LINDY Wee has been promoted to chief executive at Singapore Exhibition Services, succeeding Stephen Tan.
Wee, formerly deputy chief executive, brings with her a wealth of experience with over 30 years in the exhibitions field.
Prior to her previous appointment, Wee was director of PR and conferences. She joined the company in 1983.
Tan will take up the role of chairman in Singapore Exhibition Services.
SEEKING to secure the next generation of talent for the conference and exhibitions industry, Singapore’s SACEOS has inked an MoU with Republic Polytechnic to collaborate on two major initiatives.
Seto Lok Yin, deputy principal (industry services), Republic Polytechnic, said: “WE are collaborating with SACEOS on Inspire 360 for our diploma in integrated events (DIEM) students to be groomed and mentored by key industry partners. Through such industry exposure in real work setings, they will be ready to contribute to the dynamic MICE and events industry upon graduation.”
The first of two initiatives, Inspire 360 is a structured mentorship programme for a pilot group of 10 second-year DIEM students who will be matched with mentoring companies based on their aspirations. Mentoring companies will guide and involve the students in real work to give them on-the-job training and experience.
Students in the Inspire 360 programme will also intern with the company in their third year for six months, and could be offered a full-time position upon graduation if they perform well.
Inspire 360 will begin on January 1, 2015.
The second initiative will see SACEOS’ Professional Conference Management and Professional Exhibition Management certifications become part of the school curriculum to increase students’ future employability.
Neeta Lachmandas, assistant chief executive of Singapore Tourism Board, said: “Inspire 360 and the certifications will enable both the students and lecturers to deepen their level of expertise on delivering high-quality experiences and events.
“This is in line with MICEHQ.SG, one of the key thrusts of the MICE 2020 Roadmap, which looks at building Singapore’s strength as a MICE destination and sustaining Singapore’s leadership position for the future.”
DEFYING the pall cast over Thailand’s MICE scene due to political unrest this year, Bangkok-based Events Travel Asia (ETA) is expanding its business and opening offices in Singapore and Hong Kong to gain greater market share.
At the helm of ETA is group managing director Max Jantasuwan, an events and hospitality professional with over 14 years of experience.
“The opening of our Hong Kong and Singapore offices were earlier than expected, and it is with thanks to the market demand and unceasing support of our clients, associates, and industry colleagues that motivated us to take this bold step just after 18 months of starting ETA,” said Jantasuwan.
In response to the political situation at home, ETA has looked beyond Thailand for business. The company has seen a 6,500-pax delegation from Herbalife hold an event in Macau in September, and recently held an 80-delegate Golf tournament in Taiwan last month. This is in addition to the more than 90 groups that the company managed in Thailand in 2014.
Max will be spending his time between the Thailand head office and Hong Kong and Singapore offices. He said: “With the new offices, my team and I can spend more time and build a stronger rapport with our Hong Kong- and Singapore-based clients.”
JENS Peter Corder is Shangri-La Hotel, Bengaluru’s latest choice for the position of general manager.
Corder brings to the hotel more than 25 years of hospitality experience.
Prior to his current appointment, Corder spent eight years holding executive management positions in Shangri-La properties across countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, China and India.
AMADEUS announced today the appointment of Christian Lukey as regional director of hotel distribution in Asia-Pacific.
With more than 16 years’ experience in hospitality roles across Asia-Pacific, Lukey brings extensive insight into hotel business strategy, reservation systems, distribution networks and travel buyers’ needs.
He was previously commercial director of HRS, where he spearheaded the opening of the Singapore office to drive regional business development.
HOSPITALITY veteran Milton Monteiro is starting the Hospitality Academy for Training in Service (HATS) to bring individuals that recruiters do not usually consider into the hospitality sector.
Open to Singaporeans and permanent residents, the programme targets mostly young adults above aged 16 who are troubled financially, the elderly who are able-bodied and can be trained in certain F&B services, and past offenders or the underprivileged.
Through HATS, participants will gain skills for F&B operations in the hospitality industry and learn about banquet and catering service, bar service and restaurant service.
Besides being the initiator of the programme, Monteiro is also the chief trainer, bringing with him 28 years of hospitality experience.
The programme ultimately hopes to address the need for manpower and service levels in the hospitality industry, while also increasing job opportunities for secondary school leavers, motivating the elderly to work in certain areas and integrating past offenders into society.
Said Monteiro: “The hospitality industry has changed me over the years for the better. One tends to be more gracious. Unfortunately, at many times operations takes precedence over service and we somehow lose the touch.”
“At HATS, I believe it can set the correct foundation for good service because I intend to inculcate this in all my trainers and those in the class.”
HATS will rely on industry partners to provide mentorship and guaranteed job placements to make the programme a success.
HATS is a 160-hour programme and costs S$1,200 (US$928) per candidate, with each intake accepting between 10 and 30 students. The e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) in Singapore is providing a subsidy of 90 per cent on course fees.
THE Park Lane Hong Kong has entered a franchise agreement with Accor that will see the former rebrand to Pullman and run its own operations from January 1, 2015.
The 826-room The Park Lane Hong Kong, a Pullman Hotel is spending HK$200 million (US$25.8 million) on a makeover in order to meet Pullman standards as the first Pullman hotel in the city. Refurbishment work covers the hotel’s suites, executive floors, dining outlets, meeting rooms and executive lounge.
Area director of Park Lane Hotels International, Luc Bollen, said the move coincides with The Park Lane Hong Kong’s 40th anniversary and gives the independent hotel access to an extensive database and markets the hotel is interested to tap.
“It’s a way forward to rejuvenate and reposition the hotel as the outside world has changed. We did an extensive search for partners, and Pullman’s contemporary image and its connectivity and digital platform fit us,” he explained.
The hotel has been affiliated with Worldhotels for the last eight years and now becomes Accor’s 600th hotel in Asia-Pacific.
Accor Asia Pacific chairman and CEO, Michael Issenberg, said: “There is no restriction on the number of Pullman hotels in Hong Kong and it’s possible to have another one on the Kowloon side.”
INDONESIA will waive visa requirements for tourists from China, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Russia as well as introduce third-country visas next year.
Announcing this following a coordinating ministers’ meeting this morning, Indonesia coordinating minister of maritime affairs, Indroyono Susilo, said: “A task force has been set up to make the (government regulation) amendments, with a target to implement this in 2015.”
This is a breakthrough for a country that has thus far followed a policy of reciprocity in visa regulations.
Part of the Ministry of Tourism’s quick-win programmes to boost arrivals to Indonesia and achieve 20 million arrivals by 2019, tourism minister Arief Yahya is expecting 500,000 arrivals from the five target markets alone as a result of the visa-free facility.
“These five countries are Indonesia’s major markets, with big potential to grow…We may lose US$25 per tourist in visa fees, but will receive US$1,200 through their spending,” he said. “We will lose US$11.3 million, but gain US$600 million.”
Currently, tourists from China, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Russia must obtain visas on arrival to enter Indonesia.
On the third-country visa programme, Indroyono said travellers who have gained entry to Singapore and Malaysia will be granted visa-free access to Indonesia.
Arief explained: “We still need to discuss details with the related government departments, but the idea is other country’s customers can also be ours. Longhaul travellers, for example, have come a long way to Singapore or Malaysia, and they also want to visit us while in the neighbourhood.
“But we have made this difficult with our visa requirements. Why don’t we let these countries check them and we just welcome them?”
Within South-east Asia alone, Arief sees market potential in Singapore’s 15 million arrivals, Malaysia’s 25 million and Thailand’s 26 million.
However, he also said in future third-country visas could also apply for areas like the US, EU and Australia, which are known for their stringent visa application requirements.
ECOTOURISM in Myanmar is set to receive a boost with a national Ecotourism Policy and Management Strategy underway.
Working on the strategy are the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MOHT), Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, and the Myanmar Tourism Federation.
The strategy is meant to support biodiversity, conservation, community-based income generation, and strengthen the management of protected areas and cultural assets in Myanmar.
This includes Lampi Island Marine National Park in the south and Hkakaborazi National Park in the north.
MOHT had held a national consultation workshop in end-October to gain information and suggestions from industry stakeholders. Details of the workshop were released to the press recently.
It was the latest in a series of consultation sessions that have been held since May this year and the initial results from these will be compiled for further discussion at national level.
A collaborative Ecotourism Task Force has also been established, drawing senior officials from 15 ministerial departments in Myanmar.
THE six-storey, 19-room Adonis Hotel officially opened yesterday in the heart of Singapore at Purvis Street, converted from a pre-war shophouse that was once a traditional Hainanese bakery.
Targeting business travellers, Adonis Hotel is the first hospitality venture of local wellness and beauty brand Adonis Group.
There are four categories of rooms, namely Quaint Queen, Deluxe King, Premier King and Suites (Artist, Explorer and Photographer). The property’s only other facility is the 30-seat Argo Café at the lobby level.
Asked how the hotel, with an introductory price tag from S$185 (US$143) to S$588, intends to differentiate itself in the already mature hospitality market, Andrew Wang, director of Adonis Hotel Management Hospitality told TTG Asia e-Daily location plays a part.
“Guests have easy access to Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, City Hall MRT interchange, Singapore Art Museum, historical CHIJMES, and the bustling shopping belt in the Bugis and Suntec City district,” he said. “We also offer complimentary mini bar items and Wi-Fi throughout the premise, which are typically chargeable in five-star hotels.”
The hotel’s small inventory and staff strength of 21 is an advantage, rather than a weakness, he added, as it allows for a more personalised service and peaceful environment.
He therefore does not see the 92-key Porcelain Hotel, an existing boutique hotel owned by another homegrown wellness and beauty brand Mary Chia, as a competitor.
Since its soft opening in July, Adonis Hotel has enjoyed high occupancy, with 80 per cent of guests comprising FITs and business travellers from the region and beyond.
Hotel manager Bhaktananda Yap said: “Our average occupancy since opening until October was around 85 to 95 per cent.”
He added the hotel has been promoting through OTAs such as Booking.com and Expedia, and will look at partnering brick-and-mortar travel agencies early next year.
The hotel is also not ruling out further expansion in Singapore and Malaysia in the near future.
