What Chinese travellers really want

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Events organisers and suppliers to the MICE sector who haven’t heeded China’s latest outbound tourism numbers or what its travellers ask for most commonly in hotels (free wifi and kettles) could miss out on revenue in a major way.

That’s the key message, again, in Hotels.com’s latest Chinese International Travel Monitor, published last month. The fifth annual survey of its kind shows that despite a slowdown in the growth of Chinese overseas travel, 92% of travellers from the country plan to increase or maintain spending, and one-third plan to spend more on travel in the coming year.

A staggering 120 million Chinese travelled overseas in 2015, up from 117 million in 2014, the year when the milestone of 100 million was first passed. There were over a million (1,023,600) to Australia alone – up 22 percent on the previous year. And down under remains at the top of the Chinese traveller wish list for the third year in a row as the most desired destination to visit in the next 12 months.

A rough measure of the still-untapped potential of this market could be that only 5% of the 1.4 billion people in China hold passports, yet it’s already the top global spender on travel. The expenditure is expected to equal Finland’s GDP and exceed the size of the Greek economy in five years.

Chinese millennials – 18 to 35-year-olds – spend over a quarter of their income on travel. Two-thirds of travellers from China consider travel an essential part of life, and are prepared to spend nearly a quarter of their income on it.

Kettles and slippers

While the top requests in hotels by Chinese travelers were for free wi-fi and kettles in their rooms, requests numbers three and four were Chinese breakfast and slippers. However, one-size-fits-all perceptions of the Chinese as group tour travellers wanting only Chinese breakfasts and Mandarin translators are outdated, according to Abhiram Chowdry, Vice President and Managing Director APAC for Hotels.com.

“Our research shows that the industry needs to move decisively to develop new products and marketing strategies for the far more sophisticated Chinese travellers of today,” he says.

“An analysis of our research data has revealed that Chinese travellers fall into one of five travel personas [which] open the way for targeted marketing to attract these segments and cater to their specific needs.”

Read the report here.

More and more companies and government agencies seek to meet offsite in well-serviced, smaller venues that offer competitive prices and interesting localities these days, says Kurt Wehinger (below), Area General Manager Oceania for Pan Pacific Hotels Group.

PARKROYAL Darling Harbour – one of 34 hotels in the group owned or managed by Pan Pacific Hotels Group across Oceania, Asia, North America and Europe – is that kind of venue. And this may be one reason it has been running at almost a hundred percent occupancy during the southern winter, says Kurt.

Moreover the 340 fresh, classy guest rooms and seven meeting facilities at PARKROYAL Darling Harbour, set on the western side of the CBD opposite the new Sydney ICC, are reasonably priced compared with many other hotels in Sydney.

“Price and location are definitely factors when you look at our meetings offer,” says Kurt, a thirty-year industry veteran who’s worked in South Africa, Singapore and China.

“We stand up well against some of the big players in Sydney, and we put our money where our mouth is because we offer a great product that is reasonably priced. We’re relatively small [about 400 square metres of meeting space] and don’t have huge ballrooms but frankly we have what companies are looking for.”

Chatting over coffee in the hotel’s executive lounge, Kurt says he’s observed a distinct smaller-is-better trend across the MICE sector in recent times, which has translated into strong repeat business for the hotel, especially for groups of around 50.

“You won’t find many big companies these days that don’t have their own sizeable meeting rooms in house, so with conference calls and AV equipment available you don’t have to travel as much as before or with so many delegates to have a meaningful meeting.

“And we have the technology that allows us to facilitate remote participation for those who want it. Anyone in the industry seeking MICE business these days who does not have the latest tech equipment is likely to lose out.”

While all big hotels talk about good service, the PARKROYAL Darling Harbour’s relatively modest size helps staff deliver a good personal experience, and they focus on helping clients discover the immediate neighbourhood as part of the deal.

“One of our mottoes is to create experiences,” explains Kurt, “so when you come here for an event we can show clients places in the vicinity they won’t find on a tourism map – great bars with no names, the best coffee alleyways, local designer boutiques and similar best-kept secrets to exploring Sydney like a local.”

Clients are increasingly making use of this service, which coincides with what Kurt sees as a new energy in the harbourside city. “There’s something special happening in Sydney right now. There’s an energy, I can feel it, that it’s never had before. Everywhere there’s new infrastructure and new activity.”

An added attraction is his view that Sydney has relatively low rates for meetings and hotel accommodation, compared with many other places like Singapore, London or Hong Kong. “It’s really not that expensive,” he says.

On one hand that’s obviously good news; on the other there’s a problem in relation to where the growing number of future visitors will be accommodated. “If you have 7,000 people coming in for a medical conference, where will they stay? Our group is eager to grow to help meet the demand, while being mindful we don’t want to set prices too high.”

To that end its sister hotel, the 196-room PARKROYAL Parramatta is due to open 90 new rooms in August 2016 following a $25 million-extension. It will be the only hotel with club-lounge facilities in Western Sydney.

From AUD 195

Online room rates start from AUD 195, and a Sunday and Monday day-delegate offer is currently available at AUD 75 per person. This includes free wifi for the meeting, two valet parking spots for the duration of the event, full day catering with a sit-down buffet lunch, room hire, stationery and an onsite paging system linking organisers directly to their conference concierge. (Half day delegate packages are also available.)

The hotel has views of the Darling Harbour precinct and is a short walk from Chinatown, Darling Park, Pitt Street Mall and the King Street Wharf.

More information, click here.

Email events.prsyd@parkroyalhotels.com

The 49 participants in the recent “Cake Me Away” conference of cake decorators in Australia hugely enjoyed their four days of meetings, dining together and networking. Unusually though, the ground seemed to be moving under their feet.

That’s because they were on a ship, P&O’s Pacific Aria, on a four-day voyage from Sydney to Moreton Island, off Queensland, and back. The attendees of what was marketed as Australia’s first “cake cruise” were able to demonstrate their specialised skills, enjoy demonstrations and classes, formal night, themed fun night, trivia sessions, treasure hunt and a day exploring Moreton Island. Some guests chose to bring along their partners, family and friends who joined in the non-conference activities.

Prices for the package included all meals and started off at $1,249 per person twin share.

“The staff on the ship were amazing, nothing was ever a problem for them,” says Blair Olsen, one of the chief organisers.

“There was always someone around to help with whatever we needed. The conference rooms on board [the Bondi and Noosa] and the Torquay theatre were well equipped and in close proximity to the atrium and reception areas, which made access to staff easy.”

Indeed it was so easy to hold the event and everyone enjoyed it so much that the group immediately booked two more floating conferences with P&O – for February and October 2017. And they are now seeking to arrange a similar event for their Kiwi counterparts.

“Cake Me Away Cruises” is the brainchild of Christine Kerr of The Raspberry Butterfly cake-decorating school in Newcastle, New South Wales. Cake decorating cruises have been happening in the US for a few years and Christine was keen to sail off on one. But it was too pricy to travel to the States, so she decided to organise an Australian version, says Blair. Christine approached P&O’s conference people, who helped put the icing on the arrangements.

One scribe penned this on the site’s Facebook page: “Loved every minute of it. Great work by the team to pull it all together so well.” Another said: “I had the best time, learnt heaps, made friends and I will be on the next one, see you then.”

The feedback must be encouraging for P&O in Australia, which last year began to offer conference space and services on the sister ships Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden in discrete, dedicated conference rooms. With all-in costs of AUD 250 to AUD 300 per person per day – including all meals, the conference venue including AV, and a dedicated groups specialist in Sydney to assist with organisation – demand is reportedly growing strongly.

The cruise line has already doubled its 2015 booking numbers in 2016, with six months of the year remaining, says P&O Corporate Groups Sales Manager Rebecca Mutanen (pictured left).

“Interest for the rest of the year is strong – our challenge is that we need more cruises to offer clients,” she says.

“The Noosa and Bondi rooms have a partition that can be opened up to create a larger space, so the ships can accommodate up to 180 guests for an event,” says Riccardo Garbin, Administration and Revenue Director for P&O who spoke to The Siteseer onboard. “We also cater for many larger incentive groups, which are very popular on all ships.”

More info:

www.pocruises.com.au

mice@pocruises.com.au

The Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts group shares its name with the mythical, isolated Himalayan utopia described in 1933 by British novelist James Hilton, in which residents are always relaxed and happy. In many ways it’s an appropriate comparison.

That’s because even the most experienced of travellers surely can’t help but be uplifted by the jaw-dropping views from the rooms of Shangri-La hotel in Sydney. They take in the poetic lines of the old steel bridge, the teeming harbour traffic and ferries, the sails of the Opera House, juxtaposed with the clean lines of skyscrapers and water that glitters, in the words of the great Australian writer Clive James, like crushed diamonds. This is Sydney at its best.

Success in the incentive and event market hinges on the ability to deliver exceptional service, observes Paul McMurray, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Shangri-La hotel, Sydney.

Every operator will say this of course, but this hotel has a highly experienced on-site events team led by a respected professional, and the cheerfulness of obliging employees is evident from the moment you step into the marble-floored lobby.

Moreover the incentive and events market is acutely focused on destination these days, says Paul McMurray, which is one reason the hotel enjoys a booming MICE business.

Why Sydney?

“Sydney is a “trip of a lifetime” destination”, explains Paul, “that can reward and inspire high achievers.”

Aside from the beauty of the harbour, it has over a hundred great beaches, outstanding restaurants, a thriving arts scene, showcases just about every sporting code under the sun and has a pretty efficient public transport system.

“It’s becoming increasingly apparent to us that companies are moving away from the traditional and towards the special,” Paul says. “This is where Sydney truly shines – in cultural experiences that add a wow factor to incentive or event programs.

That could be, for example, climbing the bridge together, sunset sailing while harbour island hopping, enjoying views of the city from a helicopter and so on.”

The hotel has a good track record with boutique, high-end groups as well as larger city-wide programs which has resulted in good relationships with decision makers who organise and travel with groups, he adds.

These groups can choose from 18 flexible spaces for groups of ten to 400 – including a covered outdoor venue – and a Grand Ballroom that can seat 750 theatre style and 800 for stand up cocktail. The ballroom’s attributes include a complete lighting, sound and visual system that can be controlled with a wireless iPad, adjustable LED spotlights for table pin-spotting, four skylights with customisable colour settings at the touch of a button, and six motorised projection screens.

As The Siteseer can attest, the hotel offers fine attention to detail in its 565 rooms and suites, which have generous windows and where the furnishings reflect the colours of the harbour. There’s a swish spa, which groups can book exclusively, and a range of dining options including Altitude, a signature restaurant with views of the city on floor 36.

Though it’s a primarily a western hotel, a beautiful Asian influence is evident everywhere: in the service, food and décor – what one staff member describes as “a slice of Asia in Australia”.

“Our repeat business is a testament to our ability to meet clients’ needs,” says Paul McMurray. (Indeed with the power of social media these days, the hotel’s operators recognise that having clients as ambassadors is critical. Moreover the Sydney hotel gets mostly fulsome reviews on TripAdvisor and elsewhere).

Another advantage of the hotel is its relatively discreet location, a bit removed from the main part of the CBD, yet still only a few minutes’ walk from it and the main ferry terminal, Circular Quay, and the old precinct of The Rocks, established shortly after the founding of the New South Wales colony in 1788.

New loyalty program

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts recently created other incentives for people meeting at its properties, launching “The Events Collection and Golden Circle Event Planner Rewards loyalty program”. This provides meeting and travel professionals and members of Golden Circle – the frequent guest scheme – with the ability to earn “elite” status and earn and redeem points for meetings and events throughout the group’s portfolio.

The Events Collection offering is valid for meetings and events booked for groups taking 25 or more paid guest rooms for at least one night and with a minimum function room spend. In addition to other enticements, groups can get a 10% future event credit.

Special rates on specific dates

Online rates starts from around AUD 260 per night. Organisers can get special rates for groups of 10 or more rooms for meetings or events on specific dates. And if a group or conference books a Sunday night, the hotel is usually able to offer savings. “This is particularly true in the winter months, which is a wonderful time to experience the sights and sounds of Sydney,” says Paul McMurray.

Through the picture window in your rail carriage, the red plains of Central Australia flow past as the sun sets over the outback. Soon you’re enjoying aperitifs with your work colleagues and preparing for dinner in an elegant lounge and dining car.

Your three-course meal includes kangaroo steaks, saltwater barramundi and a rich Australian shiraz. Later, when you retire to your private cabin, a marvel of comfort and compaction, looking forward to an exciting few days of exploration ahead, you fall asleep easily to the rattle and sway of the train.

This scenario is an easily accessible experience down under on The Ghan, one of the three legendary trains operated by the Great Southern Rail company. It owns The Ghan (Adelaide-Alice Springs-Darwin), Overland (Melbourne-Adelaide) and Indian Pacific (Sydney-Adelaide-Perth) rail journeys. The latter is reputed to be the only transcontinental train linking two oceans in the world.

In particular The Ghan, which takes its name from 19th Century Afghan camel drivers who helped explore the interior, is an increasingly popular venue for incentive organisers, according to Damien Wolff, Business Development Manager – Groups and Niche for Great Southern Rail.

The train traverses the continent from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs on a three-day, two-night journey,and Great Southern Rail works with Australia’s Northern Territory Convention Bureau to develop special rail-and-land itineraries for incentive groups travelling the route.

The offers are in respect of the train’s “Platinum” offer, the highest level of service aboard which includes a private cabin with double or twin bedding, en-suite bathroom, in-room breakfast if you want it, all meals and beverages as well as a variety of off-train excursions centred mostly around Katherine and Alice Springs.

The Platinum club lounge (pictured) can be arranged as an exclusive space when all the Platinum cabins are booked by a group, says Damien. There’s a discrete lounge area for meetings as well as a flexible dining room.

“The Ghan has scheduled stops that include Katherine, where you can take a cruise along Nitmiluk Gorge or a helicopter flight, and Alice Springs where guests can take a walking tour of Simpsons Gap, visit the fantastic Alice Springs desert park or a tour on camels,” Damien says.

A typical itinerary put together by the NT Convention Bureau and incorporating a ride on The Ghan can look something like this:

DAY ONE

Arrive at Alice Springs. Visit a local gallery and lunch with Indigenous artists. Take a bike ride, meet local wildlife at the Alice Springs desert park or play eighteen holes on a desert course. Dinner is a barbecue at the foot of the Eastern MacDonnell Ranges. Entertainment includes a cattleman’s demonstration and line-dancing.

DAY TWO

Early hot-air balloon flight followed by champagne breakfast. Visit Simpsons Gap for lunch created by an Indigenous chef, followed by a guided walk through the National Park. Dine and be entertained at the Cultural Precinct theatre in the evening.

DAY THREE

Fly to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and check into an eco-sensitive resort. Options include a Harley Davidson ride around Uluru or participation in a dot-painting workshop. A ride on desert camels sets the scene for a dinner finale under the stars.

DAY FOUR

Take a cultural guided walk around Uluru. Enjoy some poolside time or get off the beaten track with an offroad four-wheel drive experience. (Trips can include a night at Kings Canyon with a degustation dinner under the stars and a helicopter ride.)

DAY FIVE

Board The Ghan. Settle in and take in the views of the outback with a glass of Australian wine in hand. Liaise with colleagues.

DAY SIX

In the morning explore the Nitmiluk Gorge in Katherine. Cruise along ancient waterways be inspired by Aboriginal art and dreamtime stories. Enjoy restaurant-quality lunch back on board before arriving in Darwin that evening.

Platinum from AUD $2,549

In the high season from April to November, Ghan “Platinum” fares per person are advertised on its website as AUD 2,549 from Adelaide to Alice Springs or vice versa, or from Alice Springs to Darwin or vice versa. (Low season: AUD 2,289). High season Platinum fares from Adelaide to Darwin or vice versa are AUD 3,699 per person.

Platinum cabins are almost twice the size of the train’s Gold Twin arrangements and by day can be configured as a private lounge with lounge seating, a table and two ottomans. By night the lounges convert to double or twin beds. Vegetarian, kids’ and special meals are available when making bookings. The Platinum Service fare includes breakfasts, two-course lunches and three-course dinners.

See more at www.greatsouthernrail.com.au.

Or contact Damien Wolff at Damien.wolff@gsr.com.au.

Inhabitants of Wollongong, the mid-sized coastal city 80 kilometres south of Sydney, talk proudly about their town as New South Wales’s best-kept secret. I should know, I lived there for a year.

On my return to the city for the first time in a decade recently, I took a walk along the broad, clean stretch of sand in front of the Novotel Wollongong Northbeach Hotel, flanked on either side by pines and sparkling water, and was reminded that the folks who live there have a point.

There wasn’t much traffic on nearby roads and the city has a kind of airy, leafy spaciousness, with the flats near the foreshore – along what’s colloquially known as Wollongong’s “blue mile” – invariably low-rise and looking new. It was a warm autumn afternoon, but there were only a handful of strollers on the beach and swimmers in the water. A few lounged at a beachfront café, taking it easy.

Not surprisingly, the operators of the four-and-a-half-star Novotel Wollongong Northbeach, which has been in the Accor family for over 20 years, see their location as a great asset and make good use of it. Touted as the only beachfront hotel in the city, it arranges events and weddings in 14 multi-function rooms and sprawling exhibition space, many of which have views of the sea. All the 204 guestrooms either have direct or oblique ocean views. The hotel has begun a refurbishment of the rooms, which is being completed in stages.

Its main rooftop deck, looking northwards over the beach, has a retractable roof, so it can be used for dinners, networking functions and weddings and parties in any weather, while one of its main eateries, Pepe’s, for example, is a great spot for guests to dine, relax and enjoy splendid water views.

“The beach in front of the hotel is patrolled 365 days a year which is another bonus,” says Associate Director of Sales Rachael Lihou (pictured above). “It also lends itself well to team-building activities, which our events staff can support by recommending local companies to assist clients – like yoga or tai chi on the beach, paddle-boarding or other team sports.”

There’s much else to do in Wollongong and surrounds as well, Rachael points out, from adventure sports like sky-diving, winery tours and golf at beautiful courses nearby.

“One of the key points I make when organisers are considering Wollongong and our destination is that it’s all easily accessible from Sydney, just an hour’s drive from Sydney airport,” she says. “The team at Novotel Wollongong Northbeach are flexible and always willing to go the extra mile to make the experience memorable.”

The hotel can host a variety of events or conferences up to 600 delegates in its ballroom, and guests can take advantage of spacious pre-function areas and outdoor terraces. It has a designated conferencing level with meetings and events spaces located on one floor, making it easy for delegates to move between sessions and breakouts.

“The majority of our conference clients are from Sydney; however we do have conferences that attract international delegates,” says Rachael. “For example we’ve just finished hosting an event for the Australian Coal Preparation Society, with around 200 delegates. We’re aware that events held at the hotel don’t just assist our property, but other companies in the region and we work very closely with all local businesses.”

Complete meeting package from AUD 75

Novotel Wollongong Northbeach’s complete meeting packages start from $75 per person for a full day. “But we’re flexible,” says Rachael, “and packages can be tailored to meet clients’ requirements.”

To find out more, check out the property’s meetings site here.

Or email H1654-sb3@accor.com.

If you’re arranging an event overseas, plan for everything that could conceivably go belly-up – before you get on the plane, train, automobile or ship. That’s the heartfelt advice from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

In an interview with The Siteseer in March, a DFAT spokesperson outlined fresh crisis planning guidelines for events organisers. And PCOs ignore them at their peril, she warns, pointing to instances in which operators have failed to do due basic diligence – in their planning or when considering how to respond to crisis situations effectively – with dire consequences.

At worst these situations can lead to employees and clients being left to fend for themselves in dangerous situations. Equally as bad, the damage to reputation caused by the performance of personnel when plans are derailed in a crisis can put the business’s existence in jeopardy, she says. “A mishandled crisis response can severely impact a company’s reputation.”

On the other hand, good planning and a willingness to communicate and act decisively can help. The spokesperson points to a tour operator in Africa who was involved in an incident that resulted in injuries and fatalities. Awful as it was, it could have been even worse. The operators’ staff took full responsibility for managing the situation – liaising with family members, monitoring their clients’ treatment and organising transfers to better equipped hospitals as soon as possible.

“They were able to respond quickly as they knew local emergency response arrangements and understood their limitations,” says the DFAT spokesperson. “And one of the key elements that facilitated the speed of their response was the mandatory requirement for their clients to have travel insurance.”

The tour company had good communication links with key people and had developed strong relationships with insurance providers so they were able to liaise with them quickly and effectively for support. They’d also established a direct line of contact with the Australian embassy. This strategy meant stakeholders were kept informed at all times, and they released media statements early, outlining the action they’d taken, which helped provide comfort.

The story demonstrates, yet again, that events planners need to know who to contact on the ground locally and in Australia if a crisis unfolds. Establish clear lines of communication that are clearly understood ahead of time – as well as backup options if a crisis results in communication “outages,” the spokesperson advises.

“The greatest value of contingency management isn’t only gained from the final plan, but also from the process of developing it. It allows the organisation to consider risks, how they’ll mitigate them and how they’ll respond, and importantly, to test their assumptions. [It means] employees will have a better understanding of response arrangements and what their roles are in a crisis.

“In our experience [when interacting with companies], it becomes immediately evident which organisations have embedded crisis response planning in their day-to-day business activities.”

DFAT provides up-to-date practical advice through its Smartraveller website, smartraveller.gov.au, and there’s a specific page for business travellers.

“All travel carries risks, even short-term travel to familiar overseas locations for meetings and conferences,” she adds. “Businesses should develop well-considered emergency plans based on an all-hazards approach that takes into account the full range of scenarios that could affect their employees and clients.

“I encourage MICE organisers to subscribe to the Smartraveller business travellers page and keep themselves informed.”

With all-in costs of $200 to $300 per person per day, demand for dedicated conference space on P&O’s two latest ships, to begin operating in Australasian waters from late 2015, is already booming, say the company’s marketing spokespeople.

For instance 20 bookings and one charter are confirmed for 2016 for Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, which start their down-under itineraries in November this year, says the company’s Corporate Groups Sales Manager Peta Torkington (below).

“We’re seeing great figures though our MICE team was only established fairly recently,” says Peta. “It means at some point we’ll run out of availability and we’ll be pushing people through to 2017 and beyond.”

That’s a vindication for P&O’s decision to target the events sector as a potential new growth segment, based on shorter cruises, with the theme of “leave earth for your next conference”.

The decision is supported, too, by the company’s efforts to make onboard experiences more appealing and contemporary for leisure and events guests alike, says Peta. This is reflected in the food on offer in, for example, a new dining concept known as The Pantry (pictured at the end of the story), a move away from the traditional cruise practice of carrying a loaded tray round a buffet.

Food market afloat

Designed as a kind of food market afloat, it’s a discrete eating area onboard with eight serving outlets providing fare ranging from Indian and Malaysian to a carvery and fish and chips. Pacific Jewel recently became the first of the line’s ships to offer this, following a multi-million-dollar refit.

Other program additions include a revamped entertainment line-up, “Gatsby” evenings, and team-building activities like P&OEdge, an adventure program at sea that lets you climb, swing, jump and race your way through the ship, as these intrepid climbers, below, are doing.

“It’s not all bingo and buffets,” says Peta. “It’s modernising what the cruise experience is about. The new entertainment and food options dovetail with our MICE offering because delegates can be involved with the same theme night events and, for larger groups, private themed functions. We can tailor experiences for any group, from gala dinners to welcome drinks and team-building.”

Such flexibility helps belie the “Butlin’s Holiday Camp” perception some people may have about cruising, she adds. Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria – beautiful former Holland America ships – carry a maximum of 1,500 passengers so they’re almost boutique-like.

“Meetings on ships have been happening with our whole fleet of course, but the options have been for flexible conferencing, because the venues had to be shared with other passengers. I think having a dedicated true conferencing space with a theatre and break-out areas that delegates can use all day is the key reason we’re now of particular interest to events planners.”

How does this work in practice? The conference area is located on one deck and in one area of each ship, positioned so there’s no need for other passengers to enter it. Each vessel can cater for groups of up to 200 delegates this way.

Meantime feedback from clients who’ve already sailed is uniformly bullish, with many, like Cheryl Slender, executive assistant to the CEO of Aerocare Flight Support, saying it’s the best conference they’ve had and they’ll do it again. “We’ve been to many hot and cold locations but the P&O cruise was the most successful,” says Cheryl.

Kim Badawi, marketing coordinator at The Pops Group, says much the same thing. “The feedback from our 180 conference attendees has been exceptional,” says Kim.

Luxury at $200 to $300 per day

The most popular P&O cruises for MICE travellers are the short-break three- to four-nighters, which represent outstanding value compared with conferencing at a hotel, says Peta. “It costs between $200 and $300 per person per day for a three-to four-night conference cruise, and that’s all-inclusive: three meals a day, the conference venue including AV, absolutely everything.”

For a virtual tour of Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2x6IcjQGqw

More info:

www.pocruises.com.au

mice@pocruises.com.au

Hotel operators and events organisers who don’t actively encourage tourists from mainland China could miss out on the opportunity of the century, especially in the luxury and “super-luxury” end of the market.

That’s evident from this year’s Chinese International Travel Monitor, recently released by online booking giant Hotels.com.

One of the revelations in the 2015 edition, the fourth, of the annual report into China outbound tourism is the growing financial muscle of the top 10% of spenders.

On average they shell out RMB 13,800 (AUD 2,817) a day, more than four times the spend of the average Chinese outbound traveller. But the top 5% spend even more: an astonishing RMB 20,896 (AUD 4,265) a day – indicating the emergence of a “super-luxury” class of traveller.

“Hotels.com’s latest report is a reminder for countries like Australia to pull out all stops to accommodate Chinese travellers and tailor their services for this market, as the potential is huge,” says Katherine Cole, Regional Director, Australia, New Zealand & Singapore for Hotels.com.

Katherine does not exaggerate. According to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecast, outbound Chinese travellers could number 174 million in four years’ time, spending about US$264 billion annually. That compares with around 107 million travellers in 2014. The forecast revenue is roughly equivalent to the GDP of a developed country like Singapore. “Clearly, the Chinese dragon is still building steam,” says Abhiram Chowdhry, Vice President and Managing Director APAC for the Hotels.com brand.

Australia came out on top, for the second year in a row, as the most desired destination for Chinese travellers to visit in the next 12 months. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were named among the world’s top 10 cities they intend to visit.

Millennials’ growing influence

The report reveals the growing influence of Gen Y travellers, tech-savvy “millennials” aged 18 to 35. Fifty-nine per cent of hoteliers surveyed say they’ve experienced an increase in Chinese guestsaged 35 or under in the past year and they expect this trend to continue.

Meantime the use of mobile phones for planning and booking travel has skyrocketed. In the past 12 months, 80% of Chinese travellers used an online device including mobiles, desktops and laptops to plan and book, compared with only 53% last year.

The top three countries they actually visited last year were the US, Thailand and Hong Kong. The top 10% of spenders paid an average of 2,723 RMB (AUD556) per night on hotels alone.

Top 10 countries Chinese travellers say they would like to visit in the next 12 months

Rank	Country
1	Australia
2	Japan
3	France
4	Hong Kong
5	South Korea
6	US
7	Maldives
8	Germany
9	Thailand
10	Taiwan

To read the full report, visit www.CITM2015.com.

In a world in which clients expect more and more, events industry professionals must stay connected to gain the insights they need to feed a winning strategy, says the General Manager of Business Events Australia. In this interview with the Siteseer, Penny Lion discusses the challenges and opportunities involved in selling Australia, the rise of China and the need, now more than ever, for meaningful communication.

Siteseer: How do you differentiate your marketing strategies from the rest of the world’s?

Penny Lion: It’s what brings us to work every day! We’re always trying to do something different. In this day and age the tourism business is so competitive, and within the business events sector it’s even more so because it’s high-yield and everybody wants their share. It’s also quite a fast-paced industry.

So if you bring out a brand-ad campaign or embark on a particular trade or marketing strategy, it’s not long before it gets noticed and followed. How do you manage that? For Tourism Australia the focus is always on what will make a difference for the customer, about thinking and knowing what it’s like to be an events planner, or a corporate or association congress decision maker. You’ve got to keep your ear to the ground and stay connected, and always deliver to their needs.

SS: Do you do that better than the opposition?

PL: I believe so, though we can always do better. Tourism Australia is widely seen as punching above its weight, and that applies to Australia in general. Our competitors at big trade shows come up to us and say they watch what we’re doing and think we do it extremely well, which is a great compliment.

Our work isn’t rocket science; we apply good old-fashioned business sense to what we do and in positioning Australia. Also, Australia is unique, though that word is often over-used. It has an incredible array of attractions.

Much of our job is to convert latent demand, because we pitch in at number one or two on everyone’s bucket list. From a corporate incentive point of view, coming to a long-haul destination is perceived to be problematic, and [there are factors like] lack of annual leave or other perceptions that make people wonder whether coming to Australia is the right thing.

SS: So how do you overcome the perception Australia is a long-haul destination, and an expensive one?

PL: When you think about barriers to entry, time difference and cost are the things people obviously look at when they’ve got budgets and time frames to manage. But the key is always proving the business case, and we know Australia delivers and adds tremendous value. When events visitors get on the aircraft they may realise it’s not as onerous a journey as they’d first imagined. And once they’re here the experience is great. No one ever leaves Australia saying it was so far away. They go home saying it was the most memorable experience they’ve had.

That’s what we’re trying to deliver on, the emotional connect we’re looking for. We can’t change where we are.

SS: Do you think Australia unfailingly delivers a great experience?

PL: I do, across the board. It’s stating the obvious perhaps, but it’s a multi-destination country. People might come as first-time visitors to an event in Sydney, and connect with the Whitsundays. The next time they might go to Perth and Darwin. There are so many experiences, and they can have variety, time and again.

People are incredibly important in this equation, and Australians generally are down to earth, and we don’t over-promise and under-deliver. When business tourists get here they find we’re also people who don’t say no very often. We make it happen. Decision makers and competitors in the business events industry around the world see that, and it’s a big tick.

SS: You don’t believe there’s a perception that its infrastructure and hotels sometimes don’t match what Asia has to offer, for example?

PL: I think what’s happening across China, in particular, is incredible. The size of their infrastructure – how can anybody really compete with that? But in Australia there’s been strong investment over the past few years. Hotels have been popping up, and they’re differentiated. They’re not all five-star. Some are quite unusual in the boutique experiences they offer. In Brisbane, for example, some of the new hotels are quirky, with beautiful artworks from local artists. It’s a different experience.

Beyond that every capital city has been building new infrastructure as part of our Tourism 2020 strategy, ensuring that, with the industry, we’re introducing additional dollar investment, more hotels and more air capacity. That’s been happening across the board. The convention centres, too, have been undergoing big improvements.

SS: Well nearly every major Asian city has or is building a congress centre. How challenging is it for Australia to lure business to our own?

PL: It’s not just every Asian city, it’s every city in the world. It’s seen as a high-yield sector. In Nigeria recently an incredible convention centre opened. Just about everybody now has one, and new infrastructure is constantly being created. Where I believe Australia does incredibly well is in the fact that we have outstanding convention facilities that are mostly within walking distance of city centres. Think about Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne; the facilities are in the heart of the city.

One of my colleagues in America recently had to commute between a hotel in a city and its closest convention centre, and it took two hours each way. We don’t have that problem. Also, the food and beverage offering we have in our convention centres is outstanding, as are the AV and other services. You don’t get the same holistic services in many others around the world.

SS: Are you happy with the new Sydney convention centre that’s taking shape?

PL: Absolutely. It has attractions like open-air-events spaces, and again from a proximity-to-the-city aspect, it provides so many options.

SS: How can industry assist Tourism Australia in creating more awareness of the key selling points of our destination?

PL: Our job as a national tourism organisation is to promote Australia overseas, to increase consideration of the destination. But in the business-events space, decision makers need a lot more detail than those, for example, who might just be planning a holiday. The latter tend to do much of their own research. Decision makers and events planners are time-poor, so they need to be inspired and informed on a regular basis about what they can do in Australia.

Our job is to try to make it as easy as possible for them to do that. We assist by providing a lot of information on our website, digital comms and more.

What we need industry to do is feed us information. We’re always asking for what we call new news. If there’s a hotel that has a new rooftop space or brilliant new F&B menu, an event agency that’s come up with a new theme, or a production agency that has new AV technology that can be on-sold, or there’s a new city walking tour, we need to know.

We’re encouraging industry to send such news to us regularly. It can be just news bites, a few sentences; it doesn’t always need to be well-crafted PR releases. Then we can pick up the phone and talk to people, and if it’s appropriate, push out to the international market. It’s a free PR service really!

SS: Is it hard to get that kind of communication happening?

PL: Yes, industry is busy. The tourism game is infamous for working hard. It’s not front of mind for them to consider new ideas for Tourism Australia. However some are very good about contacting us, and we have a member of our team who’s out and about and meets with industry and reminds them about what we’re looking for. And our newsletters remind people to stay in touch. It’s our job to make sure Australian industry know what we’re doing and how we can help them and their businesses if they are ready to market themselves internationally.

So that’s a takeout: contact us with information! Email me direct at plion@tourism.australia.com and my colleagues and I can follow up.

SS: Have you witnessed any significant change in business since the Australian dollar was closer in value to the US$?

PL: Our lead time for events is quite long, but if people want to come here, and they did this even when our dollar was stronger, they make it happen. If they had ten thousand dollars to spend, they’d come to Australia with that amount. They mightn’t have done all they wanted, but they still came. Now their ten thousand dollars goes further.

It’s not within our control though. There’s nothing we can do about [fluctuating currency]. We’ve just got to sell the emotional side of the experience.

SS: Is Tourism Australia focusing more on China as a prime source of business for the short and long term?

PL: It’s not the only focus but it is a key one. We’re working towards our target of delivering more than $115 billion in international tourism expenditure by the year 2020, and China will contribute $13 billion of that. When you think about all the countries whose people travel here, it’s a major chunk. You have the rise of the middle class in China, we’re the closest Western destination, and there’s hardly a time difference. Yet it’s our landscape, fresh air and blue skies they love most.

Bear in mind though that it’s not just Australia that’s looking to China. Every other destination now has offices there. We have a great team of experts who work in that market, and good research on the customer to inform our activity.

SS: That clean and green aspect, how important is it?

PL: If you travel to Shanghai or Beijing, what can look to be a foggy day is often smog. We had a group from China in Sydney recently and hosted them for lunch at a venue with a city aspect. They couldn’t believe it was winter; it was a balmy nineteen degrees, the sun was shining and they couldn’t get over how clear the air was. They loved it.

I should add that the maturity of Chinese business events travellers today is remarkable. I remember sitting down some years ago with a group when they first came to Australia. They didn’t have much English and didn’t really understand our country. Fast forward and they’re all speaking English, and they “get” us. The connection seems to have happened fast, and it represents a fabulous opportunity.

SS: Do Chinese business events visitors increasingly have expectations about services tailored to their needs, like menus in their own language?

PL: This is something Australian businesses should be thinking about. It’s going to be a key market, and therefore a key consideration is providing information in language. Visitors want to turn on the TV in their hotel room and get Mandarin or Cantonese programs, or simply have a Chinese option on the breakfast buffet. Having said that, I don’t think the Chinese expect quite as much as they used to. They seem to be more accepting of Western ideas, accepting that in Australia you’re not going to get much of a true Chinese experience. That’s why they travel.

Language is key to culture, however, and while Tourism Australia works in so many markets, we knew we needed a dedicated website written in Mandarin and hosted within China to ensure an excellent user experience. This is key to communicating effectively with the Chinese market; we’ve even factored in how they digest and navigate web pages.

SS: What other significant changes are happening in the industry in your view?

PL: I speak to a lot of people on a regular basis, and they’re telling me how different the landscape is. It used to be that a convention bureau might put together a simple proposal about what hotel product might be available and what the centre space might be. Now, clients expect more, much more. We have to factor in, for example, what priority sectors are important, or how associations overseas can align with experts in science or health.

There’s more emphasis today on connecting people. We have strong pillars for Australia in our people, products and places. That’s so important for industry, to make sure it isn’t just about offering logistics. Increasingly, research shows that, from an events perspective, business people want to connect and understand more about Australia.

That means when they come here they don’t want to be stuck in conference rooms all the time, they want to go out and experience the country and its people. Our industry has to get better at putting together programs that do that. The point is, how do they go a step above and differentiate themselves from New Zealand, Singapore, Fiji and elsewhere?

Moreover part our job [in relation to] industry is to be able to say, if you’re unsure, particularly if you’re delving into the international marketplace, get in contact, because we have insights into what works and what doesn’t, and how you can nuance messaging for international markets.

Even if they’re doing a test-and-learn into a market they’re thinking about working in, we can provide platforms for industry to attend as participants, such as our showcases, or events like the IMEX trade shows. That’s really important too.

PENNY INSIGHTS

As General Manager of Business Events Australia, a division of Tourism Australia, Penny Lion is responsible for raising awareness of her country as a business events destination and helping persuade decision makers to visit it. In her previous role she was General Manager for UK/Europe at corporate events management agency CI Events. She has been in her current position at Tourism Australia – a government authority tasked with the promotion of the country as an international tourism destination – since 2010.