TAIWAN External Trade Development Council’s (TAITRA) Meet Taiwan project will continue to invest in marketing communications with industry players to grow the destination’s MICE business in the new year, with international association congresses and corporate incentives being the key segments of focus.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly in an interview, Walter Yeh, TAITRA executive vice president, said Meet Taiwan’s efforts will centre on building an extensive database of rotating congresses for industry players and providing assistance to incentive buyers.

“Data on rotating congresses is crucial for bidding success and we have been analysing ICCA’s database for market intelligence. These information will be shared with PCOs to help them identify events they can bid for and boost their bidding success rate,” said Yeh.

To grow Taiwan’s incentive business, Meet Taiwan will continue to provide support such as the provision of official invites to facilitate travel visa approvals and destination marketing assistance to local city governments.

“Although China is today a big market for Taiwan’s incentive segment, contributing 90 per cent of the 100 incentive groups we welcomed this year, we will continue to court South-east Asian and other North Asian markets such as Malaysia and Japan. We will conduct several familiarisation trips for event houses and end-user clients in these markets,” he added.

According to Yeh, the 100 incentive groups to Taiwan involved almost 40,000 delegates. He aims to attract 150 incentive groups in 2014.

He pointed out that incentive clients are becoming more discerning and requests for unique activities are rising, so Meet Taiwan will have to respond to such needs.

“Taiwan can offer plenty of creative activities and ideas for corporate events, such as surfing and mountain climbing to bond teams. Meet Taiwan will therefore seek to provide such ideas through our future familiarisation trips and roadshows,” he said.

KUONI Group Travel Experts and Crescentrating, which promotes Muslim travel through its rating system, have announced a partnership in which the travel provider will market halal-friendly group travel arrangements and packages for Muslim families, leisure and MICE groups.

Kuoni and Crescentrating will launch their first brochure in Asia next month, and will co-develop new group travel products and enhanced travel booking and management services for the Muslim travel market.

Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh have the largest Muslim populations, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project.

Reto Kaufmann, Kuoni Group Travel Experts head of MICE sales Asia, said: “Last year, we saw room nights booked by group travellers from these four countries rise, particularly Indonesia and India which enjoyed double-digit increases, while Bangladesh quadrupled.

“And it’s not just leisure travel, more and more of Asia’s businesses…have large numbers of Muslim delegates with specific halal or religious requirements.”

In Asia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand also offer significant numbers of potential Muslim travellers. For example China, with a Muslim population numbering 23 million, saw room nights booked with Kuoni rise six per cent last year.

IN A bid to encourage sustainable MICE practices, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a set of guidelines to encourage local players to meet global sustainability requirements.

STB executive director for business tourism development, Chew Tiong Heng, said: “With corporate clients and delegates becoming increasingly concerned about the environment, business event organisers and meeting planners are turning to destinations and venues with strong sustainability policies in place.

“Green initiatives are therefore gaining traction among MICE event organisers, who recognise that such endeavours significantly enhance the overall visitor experience.”

The guidelines cover seven industry categories from across the business events ecosystem, including hotels, venues, event organisers, meeting planners, transportation, F&B as well as audio-visual set-up. Areas covered include advice on waste management and the efficient use of water and energy.

Welcoming the guidelines, Tour East Group senior vice president for sales and marketing, Judy Lum, said: “Many just talk about sustainability but they do not practise it because they are not sure where to start. Now they do not have an excuse. Interest in sustainable practices is a common prerequisite for responsible organisations.”

East West Planners chief executive and SACEOS president, Janet Tan-Collis, said CSR programmes are becoming “ever more important as a competitive factor for the Singapore MICE industry”, adding that the new guidelines can be easily adopted by local MICE-related companies.

Asian Detours deputy director for marketing, Florence Cheong, said 20-30 per cent of her corporates will ensure their events are environmentally friendly such as through minimising paper usage and utilising solar energy wherever possible.

However, Cheong also pointed out that corporates’ understanding of green practices is very basic like saving paper and reusing materials, hence this new official reference guide will be a useful tool.

According to STB, the guidelines are referenced from international standards such as ISO 20121 and APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards.

Chew said while adoption of the guidelines is voluntary, STB will work with relevant associations like SACEOS, Singapore Hotel Association and Singapore Green Building Council to monitor the adoption rate and gather feedback.

CAPELLA Singapore is offering a new package for meetings and events planners.

From S$499 (US$398) per person per room night, the Conference Package includes the following:

• accommodation in a Premier Garden Room with complimentary non-alcoholic drinks from the minibar and breakfast;
• complimentary Wi-Fi in guestrooms and function rooms;
• two seminar coffee breaks with refreshments;
• one seminar lunch customised in consultation with the executive chef;
• a designated conference service manager and personalised butler; and
• a complimentary room for the event organiser during the event period (subject to minimum booking of 45 guestrooms for two consecutive nights’ stay).

The offer is valid for minimum bookings of 10 guestrooms with at least two consecutive nights’ stay, from Sundays to Thursdays from now till December 20, 2013.

Email johnny@gatewaygp.com for enquiries.

MARRIOTT Hotels will introduce a number of initiatives across its properties worldwide to refresh the experience for meeting attendees.

New meeting spaces with stylish design, natural light, flexible seating and wireless or web-enabled technology enable planners and attendees to focus on the meeting objectives.

Marriott properties in Munich and Amsterdam already feature the new design, with London Kensington Marriott and Paris Marriott Rive Gauche following early next year.

Meanwhile, the Red Coat Direct app enables meeting organisers to adjust and edit their meeting requests and preferences with a touch of a button and without having to leave the meeting room.

Currently available in 35 Marriott hotels in Europe, the service will roll out globally in early 2014 to more Marriott Hotels in Asia-Pacific.

INTEGRATED resort Thanyapura Phuket has recently launched a boot camp and assault course that can be used to test the limits of mental and physical endurance, and be modified for groups of all ages and abilities.

“We’ve just developed the Project Xtreme Boot Camp and Assault Course designed by one of our staff, a former British special forces soldier,” said the company’s president Robert Hauck.

“It’s all about teamwork and giving groups a sense of achievement…We don’t think there’s anything else like it in Thailand and it’s ideal for groups and planners looking for something unique.

“Really it’s about having fun; the main concept is ‘no one will be left behind’,” he added.

Project Xtreme adds to the resort’s existing MICE facilities, which include a conference hall for 150 pax, a boardroom for 12 to 15 pax and the Wine Cellar for high-end dinner events.

The 23-hectare property comprises Thanyapura Sports and Leisure Club, Thanyapura Mind Centre, Thanyapura Integrative Health Centre, the 77-room Thanyapura Sports Hotel and the 38-room Thanyapura Retreat Hotel.

Hauck said more enquiries are pouring in from overseas hotel developers interested in incorporating high-concept sports facilities into their products, but it will take some time for such developments to materialise.

He revealed the company will also be introducing a new MICE strategy in the coming months targeting groups focused on sports, health, mind and teambuilding.

While an emerging trend is that of Korean honeymooners coming to the resort for a few hours of muay thai training followed by yoga and lunch, he said the new MICE strategy will target both international and regional incentive and teambuilding groups.

Meanwhile, the company is bolstering its management team as part of its move to internationalise its sports and health-focused brand.

Multiple world champion triathlete Chris McCormack will join the company as executive chairman of Thanyapura Phuket on December 1, the same time Australian professional sports coach Michael Gilliam will join as CEO for domestic operations.

Hauck will become CEO of the newly formed Thanyapura International, which will focus on developing the brand’s international presence.