STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts is giving away a tablet and double Starpoints to Starwood Preferred Planner members who place an event booking by March 31 this year.

Events must be held by June 30 at any of the 200 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in Australia, China, Indonesia, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

For individual group bookings with spend of more than US$18,000, members will receive a mini tablet.

Individual group bookings with spend exceeding US$25,000 will earn members a tablet as well as two Starpoints for every US$3 spent.

The offer is valid for all group events and meetings, including those booked through travel agents.

Starwood senior vice president, sales – Asia Pacific, Alison Taylor, said: “As the world’s largest luxury/upper upscale hotel operator, Starwood’s growing footprint across nine brands offers meeting planners greater value and choices of venues to suit every budget and requirement.

“This limited time offer is also an excellent way to book meetings at our new hotels such as Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central; W Bangkok; the ITC Grand Chola, A Luxury Collection Hotel; or soon-to-open hotels such as W Guangzhou and Aloft Kuala Lumpur – Sentral.”

THE annual Coffee Expo Seoul is expected to see a stronger buyer and seller turnout this year, benefitting from the country s booming coffee trade.

To be held from April 11-13 at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center Seoul, the event is gearing up for an estimated 50,000 domestic and international buyers and exhibitors, up from 30,000 visitors seen at last year’s edition.

The number of coffee- and tea-themed exhibition booths is expected to hit 500 this year, up from 230 in 2012.

Coffee Expo Seoul 2013 will also host the World Super Barista Championships and several educational seminars.

The event provides an interactive platform for coffee businesses, buyers and enthusiasts as they gather in a city that is recognised for its strong coffee culture.

According to a press statement from COEX, South Korea’s coffee industry has seen vast growth over the past half-decade. It witnessed almost 900 per cent growth in the number of coffee shops between 2006 and 2011, and a 1,800 per cent rise in national sales over the same period.

Seoul now boasts the highest concentration of coffee shops in the world, with more than 10,000 cafes and coffee houses.

THE International Design Alliance (IDA) has appointed the South Korean city of Gwangju as the host destination of the 2015 IDA Congress, following a strong bid put forth by the Korea Craft & Design Foundation and Gwangju Metropolitan City.

The event will be the third IDA Congress which aims to bring together the international design community in a themed framework to advance the vision and mission of the alliance by engaging government leaders as well as representatives from international non-governmental organisations, businesses and the sectors of science and technology, education and social sciences, and to present multi-disciplinary design sessions relevant to the IDA partner disciplines.

Kimdaejung Convention Center will be the main conference venue for the congress when it takes place in October 2015.

A WAVE of new business decisions is sweeping through Sydney’s MICE landscape as the closure of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre looms closer, with some major events looking to relocate elsewhere.

With less than 11 months until the centre closes its doors, a number of business event organisers have announced plans to relocate their shows until the future Darling Harbour precinct (TTGmice e-Weekly, December 12, 2012) opens at the end of 2016.

The future of CeBIT Australia, a massive annual international IT trade fair, is still uncertain. The government has vowed to find an alternative location, although identifying one large enough to accommodate CeBIT’s 32,000-plus visitors and 500 exhibitors will be a problem.

Several trade sources believe that the G20 summit in November 2014 was awarded to Brisbane due to a lack of facilities in Sydney, while other events including The Australian Fitness & Health Expo will relocate to Melbourne until the new Sydney facilities open; Vforum organisers are also looking at interstate alternatives.

However, general business sentiments are still positive. A number of events, including the 2014 Rotary International Convention and the Australian International Motor Show, have confirmed staying in Sydney and will shift to alternative venues such as Sydney Olympic Park, Moore Park, the Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh and the interim exhibition facility on Glebe Island (TTGmice e-Weekly, September 27, 2012).

Hoteliers are expecting business as usual over the three-year closure of the convention centre. In fact, some are predicting increased occupancy as they look to host some of the smaller relocated events.

“We are already receiving a large number of enquiries for meetings and events at Sydney Olympic Park, which offers the city’s largest collection of conference spaces. Our hotels with large-scale meeting facilities are also receiving record forward bookings for 2014. So while there will be a temporary disruption and some relocation to other states, Sydney is more than likely going to see a displacement of events to other areas of the city,” said Peter Hook, general manager communications for Accor, which has 42 hotels across Sydney.

Hook added: “We also have several hotels that are upgrading their meeting facilities in preparation for the (convention centre’s) closure, with Pullman Sydney Hyde Park and the Sebel Pier One Hotel spending millions to renovate their meeting facilities to attract event business.”

Despite the size of the future Darling Harbour precinct, MICE operators suggested it would not be large enough to cater to increased inbound conference demand, which Tourism Australia estimates to be worth AU$16 billion (US$16.4 billion) by 2020, up from AU8.5 billion in 2011.

By Natasha Dragun