BANYAN Tree Hotels and Resorts is pushing for a bigger share of the regional MICE market with a new meetings programme and a dedicated meeting and event website for event planners.

The group will launch its Meet for Good in 1Q, incorporating volunteerism and CSR elements, said David Spooner, vice president for sales and marketing, during a recent trip to Hong Kong.

The programme details have not been finalised but will ride on what Banyan Tree already offers guests currently, including activities such as tree planting and reading to local children.

Banyan Tree also works with EarthCheck to measure how much carbon is generated during meetings and aid clients in holding carbon-free meetings.

Said Spooner: “We observed (a demand for) responsible meetings and the trend of more engagement in CSR, incorporated with experiencing the local flavours of food and entertainment.”

China makes up Banyan Tree’s biggest MICE market in Asia-Pacific, although in terms of the number of booked rooms, incentives form the largest share of traffic at its Indonesia, Thai and Vietnam resorts, he revealed.

Meanwhile the group will continue to boost awareness of Banyan Tree and sister brand Angsana’s MICE capabilities, where the segment accounts for eight to 10 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. “A lot of MICE organisers…think we only do leisure groups and couples. In fact, we do have a demand for small executive retreats, incentives and board meetings.”

Banyan Tree launched a dedicated MICE page this month (www.banyantree.com/en/meetings-events), with one for Angsana to start this quarter.

“Meeting organisers can look for functional information like capacity charts and size of meeting rooms via their mobile phones, laptops and tablets. Moreover, the site also features Destination Dining for meeting organisers who need special and exclusive dining options like al fresco dining on top of a mountain,” explained Spooner.

ITS upcoming transition into a convention hotel will enable Marriott Hotel Manila to bat for bigger meetings and more than double MICE’s contribution to room sales, said general manager Bruce Winton.

The 8,000m² Marriott Grand Ballroom (MGB), the Marriott group’s biggest convention and exhibition space outside the US, is set for a grand opening on May 18.

Apart from a 3,000m² pillar-less main ballroom for up to 5,000 pax, MGB also has two chapels and six multi-purpose venues called VIP Skyboxes.

But the 228 additional rooms, which will be bigger and more luxurious than the hotel’s existing 342 rooms, will be launched only towards year-end.

“2015 will be a transition for us and the dynamics will change. Since the additional rooms won’t be ready until the end of this year, the rooms-to-MICE-space ratio might be skewed,” he said.

Winton said that demand for MICE was strong but the hotel had to turn away a lot of business “because we don’t have enough rooms”.

Once the additional rooms come on stream, MICE contribution to room sales would increase from the current 20 per cent to almost 50 per cent by end-2016, he said.

Winton expects half of MGB’s business to be MICE, including association meetings, and the rest to come from entertainment and social events such as weddings.

SINGAPORE-BASED Pacific World has signed up 22 staff members in Singapore and the region to take the Convention Industry Council’s Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) training course for international accreditation.

Herve Joseph-Antoine, global managing director, Pacific World, said 13 staff members from its Singapore office and nine from its offices in Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam have enrolled for the programme this year.

“The business events industry is at a turning point and Pacific World has been looking for a solution and a suitable staff development programme since 2012,” said Joseph-Antoine.

“Not only will the CMP training and certification provide our staff with a helicopter view to deliver the needs of our clients, our clients also recognise the value of working with a company whose staff understand and speak the same language.”

SACEOS and PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) have renewed their partnership for a second consecutive year to provide a train-the-trainer programme in Singapore, offering education and support for those in the region planning to take the CMP exam.

Lilian Kuan, executive director, SACEOS, told the TTGmice e-Weekly that 26 MICE practitioners took the CMP exam in 2014 and eight earned their CMP credentials.

“Singapore now has a total of 30 MICE practitioners with CMP accreditation, and SACEOS is playing a very involved role to help MICE companies professionalise their staff by helping the individual MICE practitioner prepare for and pass the exam in 2015.”

Kuan said the CMP programme costs S$2,300 (US$1,722) per individual, but Singapore-registered companies who meet the terms and conditions of the Productivity Innovation Credit scheme can enjoy a 60 per cent subsidy.

WARMER cross-straits ties have bolstered Taiwan’s MICE industry, where a promising outlook has propelled MICE infrastructure development and investment from international hotel chains.

Latest information from Meet Taiwan has revealed plans to construct brand-new MICE venues in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung, which will be ready for business in the next two years.

Kaohsiung city saw the grand opening of its Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in April 2014, while in Taipei, construction of a second exhibition space for Nangang Exhibition Hall will complete in 2017. The halls will collectively be able to contain 5,000 booths, and the increased capacity will relieve the space crunch confronting major international exhibitions including Computex Taipei.

Meanwhile, construction of Taichung Convention and Exhibition Center – with the capacity to house 3,353 booths and 30,000 visitors – will be wrapped up by 4Q2018.

Prominent local hotels, including W Taipei, Le Méridien Taipei and Humble House Taipei, are expanding their MICE facilities. The Marriott Taipei, featuring an attached international convention centre for 2,000 pax, will commence business in 2Q. Likewise, the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei will open its doors in 2H2015.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts is boosting its presence across the country via the Westin brand in Taoyuan and Taipei, Le Méridien in Hualien and Taichung, and Four Points by Sheraton in Penghu. More international brands are expected to come up in Taiwan.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council executive vice president and Meet Taiwan managing director, Walter Yeh, said Taiwan will welcome 12 international conferences with over 1,000 participants in 2015.

Also, Meet Taiwan will bid to host Rotary International Convention 2021 and 2022 that will involve an estimated 35,000 participants.

Meet Taiwan 2014 assisted 118 firms in conducting corporate meetings and incentive travel in Taiwan, with Greater China as the largest source market.

Corporate clients drawn to Taiwan include renowned firms like Jollibee China, China Perfect, Charle Japan, Colgate-Palmolive Malaysia and Estee Lauder Singapore.

Translated from the original TTG China e-Daily, January 20, 2015 article by Ong Yanchun    

THE China Foreign Trade Centre (Group) and Reed Exhibitions have signed a new strategic alliance agreement for a stronger exhibition events sector.

The agreement will see regular executive meetings, resource sharing, professional talent cultivation, exhibition projects, organisation and venue cooperation between the two organisations.

Reed Exhibitions chairman, Mike Rusbridge, said: “After more than three decades of rapid growth in China, the agreement is a milestone for Reed Exhibitions… and ‘a powerful statement of intent’ between two strong partners with one common goal to continue building world-leading exhibition events in China.

“This new partnership will prove mutually beneficial in the joint projects that we intend to undertake together in China. This alliance will remain instrumental to the modernisation and sustained success of the industry.”

Meanwhile, in May, three mega medical and healthcare industry events – CMEF, API China and PHARM China – organised by Reed Sinopharm – will co-locate for the first time at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre in Shanghai.

CONRAD Maldives is offering Rangali island, one of the two islands it owns, exclusively for the expanding meetings and incentives market.

The adults-only island can accommodate up to 100 delegates for private hire and has 50 upmarket water villas, restaurants and other facilities, including a wine cellar with the largest stock in the country.

Kimberley Roberts, Conrad’s director for marketing and communications, said: “The concept has been designed in an effort to attract high-end groups looking for the ultimate location with the facilities and amenities to cater to the group’s requirements.”

Rangali is connected by a footbridge to Conrad’s main island of Rangalifinolhu, which has over 100 beach villas and is a more family-oriented resort.

“We are giving incentive groups and also socials and weddings the opportunity to completely buy out Rangali Island for their event, incentive, wedding or meeting,” said Roberts.

Viluxur Holidays managing director, Shafraz Fazley, welcomes this addition to a small but growing number of resorts offering incentive and meeting packages in the Maldives, which has been profiled as a honeymoon and high-end destination.

“There is a big demand from companies for meetings and incentives and the Maldives should encourage this segment. At the moment, we are unable to accept many requests for meetings and incentive travel as many resorts are not able to provide such facilities,” said Fazley.

Fazley’s company, which handles 4,000 Chinese visitors per month among other guests, recently handled a group of 300 on a meeting/incentive package.

Among other resorts in the Maldives, Kurumba and Bandos – the oldest – can handle meetings and incentives packages; Shangri-La has a large conference facility in the nearby Gan island, while Lux* Maldives could accommodate 70 to 80 guests in its nightclub if transformed into a meeting place, Fazley said.

WHILE 2015 marks the final year of Taiwan’s three-year pilot MICE industry programme Meet Taiwan, it will witness the birth of the Taiwan Value Go scheme.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council executive vice president and Meet Taiwan managing director, Walter Yeh, said Meet Taiwan aims to develop the country as an important MICE destination in Asia, and the programme had, in the past two years, attended various international MICE events and conducted numerous business trips to China as well as north-east and South-east Asia.

In 2014, Meet Taiwan kickstarted the Asia Super Team, a massive multinational marketing campaign directed at companies in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Companies from these countries battled in a two-stage competition comprising online and in-country components, with the winner was awarded an incentive travel package to Taiwan worth US$50,000.
Following its success, the competition will run again this year, with an expanded market that includes businesses in Thailand and Australia.

Yeh elaborated that 2015’s Meet Taiwan will focus primarily on China, along with other Asian countries, while Taiwan Value Go will feature exhibitions and arts and cultural festivals across Taiwan’s various cities and provinces beyond the two major cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung.

Meet Taiwan will also give out award grants capped at US$100,000 to international corporate conferences with at least 100 participants and which incorporate Taiwan Value Go itineraries into their MICE programme.

Companies with more than 10 participants who extend MICE trips in Taiwan and incorporate featured itineraries into their extended stays may also qualify for grants capped at US$10,000.

Translated by Ong Yanchun from the original TTG-BTmice e-Weekly, January 14, 2015 article