THE newly formed Korea Society of Association Executives (KSAE) seeks to advance the skills of industry practitioners through education and training, networking, and even advocacies, its secretary general Glynn Cho told TTGmice e-Weeky.

While South Korea has over 50,000 associations and organisations, there is no system in place yet for what KSAE wants to pioneer in, said Cho, who is also CEO of the Korea Association Management and Consulting, at the sidelines of the Philippine Council for the Advancement of Association Executives (PCAAE) Summit II.

KSAE has benchmarked the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) which Cho – the first Asian it certified as an association executive – represents in South Korea and the PCAAE which was formed last year.

With 90 individual members, KSAE wants to collaborate with ASAE and PCAAE to achieve common goals.

In his presentation at the PCAAE Summit II, Cho said associations and organisations in South Korea will in the future be open, transparent, collaborative, self-sufficient and sustainable.

Currently traditional in character, they are generally conservative with single super power and are dependent on the government.

THE Thai Exhibition Association (TEA) today entered into a MoU with Singapore’s SACEOS to enhance business opportunities for exhibition organisers and visitors in both countries.

Supawan Teerarat, TCEB’s vice president, strategic and business development, said: “The world’s gaze is now fixed on the opportunities presented by the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). As you know, the AEC will stimulate networks and cross-border trade.

“TCEB believes that the MICE industry can operate as a catalyst to boost all sectors, and that Thailand is uniquely positioned to unlock the potential of the AEC,” Supawan added.

SACEOS president Janet Tan-Collis said: “The AEC will offer a new battleground for foreign organisers. Currently, local organisers are competing among themselves and facing competition from foreign organisers. These foreign organisers are now on an aggressive acquisition trail in ASEAN countries.”

“This partnership between SACEOS and TEA brings about collaboration not only in developing business opportunities but also in knowledge sharing (between Thailand and Singapore),” she added.

Under the MoU, areas of future collaboration include the exchange of information to promote products, services and joint offering for member rates for each other’s events for a maximum period of three calendar years, plus a reciprocal hyperlink on their respective websites.

Supawan added: “This will open the door to new market opportunities to uplift the region’s MICE industry, especially within the exhibition sector. We are confident this partnership will lead to new investment among Thai organisers and SACEOS members, contractors, freight and service providers.”

Thailand welcomed 77 trade fairs in 2013 and generated an estimated revenue of about US$174 million, of which some 3,016 visitors from Singapore accounted for eight per cent of the total international trade visitors.

According to Patrapee Chinachoti, president of TEA, the number of trade fairs in Thailand has grown by at least 10 per cent this year, and this new MoU will “definitely help” to increase this number further.

AS competition heats up in Asia’s exhibition sector, the Asian Federation of Exhibition and Convention Associations (AFECA) is urging local exhibition organisers to find their niches to level the playing field against foreign players.

AFECA president Edward Liu predicted that by end-2020, most South-east Asia’s exhibitions and shows would be owned by American and European organisers, who have been very active on the acquisition trail over the past few years with the accelerated growth of the Asian economy.

Advised Liu: “If (smaller players) want to survive, they should focus on their strength and perhaps go for niche shows where they have strength and make fairly good money in it.

“It doesn’t have to be a big show. But so long as the show meets the requirements of exhibitors and buyers and sellers are happy with the event, it should generate decent profits and returns for the organisers”, he said.

AFECA secretary general Marisa D Nallana said local organisers should not feel threatened by the entry of foreign organisers and instead should seek out ways to work and complement their competitors.

Nallana said that the Philippine Association of Convention/Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (PACEOS), which she chairs, is encouraging members to go out and touch base with other countries “because the name of the game now is working with partners in the region”.

“We lose out if we stick to (that) parochial mind,” she added.

THE German Convention Bureau (GCB) will increase its presence in China with the opening of a representative office in Beijing in 2015, marking the organisation’s second external branch office after New York.

With a trading volume of over 140 billion euros (US$174.4 billion) in 2013, Germany is by far China’s biggest trading partner in Europe, and China, likewise, is Germany’s most important trading partner in Asia.

The GBTA has also predicted that the amount of business trips to Germany from China will increase beyond the current 964,000, which already accounts for 40 per cent of the total number of journeys from Germany to China. Research indicated that China might soon overtake the US as the largest nation of business travellers.

The new Beijing office will hence build on the emerging business and tourism links between the two countries, said Petra Hedorfer, chair of the GCB’s board of directors and CEO of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB).

Said Hedorfer: “Following the launch of our activity around the theme ‘Germany as a business travel destination’, developing the GCB’s presence in another key market is the next important step. The new office will enable Germany to continue to benefit from the rapid developments in China.”

Matthias Schultze, managing director of the GCB, said: “Having our own representative office in China provides clear advantages for members and partners of the GCB: proximity to the market will enable more intensive marketing work with a large number of new activities in which members can participate.”

The GCB will continue working with the GNTB to roll out further marketing activities in China, including online training (http://germany-meetingexperts.com) about Germany as a destination for meetings and conventions – approximately 600 Chinese event planners have taken part in this since the beginning of September 2014.

MARRIOTT International will roll out its new meetings technology platform and related app in the region next year, said Bart Buiring, senior vice president of lodging services and operations Asia-Pacific.

Asia-Pacific will be the first to see the implementation of MeetingsImagined.com, a digital portal that focuses on visual content and leverages social media to attract meetings clients.

“A picture says more than a thousand words, and Meetings Imagined is an intuitive platform which uses thousands of images of our facilities and events to show planners what we can do,” he said. “Planners and delegates can post pictures of the set-up process or coffee breaks. Our hotel teams can post too, so that helps create some friendly competition between properties to see who gets the most engagement with their content.”

Buiring said the co-created content provides planners with new ideas for events as well as showcasing facilities at various properties. Such technology is key in connecting with Millennials, he pointed out, adding that Asia-Pacific provided a fertile testing ground given the region’s position at the forefront of meetings design.

The hotelier is also set to deploy its Meeting Services App, which provides real-time connectivity for meetings planners and features a wide range of functions, including a chat facility to connect clients with Marriott’s events team throughout the planning and execution process. It also enables clients to immediately respond to issues as and when they arise, he elaborated.

“If you’re in a meeting with 160 people and don’t want to leave, you can use the app to request for the lighting or air conditioning to be adjusted, order more coffee or delay lunch. Our team will respond immediately and inform the planner of how their request is being processed.

“It will soon be able to handle the billing process too, which is a major development as billing is the current pain point for most planners.”

The app was piloted in a six hotels across Asia-Pacific – Thailand, Australia, the Philippines and China. It will be rolled out across all JW Marriott, Marriott, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton and Autograph properties within next year.

IN conjunction with its 10th year anniversary next year, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) has expanded its banqueting offerings to include a full menu spread on the table to complement the traditional option of presenting dishes course by course.

The new banqueting offering, which will be available from January 1, 2015, will feature a tailor-made menu of appetisers and desserts at the table once guests are seated, followed by the main course of a hot sharing platter. Diners can hence choose the order they wish to eat, without following the traditional norm of having starters first, followed by main course and ending with dessert.

KLCC deputy general manager, Simon Lomas, said: “With our 10th anniversary on the horizon and in line with continuous efforts to enhance the guest experience and to further differentiate ourselves from the competition, the innovative culinary team felt an unconventional F&B service experience was the way to go.”

Executive chef Richmond Lim explained the centre’s newest banqueting concept is all about “providing choice (without) having to queue up at the buffet station, enjoying a selection of small bites but not in the traditional stand-up cocktail fashion, recognising the Malaysian heritage of sharing food (and) offering it in an elegant manner, exciting palates with taste and texture”.

At 3,157m2, KLCC’s fully-fledged kitchen is the largest in Malaysia. Furnished with advanced equipment and a designated area for food preparation behind every large function room, the facility can handle up to 6,000 meals a day.