompass use of the meeting room from 09.00 to 17.00, two coffee breaks, and buffet lunch at a designated restaurant.

Free add-ons that come with each package include rental of an LCD projector with screen for designated meeting rooms, PA system with microphones, flipchart with paper, or whiteboard with markers. Water and candies, meeting supplies, and Wi-Fi are also complimentary.

Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel’s discounted half-day package costs HK$480 (US$62), while the same at Gateway Hotel and Prince Hotel cost HK$470 and HK$440 respectively.

Prices are per person per day, and subject to a 10 per cent service charge for groups with a minimum of 12 persons daily.

For reservations and more information, call (852) 2113 3203.

JAPAN is holding a targeted roadshow for Singapore MICE buyers next month to showcase itself as an ideal meeting destination for international conventions.

In partnership with TTG Events, the Japan National Tourism Organization’s (JNTO) roadshow will see delegations from cities such as Chiba and Matsue holding presentations to update Singapore buyers on the cities’ latest infrastructure, facilities, and capabilities.

Some 40 Singapore buyers, comprised of association executives and board members, AMCs, meeting planners, PCOs, PEOs, and other MICE procurers, are expected.

The event will be held at Marina Bay Sands on October 3.

For more information, visit www.jnto.org.sg.

GAMIFICATION is a new buzzword in the business events industry, and meetings organisers and incentive planners can best leverage this concept to keep meetings audiences engaged and affect behaviour.

Jason Fox, Australian motivation design expert and author of The Game Changer, said gamification, which has been around for three years, has huge potential in the business events industry as a means to keep the audience interested.

He opined that meetings can be as engaging as online games if designed well, delegates would pay for good meeting experiences.

Thus, it falls on the meeting organiser to use “game thinking in non-game context”, he said, adding that gamification features rules, structures, and outcomes.

Fox was speaking as part of Malaysia Business Events Week (TTGmice e-Weekly, July 3, 2014), organised by Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau.

Nigel Gaunt, vice president global business at BI Worldwide, a global engagement agency that uses the principles of behavioral economics to produce measurable results for clients, noted that with the qualifying period for some incentives stretching up to a year, some incentive houses use online games to keep participants engaged and earning additional points towards their final score throughout the period.

He added: “Online games should be relevant to the clients’ business. I would use a game involving cars for clients in the automobile industry.”

Andrea Lee, area director – Kuala Lumpur, Destination Asia, shared: “In the past, clients used to ask us about our background and used that to decide whether we get the business. Increasingly, they want us to give them inexpensive solutions to retain the attention of the audience as pharmaceutical meetings for medical professionals tend to be very scientific and dry.”

Lee gamifies the spelling of new drugs to help the audience and organises quick games to break up long meeting sessions and recharge the audience.

UCSI Communications’ managing director, Gracie Geikie, said the company created a running event with fees going towards the Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to build a new shelter. “It would have been much more difficult to raise the same amount through the traditional means of asking the public to donate money for the cause.”

THE Indian government is making an effort to take its major meetings and conferences outside the national capital of New Delhi in order to give other India cities a chance to shine.

A source in India’s Ministry of External Affairs told TTGmice e-Weekly that prime minister Narendra Modi is keen to hold the government’s high-profile bilateral, multilateral, and centre-state meetings in other destinations.

The annual Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for non-resident nationals will take place next January in Ahmedabad as compared to New Delhi this year.

Modi’s first summit dialogue with Russian president Vladimir Putin will also be held outside New Delhi, though the destination has not yet been confirmed.

The third India-Africa Forum Summit, running from December 1-4, has likewise been shifted from New Delhi to the adjoining city of Gurgaon.

“The profile of a city is enhanced when a government event takes place there. This will give a good exposure to other smaller Indian cities like Pune for hosting meetings,” commented Monamita Sarkar, managing director, KW Conferences.

MK Ajit Kumar, president & CEO of Global Conference Management Group Chennai, said: “The government should also consider hosting its meetings in Tier Two cities which may not have the infrastructure for hosting large meetings and conferences but can host smaller ones. This will result in hotels investing in those cities and overall improving economy of such cities.”

THE American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) will bring its Great Ideas Conference to Asia next year.

Hong Kong has been chosen as the venue for the Washingon DC-based association’s first-ever Asian conference, which will see 150 to 200 association management practitioners from Asia-Pacific gathering.

ASAE’s Great Ideas Conference tackles creative approaches to everyday issues in association management and is traditionally held in the US. Orlando, Florida is scheduled to host it in March 2015.

Emy Chavez, president of Philipine Council for the Advancement of Association Executives (PCAAE), which is on the ASAE advisory board for the Great Ideas Conference 2015, said the upcoming Asia conference is a pilot event that could become annual if successful.

PCAAE will aim to host the 2016 conference if so, said Chavez.