ROUTES Asia 2014 will open on March 9 in Kuching, Sarawak, an event that the region’s minister for tourism, Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg, hope would “be a start to bigger things to come for Sarawak’s tourism industry”.

Minister Abang Zohari will launch the three-day forum from March 9 to 11, which is regarded as the largest route development event for the Asia region.

A total of 146 delegates representing 100 airlines and 233 delegates representing 173 airports have confirmed their attendance at the event, hosted by the State Government of Sarawak and co-hosted by Malaysia Airports Holdings.

The hosting of one of Asia’s most important civil aviation events is testimony to the growing importance of Kuching as an international air hub and destination, and holds the promise of new routes and air services into Sarawak’s thriving capital.

“I am happy to launch Routes Asia 2014 and to host members of the regional aviation industry in Kuching,” Abang Zohari said in a press statement.

“The tourism landscape is changing rapidly. China is now the number one tourism market in the world, with the number of Chinese travelling outside the country hitting 97 million in 2013.

“We want to increase the number of Chinese tourists to Sarawak from the 30,000 that we are currently getting, and hopefully events like Routes Asia will make that happen.”

Routes Asia 2014 will attract a number of airlines from China including China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Air China.

ASIAN corporate groups are now on the target board of Australia-based hotel operator Mantra Group, which has been on a property expansion sprint in recent months.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly, the company’s executive director of sales, marketing and distribution, Kent Davidson, said the group’s existing and upcoming properties are ready to cater to the corporate market.

Said Davidson: “We have 110 properties in Australia and New Zealand and two in Indonesia today. Properties under the Peppers and Mantra brands are suitable for corporate groups and travellers, and most come with meeting facilities.

“For instance, hotels and resorts under the Peppers brand, which are luxurious, built unique to the destination and offer experiences that are indulgent and experiential, can appeal to conferences and incentives.”

An example of a suitable property is Peppers Moonah Links Resort in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsular. The 83-key resort comes with two 19-hole championship golf courses, seven meeting spaces, three boardrooms and a 110-seat restaurant, among other facilities.

“We are already in touch with global PCOs but I believe we can do more to reach out to MICE buyers in Asia. We could perhaps have an office in Singapore,” he said, adding that sales missions to Asia will “diversify from leisure to corporate markets, especially in major business hubs like Singapore, Jakarta and Hong Kong”.

“We have plans to make it possible for our corporate clients to view our venues, meeting benefits and packages online and then book,” revealed Davidson.

“Buyers in Australia and New Zealand are already familiar with Mantra Group and its brands, and we want that same level of awareness in Asia. There is an obvious need to bring our properties to Asia so people in that region can see what Mantra properties are all about,” he added.

Mantra Group first expanded beyond Australia and New Zealand in late-2012 with Mantra Nusa Dua in Bali, which offers a ballroom, six meetings rooms and a boardroom. The Indonesian island will gain a second Mantra Group property with the opening of Peppers Sentosa Seminyak in March.

“We are talking to potential partners in South-east Asia for our expansion in the region, and as much as possible we will try to have properities with conference facilities,” he said.

“We have even more properties in the pipeline for Indonesia and details will be out soon. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are next on our list, and personally I would love to have a downtown hotel in Singapore and perhaps a BreakFree (a cheap and chic label, with the first in Asia opening in Bali this October) resort on Sentosa island,” he added.

HRG Hong Kong, which bought out minority joint-venture partner Westminster Travel two weeks ago to become wholly owned, has set up a MICE team to target local clients, serve recently signed global MICE business that is coming on stream in 2014, and its existing clients.

Tim Hannan, general manager, HRG Hong Kong, told TTGmice e-Weekly: “HRG Hong Kong’s Meetings, Groups and Events (MGE) business is very strong and forms part of our growing presence in Asia Pacific. A global team supports the local team for MNC and international work.”

Hannan said HRG recently signed global MICE agreements with Thomson Reuters and Vodafone, both of which would begin trading in the first half of 2014.

“HRG Hong Kong has a strong and established client base for transient travel and the majority of them have ongoing MICE requirements. HRG Hong Kong has provided support assistance to clients in the past. However it is now able to offer a full end-to-end MICE service in-house.”

Businesses are globalising their strategic meetings management programmes (SMMP) and the trend is to move from local, to consolidated, to fully optimised, according to Hannan.

“Companies have discovered real challenges to creating a global SMMP. Often the challenge is one of perception with many businesses not quite where they thought they were. More often than not, the programme will be localised, whereas the business might assume it is more consolidated. HRG can work to help them collect the knowledge and data they need, to ensure their business is ready for the phases of going global.”

HRG, he said, would be able to devise and implement cost effective solutions using its expertise in corporate travel to deliver a range of services including venue finding, ground arrangements, delegate management and event support.

As to what clients were looking for in 2014, Hannan observed: “Gaining visibility of meetings spend is the most urgent priority for clients in 2014. Clients have quickly realised there is great potential for savings, and recognised the need for greater control, compliance and risk mitigation across their SMMP.

“There has also been an increase in the number of clients consolidating their transient travel and MGE business, increasing their cost saving potential as well as benefitting from reduced risk and increased safety and security measures.”

A NEWLY formed China MICE Committee (CMC) of top buyers from some 40 established travel agencies across China will join 30 buyers representing China International Travel Service (CITS) International MICE at this year’s IT&CM China show.

CMC, whose members include CYTS International Convention and Exhibition, China Comfort Travel Group, GZL International Travel Service – Business Incentive Travel Company and Xiamen Trip Exhibition Business Services, is expected to field 50 MICE buyers for the annual business events trade show in Shanghai.

CITS International MICE’s delegation of 30 buyers has buying responsibilities across China and represents a wide range of corporate, government and association clients in the country.

As whole, CITS’ clientele encompasses an extremely large spectrum of China’s buying demand.

Explains Zhang Jian, executive general manager of CITS International MICE: “As the number one brand-name in China’s tourist industry with a dedicated MICE division, our pulse on China’s inbound, outbound and domestic demand is unparalleled. We have access to the largest network of tour operators and travel agencies across the country, ensuring that our team has every capability of attracting quality Chinese buyers to participate at IT&CM China.”

Commenting on the effectiveness of IT&CM China as a sourcing platform for Chinese buyers, CITS Jiujiang vice general manager, Xiong Xiaoyu, said: “(The show enables us) to get in touch with a wide range of top suppliers both internationally and domestically. Thanks to the resources we obtained from the event, we were able to successfully organise a business group to (South) Korea last year. We certainly look forward to the 2014 event.”

IT&CM China 2014 is expected to see a total of 480 buyers from the Middle Kingdom.

Registrations for Chinese buyers will remain open till end March.