WITH the advent of mobile apps for almost every aspect of life, mobile meeting and events app QuickMobile’s CEO anticipates meetings will go paperless within the next three to five years.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly, CEO of QuickMobile, Craig Brennan, said: “Most companies will adopt apps (in five years) because apps are so much more powerful, engaging, efficient, and environmentally friendly. It just makes so much sense to do it.”

While conversion from paper to app is still an inhibiting factor, Brennan said it is a “mindset change” and once customers use the app they “don’t turn back”.

He said: “For the first time our customers may use app and paper together, but the second time they may cut out 60 to 80 per cent of paper use, and by the third time they will go completely without paper.”

While QuickMobile started in 2008, Brennan said the company has been experiencing “rapid growth” of 100 per cent year-on-year in take-up rate, especially over the past few years.

Brennan said QuickMobile differs from the competition because of its ability to customise the app’s look and feel to align with the company’s brand, ROI measurement and multi-language options including Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Last year, QuickMobile was used in approximately 2,000 global meetings and events, ranging from intimate sit-downs of five delegates to gatherings of over 50,000 participants. According to Brennan, this resulted in about two million user downloads.

Brennan said: “In comparison to the Western markets, Asia is still in its earlier stage of adoption so we foresee a huge potential of growth here and Singapore will be a very fast follower.”

As such, QuickMobile this week set up a new regional office in Singapore to court the Asia-Pacific market. Brennan said: “We view Singapore as a key market for us to access the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a host country for world-class events.”

Brennan also revealed that QuickMobile is setting its sights on the Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai markets.

THE newly open Niccolo Chengdu has launched two new meeting and conference packages to attract MICE business – the Niccolo Conferences+ and Niccolo Meetings+.

Planners who take up Niccolo Conferences+ will receive welcome cocktails for all delegates in The Conservatory, free use of two breakout meeting rooms and a themed tea break.

Furthermore, the hotel will grant organisers one free room including breakfast for every 10 guestrooms booked.

On the other hand, Niccolo Meetings+ will include two tea breaks and a business lunch at the hotel’s Yue Hin Chinese Restaurant for full-day meetings. For a half-day meeting, the hotel will provide one tea break. Use of an LCD projector and high-speed Wi-Fi access will also be thrown in.

Organisers must have at least 10 delegates to take on the package.

Niccolo Chengdu opened in April this year and is located in Chengdu’s city centre, offering meeting planners 20 function rooms including the Niccolo Ballroom and The Conservatory.

TRAVEL management company FCm Travel Solutions Singapore has welcomed two new faces to its team.

Bertrand Saillet is now general manager for Singapore and Crispian Lye has been named director of sales for South-east Asia.

As general manager, Saillet helms all aspects of the travel management business including sales and marketing, account management, operations and product development.

He was most recently head of TMC, specialty and networks APAC at Amadeus IT Group SA, and prior to that held management roles in the aeronautical and telcomms industry.

Newly appointed director of sales for South-east Asia Lye was heading up the Singapore Business Federation’s sustainable development business group and its commercial unit before joining FCm.

Lye had previously worked in conference research surrounding ICT, green telcomms, and oil and gas.

IN THE run-up to its opening in December 2016, the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) has named three new directors to its team.

Venue operator AEG Ogden has announced Malu Barrios as director of event services, Johnny Naofal as the director of building services and Ivan Sanhueza as director of technology services.

Barrios has spent over 20 years at director level in the Australian events industry, developing and implementing venue management strategies under AEG Ogden. She is also the general manager of Sydney Exhibition Centre@Glebe Island (SEC@GI), which is also managed by AEG Ogden, and had worked at the Darwin Convention Centre and The Sydney Showground previously.

Naofal has over 20 years’ experience as a facilities and operations manager in the service sector and is currently the facilities manager at SEC@GI. Before that, he was security manager at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre for 13 years.

Both Barrios and Naofal will continue their roles at SEC@GI and ensure a seamless transition of events to ICC Sydney in December 2016.

Sanhueza has had 15 years of experience in the information and communications technology (ICT) space and joins ICC Sydney following his previous role as ICT manager for The Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust.

THE September 1 official opening of Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain will bolster the incentive appeal of up-and-coming Chengdu.

General manager, Michael Murphy, said: “There is plenty of high-end incentives potential for Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain due to its unique location and beautiful facilities as Sichuan and Chengdu are getting more and more fashionable.

“The resort offers amazing views of Qing Cheng Mountain, is a short stroll to temples and is only few minutes away from the Giant Pandas Conservation Center.”

Using only organic produce, the resort will feature local Sichuan, international and Thai cuisine, while the Six Senses Spa offers wellness-focused activities. MICE groups can go mountain trekking, play golf at Sichuan Qingcheng Mountain Golf Club, visit a fish farm with a culinary expert, learn the art of tea and the art of calligraphy, and attend cooking classes.

The resort is targeting domestic and international high-end incentives. MICE will contribute 20 per cent of the segment mix and corporate business, 10 per cent.

Murphy predicts that 75 per cent of overall business will come from China and the rest from international and regional markets, and the resort is targeting Europe via its Paris sales office and North America.

Domestically, Chengdu, an hour’s drive away, is expected to be a major market source. The resort has also mounted roadshows to Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian and Chongqing to entice local business.

Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain is offering soft-opening packages that range from RMB1,915 (US$308) for a suite in the shoulder season to RMB17,779 for a two-bedroom courtyard pool villa in peak season.

A NEW eLearning module is attempting to educate business travellers about the often-underestimated risk of road accidents.

Road accidents were one of the top five causes of medical evacuations led by International SOS and a significant cause of injury and death for employees working abroad, according to its data.

To highlight the need for better road safety practices, International SOS and Control Risks has, in collaboration with NPO Global Road Safety Partnership, rolled out an online course Travel Risk: Road Safety.

Suzy Bell, group product training director for International SOS, commented in a press release: “We developed this eLearning training to bring road safety to the forefront of a traveller’s mind. Because road travel is such a common everyday activity, there is a tendency to underestimate the risks involved.

“Our goal is to provide travellers and organisations with the tools to reduce risks, while still being able to conduct their business. Twenty minutes of online learning can make a big difference in raising awareness and prepare the business traveller to reduce – and respond to – road accidents.”

The eLearning module features real-world scenarios and advice from Global Road Safety Partnership, as well as a traveller toolkit with journey management templates, checklists, best practices and links to additional travel information resources.

Grant Strudwick, regional security director, Asia-Pacific for International SOS and Control Risks, commented: “Road safety isn’t just about being a safer driver. Sometimes, the safest option is not to drive at all. If you don’t know the rules of the road, highway conditions, or local language, you may be better off arranging transportation with a trusted and vetted provider.”

BUSINESS Events Sunshine Coast has its sights firmly set on attracting MICE groups from South-east Asia, business events executive Tiffany Beal told TTGmice e-Weekly at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) in Melbourne earlier this week.

“We have very few Asian groups coming to the Sunshine Coast for business events and we’re all wondering why that’s the case when we know they are going to the Gold Coast,” explained Beal.

The last 12 months have seen the organisation conduct market research and participate in various programmes including Tourism Australia’s Nature Coast Roadshow in March, which had nine travel consultants from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia visit the region over four days.

Beal shared: “I had a ‘light bulb’ moment when an Indonesian PCO told me he’s sending groups to Iceland for four days. If they do that then why can’t they come to the Sunshine Coast?”

During the four-day itinerary, the group participated in a chef-guided food trail, which had been especially designed by Business Events Sunshine Coast and is now in the process of being converted into an official tour by a local operator.

“They love the food and wine experiences,” said Beal. “I’ve had four clients from Singapore sit down at ATE who want something different. They’ve done Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast and…the usual experiences of theme parks and shopping tours. Hands-on experiences in a natural environment are what they’re looking for.”

She added that she and her team will in the coming months construct a database of inbound tour operators – through whom research showed South-east Asian MICE groups book business events – and invite them to the Sunshine Coast, budget permitting.

“We need to give them the right tools and itineraries so they can go back and sell it.”