2013

Organised by the management of the hotel and hosted by Ian Hurst, the general manager a number of the hotel’s clients and the media were invited to a party at the poolside of the hotel. This is in appreciation of the support shown by the hotel’s clients, and also to celebrate Christmas together.

Programme for the evening included a cabaret performance with guests participating in the hula hoop competition for men and women category followed by, testing ones flexibility and endurance in a limbo rock game. The evening ended with lucky draws with attractive prizes of one to two night stay at Best Western properties in Asia, and dining for two at the hotel’s restuarant.

Poolside of the Best Western Premier Sentral Dua in Kuala Lumpur.

Taiwan has begun a MICE industry pilot programme with the long-term objective of elevating the quality and efficiency of the country’s MICE services, as well as sharpening its international image and competitive edge as a MICE brand. In conjunction with this, a new logo has been created with several international marketing campaigns and domestic promotion to boost the visibility of Taiwan’s MICE industry. An international press conference on MICE was held on December 5 to announce and introduce this programme to representatives of Taiwan’s external trade development council worldwide and media members from Asia and Europe.

Meet Taiwan international press conference and 2013 Taiwan MICE awards held at the Taipei International Convention Center.

Visit to 101 Tower formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District of Taipei – one of the world’s tallest buildings.

Members of the media having a lesson on making Chinese dumpling, trying their hands on folding and crimping the dough which contains meat and bean paste.

Tour of the Taiwan Design Museum which was once a tobacco factory located at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei.

A trip to Kaohsiung which is about one and a half hours by high speed rail, to visit the International Convention Center Kaohsiung and newly-built Kaohsiung Exhibition Center. While in Kaohsiung a stop-over at a handicraft village just outside the city that has a cottage industry of making hand-painted oil paper umbrella.

MICE in Asia would like to thank Meet Taiwan for organising the familiarisation trip to Taipei and Kaohsiung.

From the success of this year’s event with exhibitors from 39 countries, the GITF will, once again be held at the China Import and Export Fair next year from February 27 to March 1.

Exhibitors, delegates and visitors can expect an exciting show with new layout and innovative features by the orgnisers Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai Ltd.

The exhibition area next year, will be divided into International Trade and MICE Hall Domestic Hall and Travel Service Hall. Several enterprises from countries and regions worldwide which include America, Britain, Brazil, Sweden, South Africa, Scotland, Czech Republic, Iran, Maldives, Malaysia and Cambodia have reserved their booths. The proportion of international exhibitors has according to the organisers exceeded 60 percent.

Brazil has confirmed its participation in GITF 2014, as the guest of honour – taking the opportunity to promote and publicise the World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Games of 2016.

Also with China’s favourable policy of granting “72-hour transit without visa” have motivated domestic and international travel agencies and enterprises to take part in the fair.

GITF 2014 will continue to apply the PSA reservation system to match exhibitors with potential buyers. The system enables both exhibitors and buyers to arrange their schedule in advance for the three-day fair.

There will also be the special-buyer plan where the organisers conduct comprehensive examination and evaluation of buyers with high procurement power. This plan was first started in July 2013, and has so far attracted more than 700 special buyers to visit this industry event.

As regards to travel trends, China reported the organisers, has already surpassed Germany and America to become the biggest outbound market. Now with the favourable policies of the government in China coupled with fast growing tourism resources, has also boosted the growth of domestic tourism.

The Guangdong province for example intends to build several high-speed railways connecting Xiamen and Shenzhen, Nanning and Guangzhou, Guiyang and Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Maoming, Shaoguan and Ganzhou, Meizhou and Chaozhou-Shantou region. This transportation system will connect with that of the Pearl River Delta – an economic zone centre of the province. High-speed travel as a tourism resource will be showcased in the GITF 2014.

The theme on ‘Honeymooning and Overseas Wedding’ was popular in the ITE MICE 2013, with many of the exhibitors in the show offering the full service of organising a wedding from arranging the wedding ceremony and banquet to accommodation, sightseeing and shopping.

Hong Kong citizens according to the organiser of the expo, have been spending more on weddings especially those that are held overseas. In a recent survey by the expo revelaed that marrying couples from Hong Kong, on the average, spend HK$300,000 (US$38,500) on weddings. This was up seven percent over last year with nearly two thirds spent on banquet and honeymooning.

Occupying 16,000 square metres with separate days for trade and public, the expo in 2013 drew from 46 countries and regions, 680 exhibitors some 85 percent of which are from outside Hong Kong. Meanwhile 72 percent of its 11,872 trade visitors and buyers came from Hong Kong and China, especially Guangdong and 74 percent of the 73,200 public visitors preferred travelling as FIT.

The ITE & MICE 2014 which is the 28th International Travel Expo Hong Kong and the 9th MICE Travel Expo will be held from June 12 to 15 in 2014 at Halls 1A to 1E of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. The expo is supported by China National Tourism Administration, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Macau Government Tourist Office and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong.

Located just outside Kuala Lumpur city on 160 acres of lush tropical green, is The Saujana Hotel. Adjacent to it, is The Saujana Golf and Country Club, an 18-hole golf course with a club house and chalet complex.

Recently the management of the hotel celebrated the re-opening of its pillar less ballroom. After 26 years, to keep the ballroom fresh, was recently renovated to give it a new look and feel to reflect with the times. In the past, the ballroom has been a hectic venue of a number of events, conferences and weddings.

It’s an ideal place to have your meetings with The Saujana’s location away from the city and the golf course next door.

Julia Douglas with Karen Tan (right) Public Relations Manager, The Saujana Hotel.

Confidence in the exhibition was seen through the support from industry exhibitors, notably from new participants, destination and convention and visitor bureaus. This year’s showcase featured 122 new exhibiting companies, with many of these new companies coming in under the various convention bureaus and national pavilions, including new participating countries of Jordan, India and New Zealand.

Japan’s private MICE sector has also chosen IT&CMA and CTW Asia-Pacific to stage a comeback to the MICE scene. To help position the destination to international buyers, event organisers have clustered all participating Japanese exhibitors on the show floor. Similarly Singapore is represented by 15 private sector organisations, 10 of which were clustered into a dedicated Singapore pavilion to promote the destination. Taiwan has also doubled their confidence in the event with twice the booth space this year coinciding with their exclusive MEET TAIWAN networking event, to maximise their reach to local buyers and media.

There was also an increase in MICE visitors with the bulk of arrivals coming from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Once again Ho Chi Minh City hosted the ITE HCMC welcoming exhibitors, buyers, and trade and public visitors from around the world. This year’s venue was the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre with the exhibition covering an area of 5,000 square metres – held over a period of three days from September 12 to 14. This year marked the ninth edition which saw 300 exhibiting organisations from over 50 destinations with about 18,000 international, regional and local trade and public visitors.

Vietnam’s national travel event of international standing endorsed and supported by the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Mekong Tourism Alliance of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Networking at the Ocean Beach Club.

Dining on Thai cusine at the Blue Elephant Restaurant in Phuket with a cooking session with the chef.

Round table discussion between representatives of the media and management of Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Thailand Incentive and Convention Association and Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The trend now is for bleasure combining pleasure and business, with resort settings become more and more attractive who can provide meeting room facilities, the comfort of a luxury accommodation, dining experience, relaxation of spa treatment, water sports and swimming – all under one roof. Located on a sprawling 75 acre estate, is the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, one of Thailand’s more popular resorts, is offering the opportunity to have your meeting and leisure within the property. For a start, the resort has a large ground, and has the advantage of offering outdoor events by putting up marquees which can fit 400 people at one time. The available meeting rooms there, can take in from five to 1,200 delegates with a ballroom suitable for large weddings. At hand is the resort’s MICE team for support and solutions to your event requirement that also include planning off-site activities of discovering the sights, sounds and flavour of Phuket.

Media representatives from Asia, were invited by the resort to experience the bleasure stay at the property.

The most acclaimed travel awards in the region are back. The MTAA is aimed at instilling a greater sense of pride and achievement among professionals and organisations in the tourism and hospitality industry of the five countries, and recognition for their quality of excellence.

Organised by the Tourism Ministries of the five countries, the MTAA has received admiration internationally. It is one of the highlights of the largest travel event in the Mekong, the ITE HCMC.

All entries will be reviewed by an independent panel of international judges nominated by the five country Tourism Ministries. The awards night will be held in conjunction with ITE HCMC Grand Opening Ceremony and Gala Dinner, to be held on September 11 at the White Palace Convention Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Companies registered in the five countries, who are keen in the awards, can submit their entries online. Submission of entry is free of charge, and more than one category can be applied. Details for the criteria of judging are available online, and all registrations, are reviewed by a panel of international judges. Awards’ winners will be announced and awarded by the Tourism Ministers.

For more information, please visit www.itehcmc.com