Press Room

MEET Taiwan kicked off a series of road shows in Asia featuring corporate incentive tours to Taiwan, and was in Kuala Lumpur to promote Taiwan as the top-on-mind destination for incentive travel. It was attended by the media, hoteliers, MICE industry practitioners and destination management companies in Malaysia including last year’s winner of the Asia Super Team.

It began with presentations from Meet Taiwan and its partners, Eva Air, China Airlines and several Taiwan based corporate incentive tour operators. Main highlight was on the Asia Super Team 2015: Team Up for Good.

The event generated some insightful business conversations.

Julia Douglas (left) Managing Editor of MICE with Carmen Siow, Assistant Manager, Taiwan Trade Centre, Inc (TAITRA), Kuala Lumpur Representative Office at the MEET Taiwan Road Show.

Khao Yai is Thailand’s first national park, and is the second largest in the country. The area along with the surrounding Dong Phaya Yen mountain range was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Covering an area of over 2,000 square kilometres includes parts of four other provinces with vegetation zones ranging from evergreen rainforest to tropical savannah.

TCEB has once again invited International media from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia and United Kingdom to tour the area to showcase it as an emerging business tourism destination.

The bureau also organised a press conference in Bangkok to brief the media on the activities undertaken by its key partners to drive the Thai MICE sector. They are the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai Airways International, Ratchprasong Square Trade Association (RSTA) and Bangkok River Partners (BRP). At the same time introduce to the media, the Thailand CONNECT Welcome Package to attract more business events into the country.

Welcome reception and dinner hosted by Peninsula Bangkok

Press Conference at Anantara Siam Bangkok on “Thailand CONNECT the World 2015′

Walk-About Downtown Ratchaprasong Square

Night Tour of Rattanakosin by Tuk Tuk

Tour of the GranMonte Vineyard and Winery

Visit Khao Yai National Park and Participate in Depositing Salt at a Salt Lick and Tree Planting

Theme Night Dinner in Khao Yai

Chockchai Farm at Khao Yai

Farewell Dinner and Cultural Dance Performance

MICE in Asia would like thank TCEB and partners for the Thailand CONNECT the World – Bangkok and Khao Yai media familiarisation trip 2015.

Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH and Dubai Business Events will be participating for the first time at the show, together with six other new Swiss entities among which are tourism and convention bureaus from Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux Riviera, Lake Geneva, Lucerne and Zurich Tourism.

Ralf Ostendorf, Director Market Management of Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH explained the motivation behind exhibiting at IT&CMA 2015 for the first time, “Our first experience with IT&CM Events was at IT&CM China earlier in Shanghai this year, and it proved to be a successful show for us. We are looking forward to the same success at IT&CMA 2015, as we see a lot of potential for Berlin as a MICE destination in Asia.”

He continued, “visitBerlin has intensified marketing activities in Asia for the past years to develop new incoming markets for tourism to Berlin. The city is not just a leading tourism destination, but is also one of the leading destinations worldwide in the MICE business. We believe that IT&CMA is a well-positioned platform for us to learn more about the MICE industry in Asia-Pacific and nurture our popularity in the region.”

IT&CMA 2015 will be held from September 29 to October1 at the Bangkok Convention Centre located at CentralWorld. For more information, log on to www.itcma.com

Its annual multi-national business competition entitled Asia Super Team: Team Up for Good to promote Taiwan as the top-of-mind destination for incentive travel, is open for countries in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand) including Australia. The coveted prize is an incentive travel package to Taiwan worth USD 50,000; and a charity donation of USD 5,000 by the winning country to a local non-profit beneficiary.

Registration and proposal submission can be done by logging onto asiasuperteam.meettaiwan.com from now until August 30. While the public voting of the competition, will begin from August 3 through August 30.

The competition is conducted in two phases: The online preliminary invites entries to submit their itinerary proposals that can best showcase their passion and understanding of Taiwan incentive travel environment; and the final held in Taiwan, enables the competitors from the six countries, to experience holding meetings and exhibitions in Taiwan that should factor in the three initiatives of local cultural revivals, environmental preservation, and service to the underprivileged.

A milestone in the 38 history of the Saujana Hotels & Resorts, the property has unveiled its new look, after a comprehensive two year refurbishment which began in phases starting in July of 2013. A party was recently held to celebrate the relaunch of the hotel with guests invited were clients and members of the media.

The redesigned look of the property include the restyling of its 75 superior rooms and 175 of its deluxe rooms renovated. At the same time, the number of meeting spaces has increased to six additional rooms – all fitted with latest-state-of-the-art equipment. Several of the hotel’s food and beverage outlets have also been refreshed.

Saujana can be considered to be the pioneer in the resort establishment in Malaysia, located within the Klang Valley of the capital city Kuala Lumpur.

A Reception for the Celebration to Relaunch the Makeover

Celebration Night of the Relaunch

Entertainment for the Evening

Fireworks to End the Evening

After an extensive makeover of the hotel resorts’ guest rooms, ballroom, meeting facilities, as well as its food and beverage outlets, the Saujana of Kuala Lumpur, announced its newly refurbished look.

A press luncheon was held hosted by the Vice President of Operations, Peter Hourigan together with M. Manimaran Senior Director of Sales & marketing and Michele Gregory, Marketing Communications Manager. Also at the luncheon were representatives from WorldHotels, Roland Jegge, Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific and Eugene Ng the Marketing Executive.

Members of the media invited were journalists of publication from the Asia Pacific region.

The Saujana Kuala Lumpur has also recently become a member of the hospitality consortium, WorldHotels AG as part of the company’s portfolio of luxury resorts. The company founded in 1970, operates a group of independent hotels worldwide is based in Frankfurt, Germany.

Once again industry stakeholders in hospitality will come together to explore the growth and investment opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. THINC Indonesia to be held from September 2 to 3 is set to provide a platform to deliberate on the development and direction of the hotel and tourism industry in the region.

At the same time, the conference has established its reputation of being a one-of-a-kind hospitality event in Indonesia.

Attendees of the conference stand to gain knowledge in the areas of experiential learning and productivity enhancement from their regional and international counterparts.

This year the event continues to offer accurate and relevant content through a captivating line-up of seminars and panels of industry leaders, as well as the opportunity to network and conduct business with prominent owners, operators, investors, developers, and government officials. Notable speakers include global chief executive officers and industry stalwarts.

Aside from this, delegates and participants too, will have the chance to network, learn, and share information and best practices with their regional and international counterparts.

The event is hosted by HVS together with the Ministry of Tourism, Republic of Indonesia and Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

For more information, please visit  www.THINCIndonesia.com

www.THINCIndonesia.com

The show is held at the Beijing China National Convention Centre from June 26 to 28, and will feature a total of 330 international exhibitors,across an area of 2,100 square metres; organised by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development in collaboration with Conference & Exhibition Management Services (CEMS) Pte Ltd Singapore.

BITE 2015 is a tourism exposition that brings together domestic and international tourism stakeholders to foster new business relationships and strengthen existing partnerships. Through the show, tourism stakeholders and interested trade buyers who are keen in targeting China’s huge domestic and international tourism market will have a platform for networking and collaboration.

This year BITE will also feature a series of seminar where experienced speakers share with visitors key insights into the China tourism industry. Countries such as Thailand, Turkey, Greece, Japan, USA, Korea, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Cambodia are set to showcase during the exposition their tourism resources through on-stage destination presentation sessions.

MICE in Asia is a media partner of BITE 2015

www.bitechina.com.cn

The Taj hotel brand is known for its splendid properties and palatial palaces extends its hospitality to a private island on Rebak in Langkawi. Imagine basking in the sun on pristine white beach, and the warm waters of the Andaman Sea. An elegant retreat, the resort is designed to be in harmony with nature and the lush tropical greenery.

While the amenities and villas on the resort are luxuriously outlined for the comfort of guests with incredible views of the sea.

The management of Vivanta invited two editorial representatives from MICE in Asia, for a two nights and three days stay to experience the Taj hospitality and service. Activities planned include: cooking demonstration on Thai green curry by Chef Kamal; nature walk and discovery of the island by naturalist and historian, Selva; outdoor dining venue at the marina jetty under the stars; and fine dining at Moon Deck, prepared by Chef Kamal and desert by Chef Vaibhav; breakfast at the Senari Restaurant, batik painting; a tour of the island by General Manager, Sandip Mukherjee; and lunch of authentic Indian cuisine by Chef Dinesh. All the food prepared is supervised by Vivanta’s Executive Chef, Ganesh Kumar.

Suitably located on the island is a marina on a protected inlet of calm waters. Operated by Vivanta by Taj, the dock has facilities for wet and dry berths, as well as offer full service to yachters.

An idyllic island resort for a getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city life.

Villas some nestled in lush greenery dotting the island offering luxury comfort.

The marina at Rebak Island operated by Vivanta by Taj, with yachts from Australia, New Zeland, United Kingdom and China.

MICE in Asia would like to thank the management of Vivanta by Taj for their warm hospitality extended to two of its editorial staff and the experience.

Showcasing Kuala Lumpur as a diverse gastronomic destination in South East Asia, the city will be celebrating a three-day food festival at the iconic Dataran Merdeka from May 29 to 31.

The food festival will bring together gastronomic delights from the 13 Malaysian States, making local and international foodies spoilt for choice with the range of over 60 food counters serving up only the best.

Curated by UK based Malaysian Chef and Kuala Lumpur food ambassador, Chef Norman Musa, the festival will also host several celebrity chefs, who will thrill and entertain visitors with live cooking demonstrations and workshops throughout the festival.

Visitors will also get the chance to meet with the local and internationally renowned chefs as they, conduct talks, cooking workshops and demonstrations. Visitors can also learn to prepare and cook authentic Malaysian dishes, and get useful tips from the experts themselves during the festival.

The three-day festival will transform Dataran Merdeka into eight quarters: Negeri, Warung, Manisan, Food Trucks, Warisan, Samplings, The Dulang and Mayor’s Courtyard – to include every facet of Malaysian food. Each quarter will be set up in a unique presentation serving everything from one’s favourite childhood dish to science defying molecular gastronomy dishes.

Aside from this, there will be a number of interesting pop-up stalls selling tropical Malaysian fruits and juices, spices and purees, tuck shops of Malaysian snacks like kerepek, coconut candy and dodol. These stalls will hold experiential demonstrations for tourist on preparing heritage cakes like kuih bangkit, kuih bakar and kuih bahulu.

With a single entry ticket, visitors have the opportunity to attend all the cooking workshops and demonstrations (based on a first-come, first-serve basis as seats may be limited), listen to gastronomic talks, and be entertained by cultural performances.

Food items may be purchased using Kupang, a specially designed token that will replace cash at the festival. It is available in denominations of half, one and five Kupang. Visitors can purchase the Kupang at the ticketing booth near the main entrance to the festival venue. The term Kupang is taken from the traditional Malay coin currency that was used, in the Malay Peninsula, over a century ago.

The 3-day festival is also geared to be eco-friendly and ethically responsible, whereby the quarters will be using bio degradable and non-Styrofoam packaging plus recycled bags; sharing a communal washing up area to wash their pots and pans; recycling bins for the food waste disposal.

To create more excitement during the festival, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall has organised the Big Challenge which includes three competitions. First, the KL Big Kitchen Big Race, a cooking competition which includes racing against time to buy ingredients at KL’s oldest market, Chow Kit Market and returning to the Big Kitchen site at Dataran Merdeka to cook a dish. The second competition is the KL Signature Mocktail Competition, open to Malaysian amateurs or professional mixologists to create KL’s signature mocktail. Finally the KL Signature Dish Competition, a competition only open to Malaysians, is in search of a unique, signature dish using local herbs and spices. Winners of each competition will receive cash prizes, a trophy from the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and gifts sponsored by the festival’s partners.

Interested participants can download the entry forms from the festival website www.klbigkitchen.com

Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015 is one of the initiatives under Kuala Lumpur Tourism Master Plan 2015 – 2025. One of the criteria of the master plan, is to create a food festivel in Kuala Lumpur, and to position the city, as a heaven for Malaysian cuisine.