POLITICAL fallout is pushing Paradise Garden Boracay Resort and Convention Centre, the first and only halal-certified resort in the Visayas since last month, towards the large Muslim MICE markets in the region and beyond.

Hannah Yulo, director of sales and marketing, said there is unmet demand from Muslim travellers in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Middle East, South Korea and Russia.

The push factor, however, has been the Scarborough Shoal dispute between China and the Philippines that has affected Boracay’s top market, China.

“We get small numbers now,” Yulo said, but added that the property is receiving many inquiries and expects to host several Muslim MICE groups this year.

Explaining how the resort got on board with halal cuisine, Yulo shared that a 28-pax incentive group from Malaysia had requested for a halal menu last November and that spurred it to acquire halal certification from the Islamic Da’Wah Council of the Philippines.

Since then, the resort’s main kitchen has been converted to a halal one while a separate and brand-new kitchen serves non-halal food. It has also prepared a prayer room and guestrooms with a Koran, qiblah and prayer mat.

Furthermore, the resort has Muslim members of staff and the general manager also has experience working in Brunei, a Muslim destination.

Yulo also said that the resort has set up a committee to oversee halal requests, needs and concerns, while staff have attended halal-related meetings including the World Halal Forum in Manila last November and the recent Philippine Halal Assembly in Manila, and were invited to a halal summit in South Korea in August.

FOLLOWING a NZ$2.4 million (US$1.7 million) facelift that finished in April, The Langham Auckland is ready to flaunt its shiny new meeting facilities.

The former Waitemata Room is now enjoying a new lease of life as the Crystal Room. Furbished with four new crystal chandeliers, the venue can take up to 180 guests altogether or be divided into two rooms.

Four new Gallery Rooms have also officially opened on the site of the old SPE bar to meet demand for more meeting or breakout rooms.

Floor-to-ceiling windows in the Gallery Rooms offer an abundance of natural sunlight to complement its new crisp, bright décor, wireless connectivity for iPads or PCs and audiovisual technology that spares presenters from being tethered to cables while delivering their presentations.

The Langham Auckland has retained its Great Room, Auckland’s largest pillarless ballroom, which fits 900 banquet style and 1,400 for cocktails.

Michael Shah, director of sales and marketing, said: “Thanks to the number (13 in total) and quality of rooms, variety of sizes (four to 1,400 people), audiovisual capabilities, our great reputation F&B – and most importantly professional, dedicated staff who provide a sense of true welcome and hospitality – we believe we provide an unequalled experience.”

The hotel also offers special corporate rates for small- to medium-size companies that use between 20 and 50 room nights a year.

Called Optimum, the programme features exclusive rates across the Langham global portfolio, preferential rates for Langham Club Rooms and Suites, a dedicated global sales representative to personally assist with your reservations, and airline partner miles accrual.

Visit optimum.langhamhotels.com for more information.

RESORTS World Genting rolled out a Meetings & Awards rewards programme this month, designed for corporate companies that hold their functions or events at all sister properties in Malaysia.

Organisers will earn five rewards points for every RM1(US$0.27) spent on meetings and events facilities at Resorts World Genting, Resorts World Kijal or Resorts World Langkawi

Points accumulated can be used to redeem for subsequent functions or events at the three properties.

Rewards points will expire after 18 months of programme inactivity.

ANDREAS Gruchow of Deutsche Messe was appointed president of UFI for 2017 at a meeting of the UFI board of directors in Istanbul this week.

His appointment is effective after the 82^nd UFI Annual Congress in Milan, which runs from November 4-7.

As a member of the UFI executive committee since 2011, Gruchow has been actively involved in driving the association’s overall strategy and in his new role will work closely with the UFI president and outgoing president as part of the presidential trio.

With Gruchow’s appointment, the presidential for this year is made up of: Sergey Alexeev (ExpoForum-International, Russia), president 2015-2016; Andreas Gruchow, (Deutsche Messe AG), incoming president; and Andrés Lopez-Valderrama (Corferias, Colombia), outgoing president.

Andrés Lopez-Valderrama, current UFI president, who welcomed the election of Gruchow, said in a statement: “Andreas represents one of the world’s leading trade fair organisations and has played a very full and energetic role in his position as a member of UFI’s Executive Committee.

“We are all convinced that he will carry over this enthusiasm into his future presidency of UFI in 2017 and, in the meantime, will provide great support to Sergey Alexeev during his presidency next year. I look forward to working with both of them.”

IN A NEW A$2.7 million (US$2.1 million) marketing agreement this week, Tourism Australia and Singapore Airlines (SIA) will collaborate on promoting business events travel to Australia.

Under the three-year MoU, each side will fork out A$1.4 million for marketing campaigns and promotional activities to be held in Greater China.

The promotions are aimed at both travel consultants and corporate buyers alike.

The deal effectively seals SIA’s position as Tourism Australia’s exclusive business events airline partner for the region.

Andrew Hogg, regional general manager Greater China at Tourism Australia, said: “SIA is one of our longest standing airline partners and has been helping to promote travel to Australia for years. The signing of this new MoU dedicated to business events is further evidence of our desire and ability to work effectively with key airline partners on commercially focused marketing activities. Tourism Australia is committed to working with SIA to achieve strong business events visitor growth for Australia.”

China is a key market for the Australian business events industry and contributes over A$5 billion annually as the fourth largest spending market for business event visitors in the year ending 2014.

Australia is set to host a number of mega incentives from China, including the NuSkin China Incentive 2016 and Amway China Incentive 2017.

BRINGING its corporate travel expertise to Sri Lanka is BCD Travel, which this week announced a strategic partnership with local partner Travelpass.

Corporate travel management company Travelpass is one of the country’s largest outfits with branches in Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna, Batticaloa and Trincomalee, and is a subsidiary of Sharmila Travels.

Travelpass brings to the table its strong affiliations with SriLankan Airlines, Mihin Lanka and SriLankan Holidays.

“By partnering with BCD Travel, we gain exposure to its leading technology tools and corporate travel management solutions. We look forward to introducing these BCD Travel-developed tools and best practices to Sri Lankan corporations to help them align their travel policy with strategic goals and help them reduce travel spend,” said Pradeep Kumar, managing director of Travelpass.