Category

2017

Sunway Lagoon Malaysia’s Multi-Park Celebrates 25 Wonder Years

By | 2017

The country’s premier theme park turns 25 this year, and what better way to celebrate it then with its visitors, business partners, associates and members of the media.  The park is offering attractive promotions until the end of the year with great savings for local and international visitors.

A celebration party was held at the park’s surf beach with entertainment, barbeque and fireworks display. It began with three talented local artists Caprice, Mimi Fly and Kaka Azraff releasing their song ‘Experience It’ which, they have created to commemorate Sunway Lagoons milestone as a theme park.

The evening was graced by the founder and chairman of the Sunway Group, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Jeffrey Cheah and his wife, Puan Sri Datin Seri Dr Susan Cheah.

Calvin Ho, senior general manager of Sunway Theme Parks said, “Twenty five years in a business is a great milestone for many.  It comes with hard work, embracing changes and staying relevant.”

To date, Sunway Lagoon has hosted more than 20 million visitors, and has over the years achieved recognition as a theme park brand globally as well as, received several accolades.  Recently Sunway Lagoon won in the family theme park category as the Brand of the Year at the Kensington Palace’s World Branding Awards.  Sunway Lagoon also won a bronze at the 2017 People’s Choice Award (Entertainment) of the Putra Brand Awards and, as one of Asia’s Employer of Choice during the HR Asia Awards 2017.

In Style Hong Kong 3rd Edition Launched in Kuala Lumpur

By | 2017

The signature promotion campaign organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) was held in Kuala Lumpur after successfully hosting it in Jakarta and Bangkok.  Aim of the campaign was to highlight Hong Kong’s vibrant and unique lifestyle and creativity, as well as to showcase branded and design-led products which have established Hong Kong as a leading trendsetting city in the region.

This high-profile promotion included a trade expo showcasing a wide array of quality branded and lifestyle products from Hong Kong, a service symposium featuring a range of business services, a gala dinner welcoming prominent officials and business leaders from Malaysia and Hong Kong, and a series of citywide promotions.

Malaysia is Hong Kong’s 10th largest trading partner in 2016 with a ranking of 4th among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries in its trade with Hong Kong.  Malaysia’s GDP per capita’s ranking is 3rd among all ASEAN countries. In terms of ease of doing business, Malaysia ranks 4th among all economies in East Asia and the Pacific; 23rd in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2017.  Malaysia is ranked 24 out of 138 countries in terms of business efficiency in the Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017.

In Style Hong Kong Symposium

Symposium on how Hong Kong’s world-class business services including creative, finance, legal and logistics among other topics could facilitate Malaysian companies to expand business worldwide, particularly in the Chinese mainland market.

In Style Hong Kong Expo

A B2B exhibition showcasing Hong Kong’s leading branded and designer-led lifestyle products held at Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur. Buyers at the expo were importers, distributors, mass retailers, mail-order houses, department stores and specialised stores in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

In Style Hong Kong Gala Dinner

An exclusive high-level gala dinner organised at Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur welcomed 500 prominent officials and business leaders from Malaysia and Hong Kong. The evening’s four-course dinner was created by Hong Kong’s Michelin star chef Alvin Leung, a cuisine which was a fusion of western and local favourite dishes.

In Style Hong Kong Citywide Promotion

A series of promotion launched to highlight Hong Kong’s dynamic lifestyle elements via design-led and creative products, trendy fashion and unique culinary experience, supported by online marketing and publicity campaign. Local merchants and restaurants around the city were engaged to offer discounts and incentives to Malaysian consumers.

Images are courtesy of Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Kuala Lumpur.

Andaz a Top Luxury Lifestyle Hotel Opens its Doors in Singapore

By | 2017

A premium five-star hotel brand of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation, the Andaz Singapore is the first of its property in Southeast Asia. The hotel offers 342 guestrooms and suites, four event venues, a rooftop bar that offers 360-degree views and a street-dining-in-the-sky food and beverage concept.

Andaz Singapore is located in the districts of Kampong Glam, Bugis and Little India occupying level 25 to 39 of the DUO Tower, a landmark building within the area. The districts have the most varied range of commercial, religious, heritage and cultural bodies with Kampong Glam, as a heritage neighbourhood of Singapore filled with refurbished shophouses; while Bugis is a shopping haven for bargain hunters; and Little India is a historic area of Singapore that showcases the Indian community of the country.

Hotels in this collection generally reflect the unique cultural scenes and spirit of their surrounding neighbourhoods’ and are, dedicated to creating natural and vibrant living spaces where travellers, can indulge their own personal sense of comfort and style.

Global in scale while local in perspective, Andaz hotels promises to deliver an innovative hospitality experience and attentive, uncomplicated service designed to accommodate guests’ personal preferences.

ITB Asia 2017 Wraps up 10th Anniversary with Record Highs

By | 2017, Press Room

The travel trade show completed its milestone anniversary event with record-breaking numbers. The tenth edition of ITB Asia closed at 77 percent growth from its inaugural edition with a record of 22,000 business appointments captured.

Over three days, the event hosted about 940 exhibitors from 113 countries – an 11 percent increase over the previous year. ITB Asia 2017 also welcomed its strongest ever buyer participation across the corporate, MICE and leisure sectors. Since 2014, ITB Asia has experienced a 1:1 ratio for exhibitors and buyers.

This year it featured new exhibitors such as the Rwanda Development Board, Tourism Tunisia, Promote Iceland, Tourism & Foreign Affairs Department of Almaty City, Republic of Kazakhstan, Jeju Convention and Visitor Bureau, among others. At the same time, exhibitors invested more in the quality of their booths, with Greece, Japan, Russia and Korea putting up impressive and engaging experiences.

“In view of ten years of ITB Asia, we’ve taken every effort to celebrate the past as well as to provide attendees with a useful view to the future. While we are very pleased with our achievements in terms of the quality and numbers, what brings us most satisfaction is bringing together all the different stakeholders across the industry to network and inspire each other. The relationships built and strengthened will continue to boost our efforts in making ITB Asia the region’s go-to event and a hub for unforgettable content and enriching experiences for many years to come”, said Katrina Leung, executive director of Messe Berlin (Singapore).

ITB Asia 2018 will be from October 17 to 19 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands with the support of the Singapore Tourism Board and the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau.

Press Conference by Marina Bay Sands, Tourism Tunisia and Rwanda Tourism

Business-to-Business Meeting with Exhibitors

11street Launches ‘Shocking? Yes! Year-End Shopping Campaign

By | 2017

The online marketplace expects fifty percent increase in gross merchandising vale (GMV) and cross border trading order during the campaign period. Owing to the competitive fray of the e-commerce in Malaysia, which has led to increase competition in the industry, according to 11street suggest that growth is imminent for local operators. 11street, Malaysia’s number two online marketplace, is driving initiatives to accelerate its business growth by introducing a plethora of local and international products to contribute to Malaysia’s e-commerce industry.

Chuljin Yoon, the chief operating officer said: “With the rapid digitalisation of economies, we are looking at a world of connected businesses. China, Japan, Korea and USA top the chart for active e-commerce penetration, so no doubt the Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia are a melting pot of opportunities for the e-commerce boom to take place.”

By collaborating with thousands of locally established and globally recognised brands, the launch of 11street’s year-end online shopping campaign, will introduce 100,000 lowest price guaranteed products and free shipping for purchase above RM29 under the Shocking Deal section beginning from November until December  31, with over thousands of sellers and international brands to shop from.

During the campaign, consumers will enjoy a range of products from global participating brands and consumer electronics and mobile tech accessories from more than 20 countries including the USA, Japan and Europe.

Cosmo Hotel Kuala Lumpur Conveniently Located in the Heart of the City

By | 2017

Understated in style and grandeur, the hotel is ideal for business and leisure travellers. The hotel opened its doors in December last year and recently organised an appreciation night for the hotel’s travel agents and media.

The property has a total of 345 spaciously designed and furnished guestrooms of deluxe and executive, family-style suites, studio and junior suites. In terms of accessibility, the hotel is within walking distance to many of the city’s popular attractions, banking institutions and historical landmarks.

Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Offers Special Eight-Course Chinese Banquet for the New Year

By | 2017, Press Room

A combination of Five Happiness platter of dishes is on the menu designed, to showcase the Centre’s special Chinese banquet for its clients.

Alan Pryor, the general manager mentioned that the Centre, place great emphasis on client engagement and on providing customised flexible innovative meeting and event solutions of which an important part of this is the culinary offerings created by the Centre’s award winning chefs.

The special eight-course Chinese banquet menu at the same time exhibits the creativity of the Centre’s chefs in crafting versatile menus – hot on the heels of the amazing performance by the Centre’s culinary team at the Culinaire Malaysia 2017. They were awarded the Most Outstanding Team in Culinary, Most Outstanding Chef, Most Outstanding Artist and Most Outstanding Apprentice. The team brought home a total of 10 gold, 11 silver and six bronze medals from the competition.

Due to be completed in mid 2019 is the extension of the Centre which will see an additional 11,000 square metres of flexible and multi-purpose space, which means more room to comfortably accommodate larger exhibitions and international association meetings.

Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara Hosts a Press Luncheon

By | 2017, Press Room

A welcome addition to luxury hotels in the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur is the Sofitel brand of the French multinational hotel group Accor. The first in the city, the Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara opened its doors in August.

Recently representatives of the media were invited by the management team of its Asia Pacific office, to lunch at the hotel’s fine dining Chinese restaurant the Wan Chun Ting and experience the restaurant’s specialty of Cantonese cuisine.
The 312-room hotel is about 15 minutes from the city centre and has chosen to locate itself in an affluent area of Kuala Lumpur that is, the Damansara Heights. This allows the Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara to have the distinctive feature of being in a suburban surrounding apart from other up market hotels in Kuala Lumpur which are concentrated mainly in the commercial city centre.

While the décor of the hotel reflects the local Malaysian culture with a French touch; prominent among which is the use of the Wau Bulan motif, one of the country’s national symbol – an intricately designed moon kite traditionally flown by men in the Malaysian state of Kelantan. The hotel’s banquet room is aptly named the Wau Bulan Ballroom and can accommodate 600 for a reception.

Seated are Steffany Boak (left), Director of Sales & Distribution, Pugeneswary Mudukasan (right), Marketing & Communication Manager, both from Sofitel Hotels & Resorts. Standing are Julia Douglas (centre), Managing Editor of MICE in Asia and Winkie Loh (right), Journalist.

Agnes Tan (left), Regional Director, Digital Marketing, Loyalty & Partnership, Accor Hotels, Julia Douglas (centre), Gaynor Reid, Vice President Communications & CSR Asia Pacific and Karen Chang, Communications Manager Asia Pacific, both from Accor Hotels.

Braised Treasure of Vegetables with Chicken Sauce.

Steamed Grouper with Garlic and Onion Sauce.

International Media Familiarisation Tour of Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung

By | 2017, Press Room

Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in June, hosted media representatives from Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore who were invited, to experience first-hand new tourism products, MICE facilities and destinations in key cities of the country beginning from the capital city Taipei to Kaohsiung and Taichung. Highlight of the trip was, to witness the official opening of the 27th Taiwan International Food Show 2017 (Food Taipei) and visit the expo at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

In Kaohsiung, members of the media had the opportunity to visit the first British Consulate office established in Taiwan at Takow in 1879, is now a historical museum open to the public. The Kaohsiung city government began restoring the building of the consulate office in 1985. It is now considered to be a cultural heritage site and a popular tourist attraction.

While in Taichung, the media was introduced to the city’s newest MICE venue, the National Taichung Theater designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito in collaboration with Cecil Balmond. The free-form structure has become the latest landmark in Taiwan. It houses three theatres of various capacities within its organically sloping halls: the Tutu gallery is shaped like a ballerina’s tutu is suitable for all types of exhibition; Playhouse is a multi-faceted space that accommodates 796 seats including 20 seats for the physically challenged; and Black Box has 200 seats which is linked to the outdoor theatre. The total estimated area of the structure is about 57,685 square metres sculpted into an irregular form that resembles a coral reef.

The fam tour itinerary includes meeting with professional exhibition organiser of Food Taipei, a visit to the Taipei World Trade Center and  Kaohsiung Exihibition Center.

New Tourism Product – Sightseeing in Taipei on board a Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus

Historial Site of the First British Consulate Office in Taiwan at Takow

National Taichung Theater – Taiwan’s Cultural Landmark

Media Representatives from Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore

The editorial board would like to thank TAITRA for once again inviting MICE in Asia for the familiarisation tour of Taiwan.