September 2019

At the official press conference of the tradeshow, TCEB focused the media’s attention on the bureau’s 4Ms that is Meet Now, Meet Mega, Meet Smart and Meet Sustainable. TCEB has joined hands with MICE cities in Thailand and entrepreneurs in these cities, to activate sustainable MICE measures concerning the environment with the aim on cutting down waste by 50 percent.

This is the 18 consecutive years that IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific 2019 has been hosted in Thailand, and the country will continue to do so until 2020.

“Today, the world is changing at the ultra-fast pace owing to digital technology, trade wars, economic depression, inflation and natural disasters. These have inevitably and thoroughly affected economy, politics and society,” said Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, president of Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau.

He added: “To expedite MICE to achieve the goals, it is therefore necessary to seek collaboration on both national and international levels. We can expect our operations to yield maximum efficiency with lowest costs, while also remaining competitive and surviving with sustainability.”

This year the focus is on the participation of local entrepreneurs who are particularly from the potential MICE cities in Thailand. They are brought to participate in global MICE tradeshows to initiate business negotiation for opportunities in product development, joint marketing, sales promotional activities, as well as to attract new events into Thailand.

The main primary market of the Meetings and Incentives or MI of Thailand will remain the ASEAN+6 countries (China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand) and USA with Europe as the secondary market. New market will be expanded to countries in the Eastern Europe.

In 2020, TCEB expects that the number of MICE travellers entering into Thailand will reach 1,386,000 which likely to generate 105,600 million baht of revenue. While the number of MICE travellers from the meetings and incentives market is estimated at 762,000, which is expected to generate revenue of 57,000 million baht.

GTEF or “the Forum” will convene in Macao from October 13 and 14. Centred on the concept of ‘Beautiful Life’ raised by President Xi Jinping, the Forum will lead forward-thinking discussions on global tourism economy.

This year, GTEF in collaboration with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) will bring the finale of the UNWTO Tourism Tech Adventure: SportsTech to Macao for the first time. The first GTEF World Tourism Investment and Financing Conference will also be launched in this edition.

Capitalizing on Macao’s role as a bridge that connects different peoples and enhances cooperation between China and the world, as well as a strategic tourism hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area – the Forum is committed to enhancing the sustainable development of the global tourism industry with a special focus on China, and guiding global tourism stakeholders to unlock new opportunities across China and the Greater Bay Area.

It also marks the dual celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 20th anniversary of the Establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region, as well as the launch of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, delegates will join hands to explore and shape a new landscape for the tourism ecosystem.

The 8th edition of GTEF will bring together ministers of sports, culture and tourism, corporate leaders and experts from worldwide to discuss the latest tourism policies and trends, unveil vast opportunities for new growth in cultural, sports and wellness tourism, as well as explore in depth the interplay potential between the tourism markets of China and Latin America.

At the same time, the signature “Face to Face, Ministers and Private Sector CEOs” session will return with a high-level dialogue between ministers and global private-sector CEOs around the topic of cultural, sports and wellness tourism.

In addition to that, UNWTO and the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre (GTERC) will co-launch the sixth edition of the UNWTO/GTERC Asia Tourism Trends. The report will present not only the tourism trends and outlook for the Asia-Pacific region, but also a feature analysis on the vast development potential of Argentina and Brazil as tourism markets, as well as a window into the potential of the cultural, sports and wellness tourism markets in Asia-Pacific in moving towards sustainability.

While the three round-table discussion panes of the World Tourism Investment and Finance Conference unfold to explore the topics of: Tourism Investment and Cooperation in the Global Multilateral System; Potential of Chinese Tourism Investment and Cooperation Opportunities in ‘Belt and Road Projects; and Valuation of Tourism Project: Investment and Financing Strategy.

Some of the world’s top investment experts and tourism leaders will share their latest investment insights and inspire delegates to explore new opportunities in the tourism markets along the Belt and Road and across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

What delegates will be able to gain from the Forum, is a broader professional perspective from tourism experts’ special keynotes, special interviews with prominent tourism leaders and the workshops. Business matching, presentations and exhibitions are available for delegates to tap during the two days together with networking, investment and cooperation opportunities.

Cities from around the world are competing to be the preferred destination for MICE and what sets Seoul, the capital of Korea apart from the rest, is its diversity, which can be most alluring. In terms of history, this city stretches back over two thousand years, with some of its relics which can be seen in Seoul, a testament of its historical longevity.

The famous Deoksugang Palace, to name but one is located within the city.  You can witness the changing of the guard ceremony on the palace grounds with guards resplendent in the Korean costumes of a bygone era.

Korean food is unmistakably minimalist, and so healthy, with shared side dishes to complement each other, together with the ubiquitous fermented cabbage known as kimchi, ever present with rice as the main dish. Restaurants at Itaewon now offer halal Korean cuisine to cater to the growing Muslim travellers that visit Seoul.

Then there is Korea’s entertainment phenomena, K-Pop which has taken the world by storm, with museums solely dedicated to it, with dinner shows and concerts happening in and around Seoul.

Religious multiplicity exists in Seoul from Buddhism, and Christianity to Islam – all play a role in the cultural diversity of the city.

Amidst the old, is the modernity of tall high rise buildings, which you can easily mistaken for being in New York.  Then there is the Seoul which is the centre of the country’s tech sector and home to several “chaebol” or conglomerates.

To sample this diversity, Seoul Tourism Organization invited sixteen corporate meetings and incentives buyers, from 10 countries in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East, together with media representatives from seven major magazines to get up close to what Seoul can offer as destination for MICE.  It was hosted by STO’s chief executive officer, Jae-sung Rhee.

For buyers, the tour was focused on real experience, including team building activities, inspection of unique venues in Seoul, to watching K-POP performances and kayaking along the Hangang River.

While for the media, the tour was organised under the theme of: ‘Sustainability’, ‘Korean wave’ and ‘Diversity’ which are the current keywords trending in the MICE industry in Korea.

Media representatives were also taken around various places in relation to urban regeneration and sustainability of Seoul such as the Resource Recovery Facility and Haneul Park – a former landfill area that has been rejuvenated.

In addition to cultural and religious diversity in Seoul, all were introduced to the backbone of what the MICE industry in the city is built upon.

Along with showcasing to the media several international conferences and exhibitions held at the venues visited, emphasising on Seoul’s MICE capability to host events.

A total of 18 unique venues were visited by the participants, and they completed six team building programmes during the familiarisation tour.

CTW APAC will present a reformatted two-day programme with new segments added to fully engage attending corporate travel and procurement professionals. Apart from focusing on education sessions, this year, corporate travel and procurement professionals will be exposed to a different CTW APAC experience.

Mornings are exclusively dedicated to the business component with appointments and business meetings. Afternoons are set aside for CTW APAC conferences and education component delivered by industry practitioners, as well as networking.

Beyond the usual one-on-one business appointments, these new initiatives are aimed at to connect corporate buyers with destination pavilions and corporate brands from IT&CM Asia

Aside from the business component, CTW APAC corporate travel professionals will have their very own dedicated conference to facilitate knowledge-sharing – a community-led event that discusses a variety of corporate travel management practices. Delegates can look forward to an impressive speaker line-up.

More than 100 international and Thai corporate buyers are expected with 80 percent of buyers coming from the Asia-Pacific. The corporate representatives range from corporate incentive buyers, travel managers, meeting and events managers to procurement professionals from around the world.

Join us from September 24 to 26 at the Bangkok Convention Centre in CentralWorld to experience the immersive highlights of CTW Asia Pacific.

For more information, log on to www.corporatetravelworld.com/apac or www.itcma.com

This year’s international media familiarisation trip the two destinations, were selected for the hosted members of the media to acquaint themselves with new attractions and activities at a community level in these cities. According to TCEB’s senior vice president-business, Nichapa Yoswee, the convention bureau is using this trip to redefine business experiences for MICE travellers in both destinations.

In Bangkok, the media visited the city’s brand-new attraction of ICONSIAM with its latest convention and exhibition venue, the Suralai Hall.   An opportunity to dine at Thailand’s latest exclusive Michelin-star restaurant and were introduced to innovative attractions and activities of local communities ranging from visiting a coconut palm sugar production in Samut Songkram, salt spa in Phetchaburi and sample herbal products produced in Hua Hin.

The redefined idea of TCEB comes amidst the stronger role of MICE in Thailand’s national development.  MICE is now incorporated as a new growth driving engine in the government’s 20-year national development plan. The government has also introduced a policy is to promote more local and community attractions beyond the established destinations.

Positive development in Thailand’s MICE policy according to the senior vice president-business is reflected in TCEB’s record performance in the 2019 financial year. TCEB has won bids for 11 international conferences while attracting 17 new trade shows and 12 mega-sized meeting and incentive groups of over 100,000 delegates.

By sector, MICE arrivals to Thailand showed resiliency across the board: Meetings accounted for a total of 249,371 travellers with estimated revenue of 22,022 million Baht; Incentives with a total of 274,093 travellers bringing in revenue of 15,255 million Baht; Conferences amounted to 228,592 travellers on revenue of 17,902 million Baht; and Exhibitions at 215,772 travellers with total revenue of 15,259 million Baht.Asia is the top source market by geographical region with 852,640 arrivals to Thailand, followed by Europe with 41,357 arrivals, Oceania with 35,571 arrivals and the America with 24,834 arrivals. After that the Middle East and Africa came in with 7,655 and 5,771 arrivals.

In 2020, the number of overseas MICE visitors to Thailand is expected to increase by 11 percent to 1,386,000 arrivals and revenue by five percent to 105,600 million Baht.

By Lesley Williams, market development director of BestCities

The theme for BestCities Global Forum 2019 in Copenhagen is ‘the future of meetings’ – what does that mean?

The world is changing at a tremendous rate, so it’s important therefore that associations, and their congresses, maintain their relevancy 20 years from now. A huge factor in this is engaging with the youth by providing them with a platform to engage in key conversations that affect the future.

Many associations are struggling to attract new and younger members, and so are having, to adapt the way they do things.  Conferences are priceless opportunities to learn, keep ahead of the innovations in your particular field, be part of them, or even create them.  I am great believer in face to face interactions.  A young person may take more advantage of the technology available to communicate and learn but either way, international meetings and international associations need to evolve to be able to adapt to the different ways of learning and networking that the younger generation demands.

What does the younger generation bring to the global meetings industry? 

The youth generation is the future of the global meetings industry. They are pioneers, full of new ideas, innovation and it’s what meetings are all about without the engagement of the younger generation, there is no movement and innovation will be stifled and slow.  Those not embracing the youth may lag behind.

When aiming to attract younger delegates to a conference, the rhetoric tends, to be around how it will benefit their careers through the learning they will experience, the opportunities to meet the experts, and the value in the networking which it does absolutely.

However, should we change the focus and talk about engaging the youth so that we, “the experts”, can learn from them?  Demonstrate clearly the “what’s in it for me?” value which many younger delegates already adopt when attending conferences; providing platforms for the youth to have a voice and shape the future of a conference or an association.  Let’s consider their aspirations and enable them to influence how we run events and exchange knowledge.

How does BestCities work with younger generations? 

BestCities recently launched our Inspiring Young Leaders (IYL) programme – part of our commitment to legacy and promoting positive impact – this focuses on ensuring international associations can enhance their relevance with today’s young people, as well as allowing them to support and inspire the industry leaders of the future.

The younger generation are spearheading a number of initiatives around sustainability, so we want to amplify that message – IYL aims to support and encourage associations doing just that.  At our Global Forum in Bogotá last year, we gave the floor to an inspiring young man, Neydar Culchac, who created an initiative to transform the lives of 480 families in his community by replacing illegal crops by pepper and cacao through a rural entrepreneur project.

Have you observed any particularly effective examples of engaging youth audiences from an association?

Many associations are able to attract the younger generation to conferences through bursaries, or just the funding of flights and accommodation, which is a great use of funds – as often these are the kind of boundaries for young people that would deter them. If we can get them there, they can learn, present their ideas, help shape the association and shape today’s world.

I’ve observed many great examples of youth engagement in associations, but one that particularly stood out recently is One Young World (OYW) and their association with Sinead Burke, activist and model, young person with dwarfism.  She is an ambassador for One Young World (OYW) and also a TED speaker.  Both organisations provided platforms for Sinead to tell her story and enable her to make an impact on the world by speaking on disability issues and business.

In fact, she’s currently gracing the cover of Vogue for HRH Duchess of Sussex guest edition, and has almost 100,000 followers on her socials, making her an ideal candidate to reach a younger audience.

Speakers from across the industry, is set to share their expertise on technology, marketing and MICE developments during the inaugural MICE Show Asia conference which will take place alongside ITB Asia 2019 from October 16 to 18 in Singapore.

The conference aims to redefine industry practices and identify new trends that will shape the future of MICE events. During the three days, more than 30 speakers from Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVB), MICE buyer organisations, MICE tech companies and start-ups, will discuss topics ranging from events organisation and management, technological applications to trends forecasting and challenging conventional practices.

“The mission of MICE Show Asia 2019 is to provide industry suppliers with the insights and strategies to meet ever-evolving buyers’ needs. As the MICE scene continues to grow, there has never been a greater need to bring together industry professionals from across varied disciplines to share their knowledge and perspectives. Our conference sessions are designed to get attendees to rethink how they understand the industry, and gain the ability to set them apart,” said Katrina Leung, managing director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of MICE Show Asia.

For more information on MICE Show Asia 2019 visit www.miceshowasia.com

By the first half of 2021, Macau will have a world-class event venue. Galaxy Entertainment Group announced at the IBTM China 2019, its latest addition to its integrated resort precinct.

Galaxy International Convention Center (GICC) is the new event facility developed by the Group which will have; a total space of 40,000 square metres featuring an exhibition and convention hall with 10,000 square metres of pillar-less space that accommodates up to 7,000 guests and, a 16,000 seat Galaxy Arena that can host concerts and large-scale events which is set to become the ultimate entertainment venue.

In an interview with the managing editor of MICE in Asia in Beijing, Scott Kreegar, the Group’s director of operations development for new resorts mentioned that, the Galaxy International Convention Center will be equipped with the latest immersive technology and when opened, the GICC can be considered as a venue that is the most advanced in terms of technology in the region.

Currently, according to Kreegar, the integrated resort which has Macau’s largest collection of luxury hotel brands under one roof, each of which, have their own MICE facilities with GICC however, the venue is able to provide  more comprehensive MICE facilities on a larger scale with its multiple space configuration hence, targeting bigger MICE business for the integrated resort.

He mentioned that integrated resort aims at capturing the Chinese meetings and incentive business, but is also looking beyond to Japan, Singapore and Europe. The GICC according to him has the advantage of being situated within an integrated resort precinct that is, able to offer organisers and delegates a complete package; from hospitality, entertainment, professional event services, technology, retail outlets, food and beverage and leisure.

On the overall picture, the GICC and the Galaxy integrated resort would like to complement Macau in attracting MICE business. Already Macau has become an attractive destination for MICE with Macau’s long standing association as a historical location rich in culture, gastronomy and now art.

Below:  The ribbon cutting ceremony  held on August 28 at the IBTM China 2019 to announce the opening of  the Galaxy International Convention Center in 2021.  From left to right:  Ruan Wei, Deputy Director General of Trade and Investment Promotion Department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Dong Hui, Director of the Committee for the Liason with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of CPPCC National Council,  Scott Kreegar, Galaxy Entertainment Group’s Director of Operations Development for New Resorts, Chen Zhituan, Director of Enterprise Service Center for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao,  Leong Kit Chi, Director of the  Office of the Macao Special Administrative Region in Beijing and Elaine Wong, Senior Manager of Promotional Activities and Development  of Conventions and Exhibitions Department of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute.