THE Asian Federation of Exhibition and Convention Associations (AFECA) has seen its membership expand in the past year to include more representatives from Myanmar, Japan and Hong Kong, allowing members to benefit from a greater pool of experts who can share trade knowledge.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly during the AFECA Forum today, Walter Yeh, AFECA president, said: “AFECA was set up 10 years ago to promote the industry of conventions, exhibitions, meetings and events, and it has been growing its membership. We now have 28 association members. This has enabled us to strengthen our ability to exchange business knowledge, and we will be doing more activities in the coming years to facilitate such intelligence sharing.”

The association also has 98 regular and affiliate member companies from 17 countries, and nine advisory council members from eight countries.

Yeh said AFECA intends to make the AFECA Awards and AFECA Asia MICE Youth Challenge annual affairs, although the decision to host a second edition of the AEC+ Expo is now pending, subject to trade feedback on the inaugural show which ends tomorrow.

“We may even enhance the AFECA Asia MICE Youth Challenge next year by turning it into a competition that is open to MICE professionals,” Yeh revealed.

“Going forward, AFECA will be even more active and will look for other opportunities for our members to engage one another,” he added.

SINGAPORE’S second Sofitel property has opened on Sentosa island, armed with 211 rooms and suites, four villas, more than 1,300m² of MICE facilities, four dining options and what is said to be the world’s largest So SPA.

Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa spots a bold and elegant design that integrates the surrounding nature within the hotel’s various buildings, and boasts more than 27 acres of tropical woodlands, offering guests a sense of relaxed sophistication and urban resort living.

It is also the only hotel on Sentosa that overlooks the South China Sea, with easy access to Tanjong Beach.

Offering a rich option for event planners, the hotel’s revamped Conference Centre houses two ballrooms, 15 pillarless meeting rooms, outdoor verandas and a bridal suite. All meeting rooms are illuminated with natural light and stretch out to the outdoor lawn, making them ideal venues for corporate brainstorming sessions, teambuilding, leadership training and cocktail receptions.

The hotel is also collaborating with DirectStreams, a long standing technology partner of Sofitel, to offer the latest fully-connected innovative lifestyle technology through DirectStreams’ LG Smart TV Guest solution, allowing guests the best technology experience to meet the needs of a diverse audience.

Vincent Lelay, cluster general manager of Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa and Sofitel So Singapore, said: “The Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa represents a significant step for Sofitel in further increasing its presence in South-east Asia, and bringing French elegance and sophistication to the increasingly discerning travellers in this region.”

A MICE-FOCUSED business exchange debuted at this year’s Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF), with destinations from all over the world coming together to reach out to Taiwanese incentive planners.

The 60-minute Incentive Travel Forum, held a day ahead of ITF, saw participation from destinations near and far, including South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Oman and Guam.

Hong Kong Tourism Board lured Taiwanese corporates at the event with its year-end festivals, said tourism marketing manager, Joey Kao, who added that escalating room rates in Taiwan should encourage local companies to take their events overseas.

Guam Visitors Bureau, also a participant at the forum, shone the limelight at the five-star, 419-key Dusit Thani Guam Resort which will officially open next month.

“Its meeting space can accommodate more than 1,000 people, and we hope to use this platform to reach the right target audience,” remarked Guam Visitors Bureau, senior project manager, Ean Chen.

Local corporate buyers welcomed the incentive focus.

Sothis Yang, a representative from Cathay Life Insurance, general marketing administration department, told TTGmice e-Weekly that the event provided opportunities for direct dialogue with destinations, which was helpful as not all travel agencies were able to offer what she needed.

Wang Hau-mei, welfare committee group leader with Taiwan Railway, which rewards 40-50 top performing employees annually with overseas trips, hoped the forum would expand in scale and feature more destinations.

ITF, chairman, Cherng Tyan Su, said the new event aimed to cater to planners of various event scales and budgets, “especially for SMEs with a staff count of under 100”.

“If results are good, we hope to make (the forum) an annual event,” Cherng added.