HILTON Bandung has rolled out two corporate event packages that feature some of the best aspects of the Indonesian destination.

The Perfect Balance Meeting package, priced from 290,000 rupiah (US$25.40) per person, includes a teambuilding activity at Bandung Treetop, which will see participants flying down a zip-line, taking a Tarzan leap through the lush rainforest and manoeuvring through other obstacle courses. Use of a meeting room, mints and bottled water, two coffee breaks, free Internet access, a choice of rewards and HHonors Event Bonus Loyalty Points are part of this package.

The Exquisite Meetings package, priced from 1.75 million rupiah per person, offers delegates a chance to kick off their gathering with a ride from Jakarta in a private train carriage. Participants are promised scenic mountain views as the train chugs towards a hill station. Included in this package are refreshments, use of a meeting room, mints and bottled water, two coffee breaks, buffet lunch, poolside dinner at Fresco, a signature spa treatment at Jiwa Spa, free Internet access, return to Jakarta by car, a choice of rewards and HHonors Event Bonus Loyalty Points.

Meetings at Hilton Bandung can also utilise a carbon offset programme.

Contact (62-22) 8606-6888 for reservations.

MICE tourism has come onto the radar of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), which has ordered the development of a strategy to court business events, especially from Asia.

In line with the tourism bureau’s MICE ambition, the South African destination will host its first MICE Tourism Symposium today at The Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare.

Organised by ZTA and held during the ongoing World Travel and Tourism Africa Fair, the one-day forum seeks to position and promote Zimbabwe as a business event destination.

Discussions on ways to enhance Zimbabwe’s MICE capabilities and capacity will be conducted among global and local professionals and relevant stakeholders. Speakers include MICE veteran Gary Grimmer, chief executive of Gaining Edge; Dary Keywood, former president of SITE; and Daniel Chigaru, vice chairperson of Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Company.

Responding to TTGmice e-Weekly’s questions via e-mail, ZTA’s spokesperson Nellia Nhauranwa said the NTO is banking on Gaining Edge’s Grimmer “who works extensively with the Asian market” to “unlock inroads into the (region)”.

Nhauranwa added: “Currently Zimbabwe has a presence in China and plans are underway to appoint an attaché and market representatives in other Asian countries.”

Besides China, ZTA has also reached into India this year through roadshows and meetings with incentive houses.

She said: “We are also talking to the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India and Travel Agents Federation of India to court them to host their conferences in Zimbabwe in 2014.”

SHARJAH is now the home of the UFI Middle East/Africa Regional Office, following a three-year agreement inked between the exhibition industry association and host venue Expo Centre Sharjah in the UAE.

The UFI Middle East/Africa Regional Office, which was previously located in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, supports association members in the region, enabling them to profit from networking opportunities, develop industry information resources and implement a variety of education programmes.

Saif Al Midfa, CEO of Expo Centre Sharjah, said: “I am convinced that the benefits from UFI’s presence (here), especially with regards to information, networking and education, will continue to serve the business objectives of members throughout the region”.

A press release on the office relocation revealed that recent UFI research had shown growth in the Middle East’s exhibition industry. A 14 per cent increase in the number of trade fairs and a 21 per cent rise in available exhibition space have been recorded since 2006, despite the disruptive global economic crisis in 2008 and Arab Spring in 2011.

Paul Woodward, UFI managing director, commented: “UFI recognises the great importance of maintaining a base in this region to actively serve the needs of our members in both the Middle East and Africa. We are truly grateful to our Regional Chapter leadership and the office host for (their) support. We look forward to a long and fruitful presence in Sharjah as the exhibition business continues to develop and thrive across the regions we serve from this office.”

A MASSIVE refurbishment of The Sukosol, Bangkok has resulted in a 40 per cent growth in meeting and conference business, according to the hotel’s top level personnel.

Executive vice president, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, said the renovations had brought about a “real surge in incentives as well as many more…events from China, (South) Korea and even Europe”.

Speaking to TTGmice e-Weekly, Songsri Toperngpong, vice president – sales & marketing of The Sukosol, Bangkok, said: “A lot of our European MICE business is coming from the east, from markets such as Poland and Romania. I believe that this emerging interest in Bangkok from Eastern European markets is due to clients’ desire to experience new destinations, and South-east Asia is relatively fresh.”

Besides refurbishment of guestrooms, F&B venues, meeting rooms and public spaces – a project that carried a 400-million baht (US$12.7 million) price tag – the hotel has also invested in human resource development through an extensive training programme aimed at raising MICE service standards to a global level.

The hotel has also leveraged its award-winning F&B team to develop a number of innovative themed parties and meeting breaks to enhance delegates’ experience.

Songsri said the hotel, which belongs to home-grown hospitality group, Sukosol Hotels, has plans to expand its global sales presence to maintain growth momentum.

“We have sales representatives in several countries today, such as Japan, Australia and Italy, but we need to keep growing. We are now looking to establish sales representation in Russia and China.

“We are especially interested in tapping China, as it has contributed a lot of MICE traffic to our properties in Bangkok and Pattaya,” she said.

THE business events industry in Australia has finally recovered from the recent economic downtown, according to the latest report from Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) which shows a rise in international conference delegate numbers last year as the nation increased its share of the global meetings market.

According to the BECA 2012 State of the Industry Report, 190,000 people visited Australia in 2012 to attend a conference or convention, up 11 per cent on 2011.

New Zealand remained the major source of conference visitors, with numbers rising 2.5 per cent since 2011, while convention arrivals from the US, China and Japan grew 26 per cent, 23 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

At the same time, Australia’s ranking on ICCA’s top destinations for international association meetings rose to 13^th spot in 2012 comapred to 16^th in 2011.

The State of the Industry Report also reflected a smaller deficit between inbound and outbound convention travel with a 10 per cent rise in arrivals and a three per cent decline in departures.

BECA executive manager, Inge Garofani, said in a press statement that a majority of the key performance indicators showed continued growth for the industry, which had now recovered from the impact of the recent global financial crisis.

“The outlook is extremely positive. We are ahead of our 2020 target for arrivals and well on track to achieving our goal of being an A$31 billion (US$29.2 billion) industry by (that year),” said Garofani.

GOVERNMENT attitudes toward business events have emerged as a major concern among convention and exhibition centres that participated in a recent survey conducted by AIPC, the International Association of Convention Centres.

The annual survey, carried out between April and June this year, also found respondents paying particular attention to intensifying international competition.

AIPC president, Geoff Donaghy, said: “Growing competition among centres worldwide has been an issue for some years, but this spike in concern about government attitudes toward business events is a disturbing new development.

“At a time when economic growth and stabilisation is a big priority among governments all over the world, we have hoped that they (governments) would have made the connection (business events have) with business and professional interactions, but our member experiences are suggesting otherwise. This shows we need to work even harder on making sure our value proposition is better understood and appreciated by policy makers.”

Respondents also projected a slower growth of one per cent in revenue this year – as compared to a six to seven per cent growth over the past few years – against a backdrop of ongoing stagnation in economic recovery, with European venues expected to lag behind peers from other parts of the world.

Corporate events are also found to drive growth while conventions and exhibitions remain stagnant.

As such, many centres are pursuing alternative revenue streams including event creation, sponsorship, advertising, enhanced services and risk-sharing with clients.

Other challenges identified by the survey include greater facility investments required at a time of modest revenue growth by rapid changes in event formats, technology and connectivity demands, as well as limitations in hotel and airline capacity and pricing.

“This tells us that there is no instant business upswing in the cards for centres in the near future”, said Donaghy.

“As in many other sectors in today’s economy, success in ours will have to be based on innovation, flexibility and an ability to be competitive in a highly contested market”.