PHUKET is strengthening its MICE offering by incorporating more customisable leisure components into its meeting and event packages in response to rising demand for “bleasure” products, according to travel trade experts speaking at a recent roundtable event.

Corporate clients were increasingly looking for ways to add more leisure activities into what were traditionally business focused meetings, noted Andre Gomez, general manager of Hilton Phuket Resort & Spa, which organised the roundtable.

“Travel used to be seen as an incentive in itself, but this is no longer the case as so many people are travelling for work these days,” he said.

“Clients are realising this and many companies are trying to help employees achieve a better work-life balance. We are seeing more demand for an increased leisure component in our MICE activities as a result.”

Gomez said the precise mix of business and leisure would vary with each client.

The hotel, however, has seen some general trends with clients from longhaul markets such as Australia and Europe enabling delegates to bring their family, while those travelling from within South-east Asia are increasingly offered the chance to access discounted room rates for extended stays before or after an event.

Meeting times are also generally being reduced with the increased leisure and teambuilding elements helping to raise productivity by keeping delegates more engaged, according to Gomez.

James Drysdale, group director of Inspired Events Travel Asia, said the “bleasure” trend helped clients to leverage their spending and build employee loyalty at the same time.

“Many of them are now actively encouraging delegates to bring their family which can make the whole trip more pleasurable for all. We are working with hotels and local suppliers to arrange activities for the delegates and their spouses, partners and children, both onsite and offsite.”

Pornthip Hirunkate, secretary-general of Thailand Incentive and Convention Association, said the island’s unique mix of MICE facilities and leisure products, such as water sports, island trips, soft adventure activities, meditation classes, spa and cooking schools, was a key driver of the “bleasure” trend.

“Incentive groups typically don’t return to destinations, but Phuket gets a lot of repeat business because of its combination of business and leisure products,” she added.

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau will be doing more to actively support Phuket’s “bleasure” products including promoting local trade partners at AIME next February.

THE Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, United Nations World Tourism Organization and Malacca state government will organise the World Tourism Conference (WTC) at Hotel Equatorial Melaka from October 21 to 23.

Themed Global Tourism: Game Changers and Pace Setters, WTC is expected to bring together world leaders in tourism, high-level policymakers, specialists and experts from public and private sectors to share experiences, propose valuable ideas and provide guidance for tourism development.

Over the three-day conference, 10 specific and topical subjects under the umbrella of Beyond Mass Tourism, Innovative Marketing and Directions for Tourism Product will be presented by authoritative individuals such as Travel Google US’ Rob Torres, VisitBritain’s Christopher Rodrigues, Korea Tourism Organization’s Lee Charm, China National Tourism Administration’s Du Jiang, Air Asia X’s Azran Osman-Rani, Tourism Australia’s Andrew McEvoy.

Some 1,000 delegates are expected to attend WTC, according to Zarina Md Yusuf from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia’s Strategic Planning and International Affairs Division.

JAPANESE port city, Yokohama, has won the bid for two association congresses – the 12th International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society Congress (ISRS) in 2015 and the Asian-Pacific Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (A-PHPBA) Regional Congress in 2017.

Motohiro Hayashi from the Tokyo Women’s Medical University and chair of the local organising committee for ISRS 2015 said the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society had selected Yokohama over Hong Kong because Japan would host related meetings to boost attendance at the congress and possessed a living knowledge of how to decrease the dangers of radiology from nuclear plants, following its recovery from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

ISRS 2015 will be held at PACIFICO Yokohama, the flagship facility of the city.

Japan also defeated Indonesia to clinch the hosting rights for A-PHPBA Regional Congress, which will be co-hosted by the A-PHPBA and the Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery (JSHBPS).

To be hosted in Yokohama, the congress is expected to attract over 3,000 researchers from Japan and beyond.

Kana Nomoto, chief coordinator, convention sales department of the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau, said: “Winning ISRS 2015 and A-PHPBA 2017 is testament to Yokohama’s pull as the nation’s centre of innovation and research. We are proud that our city’s Japan’s First Port of Call image is strong and gives confidence to association planners around the world.”

INTERCONTINENTAL Kuala Lumpur is offering customisable meeting packages that combine accommodation with event facilities and exploratory activities in the city and surrounding areas.

Priced from RM200++ (US$63++) per person per day for a half-day meeting with lunch, the InterContinental Commerce & Culture package features activities such as bird watching in Kuala Selangor Nature Park and beginners’ rock climbing in Batu Caves.

Full information on available activities can be obtained from the concierge.

The package is valid until December 31 this year.

THE Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) yesterday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two major private business organisations, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI).

The MoU aims to enhance bilateral trade between Thailand and the Philippines in the areas of MICE, trade economy information and trade exchange missions. TCEB will tap PCCI’s and CCPI’s business networks comprising veteran companies, mostly established for 25 years or longer.

The Philippines was the third country, after Vietnam and Laos, to be selected as a strategic MICE partner because of its size and overall potential, said TCEB president Nopparat Maythaveekulchai.

“In the last few years we’ve seen more businessmen from the Philippines attending trade fairs in agriculture, food, FMCG (e.g. cosmetics), energy, medical and healthcare,” he noted.

To encourage growth in trade visitor numbers, TCEB will be employing its 100 A-Head trade visitor promotion programme, which offers a US$100 subsidy per visitor for groups of 15 to 500.

100 A-Head is offered to ASEAN countries, China, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. So far only 1,500 to 2,000 visitors have availed of it, about a tenth of the total number from the Philippines.

The Philippines sent 16,745 MICE visitors to Thailand in 2012, mostly for incentives and corporate meetings, according to Supawan Teerarat, TCEB’s vice president, strategic and business development.

Teerarat projects a 15 per cent increase in corporate and business entity visits, particularly from Manila and Cebu, in the coming year.

TCEB will conduct a ‘business matching’ event next week, between 20 key Thailand MICE players and 100 to 150 Manila-based travel companies.

It will also hold a fam trip for select Philippine travel consultants next month, in partnership with the Association of Thai Travel Agents and Thai Airways.

Although foreign incentive groups are known to favour destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai, TCEB hopes to increase traffic to Pattaya and Khon Kaen.

“Our focus for this fam trip is to find (new) products in Bangkok and the outskirts, for big incentive groups, luxury travellers, and corporations,” Teerarat added.