LANGHAM Hospitality Group is bringing back the Double the Extra Mile Plus programme, which rewards meeting planners with perks such as a special miles accrual rate and complimentary accommodation and use of select event facilities.

For qualified events with spending of US$6,500, meeting and event planners could enjoy double hotel rewards or miles accrual under any of the 11 selected frequent flyer or travel and lifestyle reward programme partners, including Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer and United Airlines’ Mileage Plus.

Planners can choose between earning two miles for every US$1 spent or enjoying hotel rewards such as complimentary accommodation, food and beverage vouchers and spa vouchers.

In addition, bookings of 60 rooms per night or more will entitle planners to any two of 10 concessions, which include a waiver of cancellation fees; no minimum for food and beverage spend; complimentary internet access for all guestrooms and meeting rooms; one complimentary room per 30 paid rooms; one 30-minute cocktail reception; and spa credit for the meeting planner or the group’s VIP.

Bookings can be made from April 1 to June 30, 2016 for events taking place between July 1 and December 31, 2016 at all participating The Langham and Langham Place hotels.

For more details, visit langhamhotels.com/doubletheextramileplus.

THE Kandooma Marquee, a 200m² events space, was inaugurated on March 19 at Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives.

It can hold up to 180 guests and has a large area for teambuilding activities.

Organisers will be able to enlist an incentives and special events team to assist with planning and event execution. They will also have access to high-speed wireless Internet and advanced audiovisual equipment.

Joseph Della Gatta, hotel general manager, said: “The Kandooma Marquee is our response to the increasing demand of incentives and special events and group requests we are receiving across different parts of the world.”

The resort is a 40-minute speedboat drive from the country’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

STADIA & Arena Asia Pacific 2016 will convene in the Japanese port city of Yokohama this September, drawing an estimated 2,000 specialists in the field of athletic facilities development.

It will be the first such event to be held in Japan, according to a media release from the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Conceptualised by UK company ALAD in 1997, the event will feature both exhibition and conference components, and will invite participants to discuss sport venue design, construction, maintenance, operations management, and related technologies.

The 8,000m² Yokohama Arena will be utilised for the gathering, a venue that is no stranger to many international sporting events. Participants will also get to visit other sports facilities across Yokohama, including the International Stadium Yokohama and the Yokohama International Swimming Pool.

As host for the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, and with plans to be the site for the 2020 Olympics soccer matches, Yokohama is a fitting choice for Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016.

TAUZIA Hotel Management is looking to beef up its MICE business through the Tauzia MICE Rally, which aims to showcase meeting and event offerings of 42 hotels in its portfolio spanning the Harris, Yello and Pop! brands.

After seeing positive results from the inaugural Rally last year, Tauzia brought the first Rally for 2016 to Surabaya in February, and this will be followed by sessions in Jakarta and Bali in April and September respectively.

Tauzia is the only hotel group that has its own MICE business sessions with corporates in Indonesia.

Fridi Harini, Tauzia’s corporate director of sale – Jakarta and Surabaya Regions, who is also the Rally’s programme director, said: “More than half of our portfolio carry the word ‘convention’ which means we are (well-)equipped for our customer’s functions.”

In part due to the increased awareness of the hotels’ facilities and offerings, Tauzia’s MICE business is rebounding from the 17.2 per cent decline in 2015.

Fridi said: “Looking closely at different cities’ performances between January and February this year compared to the same period last year, Jakarta hotels’ MICE business was up by 51 per cent, West Java region (Bandung, Sentul, Puncak) 31 per cent and Surabaya region 36 per cent.”

And with the improved business climate and the revision of government policy to allow government agencies to organise meetings in hotels, the Tauzia MICE rally can serve to drive this increased demand to Tauzia managed hotels.

Fridi said she expects that the group’s MICE business will be up by 42 per cent from that of 2015.