Press Room

The exhibition is scheduled to be held from November 6 to 8 at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. It will bring together exhibitors from 60 countries covering Asia, Africa, Europe, United States and the Americas. Also nearly 10,000 professional buyers are expected to participate in the exhibition.

While the expo area itself is set on a 20,000 square-metre space with the exhibition divided into sections on tourism organisation, tourist attractions, outdoor exhibition, exhibition equipment, exhibition facilities and travel service providers.

For more information on the expo, please visit www.szite.com.cn

MICE in Asia is a media partner of the Shenzhen International Tourism Expo 2014.

Industry response for next year’s ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) has been positive, with over 350 TRAVEX (travel exchange) booths contracted, and some 550 applications for the Hosted Buyers Programme. The TRAVEX sellers, made up of suppliers of ASEAN travel and tourism products and services, come from the 10 member nations of ASEAN – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – altogether will take up 8,000 square metres of space.

Participation from host country Myanmar is at an all-time high. U Phyoe Wai Yar Zar, Chairman of Myanmar Tourism Marketing (MTM), said, “The local hoteliers, tour operators and other players in the industry are very much looking forward to next year’s event, this being the first time that ATF is coming to Myanmar. It will be our opportunity to share our country’s rich history and culture with the rest of the world.” MTM is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organisation that functions as the marketing arm of Myanmar Tourism Federation, under the guidance of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

Hosted by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the theme adopted for the show is ‘ASEAN – Tourism towards Peace, Prosperity and Partnership’.

It has also been confirmed that the official venue for ATF 2015 will be the Myanmar International Convention Centre (MICC) 1. While the key components of the official ATF 2015 programme such as TRAVEX and ASEAN Tourism Conference, will be held at the newly completed 60,000 square-metre exhibition and convention centre. The venue has hosted numerous national level meetings and international business events, including the recently concluded 24thASEAN Summit.

The ATF 2015 will run from 22 to 29 January in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar,

For more information on ATF 2015, please visit www.atf-2015.com.

Once again domestic and international corporate travel managers and MICE professionals from around the world were brought together in Delhi for another of the IT&CM series. Exhibitors from Japan were the Sapporo Convention Bureau, Japan National Tourism Organisation, Korea was represented by Busan Metropolitan City, Tourisam New Zealand and India, the ITC Hotels, Taj Group, Creative Travels and Travelite to name a few that participated at the show.

Both exhibitors and buyers had the opportunity to explore business, education and networking opportunities during the three days. Aside from the business-to-business session, the IT&CM education component in collaboration with KW Conferences of the association day opened to a full house of delegates with a series of educational sessions by expert speakers from various industries such as the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India, Indian Tea Association, ICCA and Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts. The Euromic member from India, Creative Travels was represented by Rajeev Kohli who introduced the event and destination partnership to the media at a press conference.

MEET TAIWAN, a pilot programme designed to promote Taiwan as a MICE destination was unveiled in August at the Prince Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The event saw representatives from six of Taiwan’s premium MICE suppliers, as well as more than 80 representatives from Malaysia in attendance for a get together, to discuss and explore the highly potential MICE market.

The event was sponsored by Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) and implemented by TAITRA and Taiwan Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur. The organisers aim is to promote the MEET TAIWAN brand and to further enhance Taiwan’s reputation as a global destination which will attract more visitors to the island.

Six premium MICE suppliers were in attendance, providing information about MICE Taiwan were; Kuching Travel Service, WOW City, Tian-An International Travel Agency, GIS Group, Asia Concentrate Corporation and the MSL Group.

With regards to gaining ground in the new business market, according to Chang Ming, director of the economic division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, records from Taiwan Tourism Bureau show that some 138 International incentive groups visited the Island in the first half 2014. Japan is ranked first in arrivals, accounting for 10,900 visitors in 83 incentive trips. Malaysia came in third on the list with 1227 visitors in 14 incentive trips.

In addition 8,016,280 people visited Taiwan in year 2013, a year on year increase of 9.64 per cent. Malaysians make up for 394,326 of the visitors and Taiwan has emerged as one of the most preferred travel destinations for Malaysians.

Chang Ming also pointed out that Taiwan’s BOFT has been actively promoting the island as a MICE destination since 2009, and the MEET TAIWAN session this year will foster greater interaction between the Taiwan MICE industry and Malaysian businesses, this to serve as a platform to promote Taiwan to more Malaysians.

According to Lily Su the director of the MEET TAIWAN programme, the initiative is a four year plan undertaken by BOFT, and has made significant inroads since it was launched in 2013. Statistics indicate that last year alone it had successfully facilitated a total of 185 international conventions in Taiwan and had also assisted in hosting 107 corporate incentive travel events to the island, which include Mc Donald’s (China) Group Manager and development Convention 2013, with 2,500 members of management from 27 provinces of China, Amway (China) and Amway (Thailand) sent their 12,000 and 2,000 top achievers respectively to Taiwan for the corporate mega incentive programme 2013.

The international MICE business, education and networking event will be held in Delhi from August 19 to 21. It promises exhibitors the opportunity to sell their inbound and outbound and domestic travel business, as well as for buyers to procure travel products and services from India – promoting India to the world and vice versa.

First launched in 2012, the three-day event comprises of structured business appointments, exhibition showcase, seminar sessions, official networking functions and tours of the country. Luxury travel is also incorporated in the show programme. For more information, please visit www.itcmindia.com

The producer of the show, Ms Tiara Jacqueline, describes the cultural musical show entitled MUD as a performance that showcases the rich culture and heritage of Kuala Lumpur, reflecting the history of how this beautiful city came to be. Staging the show according to her, also goes to the long-term commitment of the development and promotion of arts and culture in the city, and also a move to host a permanent show in one of the city’s oldest architectures in Kuala Lumpur.

Performance is held daily beginning at 3.00 pm and 8.30 pm with tickets available at the Panggung Bandaraya.

In the meantime, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall plans to hold cultural shows regularly at venues in the city as part of the tourism offering of its Tourism Master Plan for 2014 to 2015. In 2012, the City Hall has recorded tourist receipts of 9.3 million and in 2013 at 9.4 million – is expected to continue to grow by 8 percent in 2014 – with the goal of hitting 16 million international tourists by 2025.

Entrance of the 110 year old Panggung Bandaraya theathre.

Talented performers of the MUD musical show.

Opening night of Mud:Our Story of Kuala Lumpur.

The exhibition brings together for two days Asia’s leading MICE organisers to meet and network with the region’s leading hotels, venues, event suppliers, and technology providers. Over 5000 event professionals are expected to attend the exhibition to discover the huge variety of supplies available.

Alongside the exhibition will also be two days of free conference for visitors and exhibitors featuring presentations from the industry’s top most experienced speakers, covering prevalent topics in the Asian event industry such as: guides on event planning; delegate/sponsorship sales training; online and offline marketing; recruiting and training event teams; operations and sourcing; market trends; and much more.

For more information on the exhibition which will be held in Singapore from November 13 and 14, please visit www.miceasiaexhibition.com

A three-day event, it will be held in Yangon from May 26 to 28 and is expected to attract over 200 urban planners, architects, developers, building users, capital investors and key real estate and urban development stakeholders from across the region. Organised by Sphere Conferences with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), and supported by Union Ministry of Construction, Myanmar.

There will be discussions and debates on the potential growth plans surrounding Myanmar’s urbanisation and investment opportunities in country’s real estate. The conference covers key areas of: urban and real estate development ranging from infrastructure and utilities; building and construction technologies and city planning; to real estate investment opportunities; and the retail mixed-use development trend in Myanmar.

One of the key highlights of the conference is the keynote joint plenary session featuring the Ministry of Construction, Myanmar, where the insights into the union government’s plans and updates on the Myanmar urban blueprint will be shared.

The second annual Myanmar Urban Development Conference (MUDC) will also be held at the same time. For more information, please visit www.mudc.sphereconferences.com and www.resm.sphereconferences.com.

MICE in Asia is a media of both conferences.

In a ceremony and luncheon held on April 24, the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib unveiled the trophy which will be awarded to recipients of the tourism awards. Thirty-two establishments and individuals selected based on their innovation, quality of service and product, as well as their global offerings and standards of excellence in the tourism sector will be given the trophy.

The trophy which is specially customised by Christofle International of Malaysia, is a one-of-a-kind silver trophy exclusively created by the internationally renowned modernist designer Andree Putman. Design of the trophy also incorporates the Kuala Lumpur Mayor’s Tourism Awards signature of the five gold stars.

This year, the panel of judges for all 11 categories will be connected to Yes, Malaysia’s largest 4G network with nationwide footprint, where they can easily review and evaluate each entry online and at anytime and anywhere. The judges are equipped with Chromebooks that are lightweight, thin and sleek for their daily computing needs. It comes with cloud-computing devices with built-in chipset that are seamless and with the internet always on.

Among other partners of the award are Yes, a mobile 4G brand, Shangri-La Hotel and Malaysia Airlines.

The Kuala Lumpur Mayor’s Tourism Award 2014 team with the head of the secretariat Noraza Yusof (extreme left) seen here with the trophy

For more information, please visit www.klmayortourismawards.com

A fully fledged conference programme of structured procurement sessions with suppliers and networking opportunities will be made available to Chinese corporate travel professionals, as of next year. This newly launched edition to be held in Shanghai is aptly named CTW China to reflect the show’s focus on the interests and requirements of the geographical region of China.

The CTW China will be positioned not only as a definitive education event for China’s professionals in corporate travel, but also as a platform for suppliers of corporate travel products and services to connect and engage with the industry. Aside from this, profiled personnel in the corporate travel business are invited to speak on a number of choice topics during the conference.

Signing of MOU between TTG Asia Media (Darren Ng, Managing Director on the right) and Carlson Wagonlit Travel (Albert Zhong, Managing Director).

This is the first ever collaboration between TTG Asia Media and Carlson Wagonlit Travel to co-organise such a programme. “Even though CTW China is established on a proven and tested format, the unique valuable proposition of the show will focus deliberately on the Chinese market,” explained Darren Ng, managing director of TTG Asia Media.

“Participants will be able to benefit immensely from discussions on salient issues key to Chinese corporations, as well as expert advice from experienced practitioners operating in the same environment and facing the same market forces and challenges.” Ng continued.

China is said to be the world’s largest procurer in this sector. The country is currently number two in global business spending. By 2017 with the growth of business travel spending in China projected at 14 percent (second only to India) annually, is on track to surpass United States currently ranked number one.