2011

The brand new Golden Kawanua Exhibition Hall is the venue for the ATF 2012 TRAVEX which will welcome close to 1,000 exhibitors who occupying more than 450 exhibiting booths, representing a diverse range of
ASEAN destination, travel products and service suppliers.

Host country Indonesia will showcase the largest delegation of suppliers among the ASEAN countries with representation from over 100 companies and properties.
Buyer registrations and interest to attend the event have hit the 900 mark. Only 400 of all registered buyers will be hosted to attend ATF 2012. In addition, 50 non-hosted buyers are expected to participate. Buyer profiles will include trade representatives from over 55 countries including Australia, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China PR, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America and Vietnam.

While over 100 international and local media will be present to deliver live coverage and destination stories and reports to travel trade and tourism audiences worldwide.

To supplement business days there will be plenty of social networking activities. Indonesia will host both the opening and closing ceremony on January 12 and 15. “Both platforms are perfect opportunities for the destination to showcase its cultural performances and authentic Indonesian dishes,” said Nia Niscaya, director of international tourism promotion of the ministry of culture and tourism of the Republic of Indonesia.
The opening ceremony features a Batik fashion show and will have the honour of being presided by the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

On January 13 and 14, delegates can also look forward to hosted dinners by Laos who will be the host country of ATF 2013, and the Philippines. Dazzling the event further is a late night function by the city of Pattaya on January 13 which is jointly hosted with TTG Asia.

For more information and programme updates on ATF 2012, please visit www.atfindonesia.com

Several returning exhibitors were seen at the trade show, while new ones such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Poland and Hyderabad Convention Bureau make their debut this year. Individual designs of exhibition booths too are getting bigger, and more creative and modern, taking the opportunity of the event to showcase their latest products, facilities and services in a big way. All these keeping the international MICE and corporate buyers attending the trade show excited about new developments in the MICE and travel industry.

The educational sessions of the show continued to add value to the IT&CMA & CTW 2011, offering delegates latest information on travel and MICE products and business activities. This year the Seoul Convention Bureau hosted the Korea night with the theme of the evening, ‘Take 5’. Once again the event was held at the Bangkok International Convention Centre and from October 4 to 6.

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council invited Julia Douglas, managing editor of MICE in Asia for a four-day trip to Taipei, to find out more about the convention and exhibition facilities and services available in the capital of Taiwan. Arrangements were also made to meet exhibition and event industry players in the city and, a one-to-one interview with Walter Yeh, the executive vice president of TAITRA. She also had the opportunity to experience first hand, the spa services offered by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital – Taiwan is now looking at expanding medical tourism into the country.

As a small country, Taiwan is fast becoming a business tourism destination. The country, hosts several major international exhibitions such as on bicycles, electronic, manufacturing and green environment.

TAITRA a non-profit foundation works with business and trade associations in Taiwan and the government, to promote the country’s industry abroad, as well as international trade. The exhibition industry has become Taiwan’s platform in promoting products and services of the country.

Currently, Taipei is ranked as number two best destination in Asia and eleven in the world according to the 2010 ranking by ICCA. In terms of organising congresses, Taiwan is number four in Asia and 23rd in the world.

The sixth edition of International Travel Expo, Ho Chi Minh City (ITE HCMC) which is the largest travel event in Vietnam, was successful held at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The 3-day event which began from September 14 offered exhibitors, buyers and visitors the opportunity to explore Asia’s most authentic and exciting tourism potential from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, under the unique ‘Three Countries One Destination’ concept.

This year’s ITE HCMC will be held from September 14 to 17. Once again the event will bring buyers and sellers together under one roof to discover a wide range of tourism products in the ASEAN region. Buyers will also be able to meet over 20 Vietnamese provincial departments of tourism featuring their tourism products and services.

It is estimated that 160 to 180 international buyers and corporate travel managers will attend the travel expo. The event will feature a seminar for buyers and sellers (by invitation), an official reception of international buyers by the people’s committee of Ho Chi Minh City and department of tourism. There will also be a grand opening ceremony with cultural performance organised by participants of the expo and other participating tourism bureaus, as well as networking cocktail for all participants and destination product presentations

This coming event will also see the efforts of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to promote the four countries as one destination. For four days, tour operators, travel agents, tourism management organisations and other tourism related stakeholders get together to share information, build partnership and explore opportunities in the tourism business.

For more information on the travel expo, log onto: www.itehcmc.com

MICE in Asia is a media partner of ITE HCMC 2011.

The panel of judges of the different catergories of the Kuala Lumpur Mayor’s Tourism awards with the Mayor, Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail (fifth from right) at the Thank You dinner.

The first Kuala Lumpur Mayor’s Tourism Awards was a resounding success. The mayor thanked all judges, committee members and everyone involved in the awards with a dinner at the Songket Restaurant.

Panel of judges of the different category of the awards, were presented with a framed letter of appreciation from the Mayor, Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail for their time and effort in contributing to the judging of the category of awards they are assigned to.

Managing editor of MICE in Asia was a judge in the accommodation category for five and four-star hotels in Kuala Lumpur.

An inaugural edition of the award was recently held at the Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur and the gala dinner celebration, was graced by the Right Honourable, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Hj Abdul Razak. Among the VIP guests were the country’s fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Minister of Federal Territories & Urban Wellbeing and Minister of Tourism.

The awards were introduced by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to recognise the high standard of practices of tourism industry players in the city, and for making Kuala Lumpur an international tourist destination.
Each category of the award was judged by a panel of senior industry professionals who were led by a head judge. There were a total of 10 judging panels that took between six to nine weeks to conduct a thorough judging process. It included site visits by the panel of judges and interviews of the nominees.

Nine categories with 32 awards were contended in this inaugural edition. The categories of awards are for Accommodation, Restaurants, Tourist Attractions, Nightspots, Shopping Malls, Foreign Airlines, International Tour Operators, Print Media (Magazines) and Front Liners. There were three classes of awards presented and they are for Outstanding Achievement (highest class), Excellence and the Mayor’s Recognition.
Leading the award recipients was the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad, who was presented with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his many contributions that have shaped the Kuala Lumpur tourism industry over the last three decades such as, the KL International Airport, the Sepang Formula One Circuit, KL Tower and the city’s most recognisable icon, the Petronas Twin Towers.

The award recipients were presented with silver plaques exclusive crafted by the renowned French brand of silverware, Christofle. While the special trophy for the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was created by Mouawad.

Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur mentioned, “The response to the inaugural Kuala Lumpur Mayor’s Tourism Awards has been so enthusiastic, not just within the industry but also from the general public. The number of nominations received is overwhelming, and the public voting has been very successful.”

Beijing City at dusk taken from the Bird’s Nest National Stadium.

The team from MICE in Asia took time off from their busy schedule to get to know Beijing city better by travelling the subway. We started from Datunlu East station to Dongdan, where we cross over to line 1, and headed for Tian’Anmen East.

From this station, we walked to Jingshan Park which has a scenic view of the northern gate of the Forbidden City across the lake. From the park, we entered the Forbidden City and join groups of foot “soldiers” consisting of locals and tourists trooping along this magnificent historical site. We then exit the Forbidden City and headed for the Tian’Anmen Square and back onto the subway for line 1.

Jingshan Park

Forbidden City

Our next stop was the Military Museum which is after Muxidi station. We visited the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution located west of central Beijing in the Haidian District. The musuem displays restored military equipment of ancient times to modern weaponry which also includes machinery from the period of the People’s Liberation Army.

Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution and Art Museum.

We then returned to Datunlu East station, and walked towards the Bird’s Nest National Stadium. We toured the stadium in the evening which was spectacularly lit in red and also to catch a glimpse of Beijing city at dusk.

The Bird’s Nest National Stadium

Once again Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE) returned with a success for three days (June 17 to 19) at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing. This time, the expo has managed to woo several new exhibitors from outside China such as the United Arab Emirates, Sharjah, Yemen, Switzerland, Japan and the United States, among others.

Also held during the expo, is the most influential industrial summit in Chinese outbound tourism, the 7th International Forum on Chinese Outbound Tourism or IFCOT. The conference provided a professional and effective networking and business platform for participants.

BITE 2011 is the 8th running edition. This year’s expo has again proven its credibility as an international gateway and platform for industry players, as well as trade professionals and visitors (locally and across the region) to connect and network, achieve their aims and objectives- most importantly secure more international business contacts.

The expo is jointly organised by Beijing Tourism Administration, CEMS (Beijing) Conference & Exhibition Co. Ltd and Conference & Exhibition Management Services.

MICE in Asia a media partner of BITE 2011.