Reach and price: Cebu Pacific’s winning edge

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The Philippine low-cost airline Cebu Pacific, the largest carrier in the islands flying to almost all Asian capital cities, is increasingly making a name for itself as a player in the events market, offering competitive discounts for groups of a minimum of 15 people.

And the airline – a subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines – is flexible and open to receiving approaches from MICE organisers.

“Any PCO or event manager organising an event in the islands, whether it’s a familiarisation trip, conference or incentive should contact our corporate booking office to discuss their requirements in more detail,” says Atty JR Mantaring (pictured, left), Cebu Pacific’s Vice President for Corporate Affairs.

“Cebu Pacific stands out in the industry because of our extensive reach, offering low-cost services and a safe and fun travel experience to the widest selection of destinations across the country,” he says. “And we do it more frequently than any other airline, making the Philippines a really accessible gateway.”

Sydney-Manila from AUD 199

The airline works hard to offer low fares all year round, but also has many good ‘ad hoc’ sales. For example a recent deal offered Sydney to Manila flights, all in, for just AUD 199.

As a quick glance at the website confirms, the airline has established a big variety of routes within the Philippines and Asia, connecting airports through its six major hubs: Manila, Clark, Cebu, Davao, Kalibo and Iloilo. “Having multiple routes and flights allows us to offer the most competitive fares; it lets people save on the flight and splurge on the destination,” says Atty Mantaring.

Like more and more successful enterprises, Cebu Pacific incorporates the use of social media as an intrinsic part of its marketing campaigns. Recently, for instance, it launched its ‘Beach Bum Academy,’ offering prizes of all-expenses-paid holidays by the beach in partnership with the Department of Tourism Philippines, Henann Resort and Plantation Bay Resort and Spa.

To enter the competition, participants had to post a 30- to 60-second video of themselves on a social platform and share the link via the Cebu Pacific Beach Bums entry form. Atty Mantaring sees this kind of promotion as crucial for almost any business these days. “We understand guests love sharing their views and experiences online,” he says, “so we encourage them to engage with us on multiple platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.”

In other news, Cebu Pacific is adding new ATR 72-600 aircraft (left) to its fleet of 60-plus planes. It offers a better passenger experience thanks to its larger cabin and additional seating capacity to support even lower fares, he says.

“We’ll progressively replace our current fleet of eight ATR 72-500s, configured with 72 seats, with the fleet of 16 new ATR 72-600s which have 78 seats. Deliveries 600s will run through until 2020.”

The airline has just opened an office in Korea, which it believes will strengthen its international appeal in the Asia-Pacific, he adds.

The latest seat sales can be found on Cebu Pacific’s official Twitter (@CebuPacificAir) and Facebook pages. For bookings and inquiries, visit www.cebupacificair.com or call the reservation hotline at +612 9119 2956.

Tourism and business events operators should realise that Australia’s first-world facilities, clean environment and friendly people collectively represent a magnificent advantage, says the MD of Tourism Australia.

Siteseer: You’re on record recently as saying that tourism is growing faster than the Australian economy. Does the same apply, in your view, to business tourism and the events industry?

John O’Sullivan: Australian tourism continues to go from strength to strength and is growing three times faster than the Australian economy overall. Our industry has a shared long-term goal to grow overnight visitor expenditure, currently at $97.1 billion, to more than $115 billion annually by the end of the decade as part of the Tourism 2020 plan. Business events are obviously a key contributor to the visitor economy – and for our long-term goals for growth, with the average traveller for business events spending three times as much as a leisure visitor.

All indications from our industry point to robust demand for Australia. In particular we know of a number of large incentive program [organisers] from China who have recently chosen Australia for their events, including NuSkin and Amway.

SS: Are you satisfied that aviation capacity is sufficient to meet demand for inbound business?

JOS: Aviation capacity is vital for an island nation like Australia. In fact it was identified that Australia’s international aviation seat capacity would need to grow by 40% to 50% and domesticwould need a 20% to 30% increase to achieve our Tourism 2020 targets. Already we’ve achieved 66% of the growth needed, tracking 10% ahead of the original forecast growth.

This is a consequence of having a very strong aviation development focus – to increase capacity and services on existing routes and to support the introduction of new routes. We’ve seen significant aviation growth out of a number of markets, notably China, and the opening of new routes such as the recently introduced Singapore-to-Canberra services by Singapore Airlines, which help foster international business to the city.

SS: Do you believe Australian hotels and meetings facilities represent good value for money for local and international events and incentive organisers?

JOS: Yes, an Australian-held business event delivers above and beyond the expectations of planners, time and time again. Our industry’s ability to tailor-make itineraries and events, together with our exceptional facilities, unique wildlife and excellent food and wine combine to provide great value for money for incentive planners.

Alongside this, as part of the Tourism 2020 strategy, there is strong focus attracting tourism investment. Tourism Australia works in partnership with Austrade to this end, to ensure we have adequate accommodation and facilities in Australia to [cater for] the increasing numbers of international visitors to our shores.

SS: What, in relation to the MICE sector specifically, do you regard as some of TA’s most significant recent achievements?

JOS: For the association market we’ve recently been highlighting Australia’s knowledge sectors and innovative people through our content strategy. And we’re seeing some great feedback on this from international buyers. We recently launched Australia Innovates, the magazine which brings these stories together, at IMEX America to strong interest. In the incentive space, we held our Dreamtime showcase in Adelaide in December 2015, hosting over 100 international business events buyers and media and demonstrating why there’s nothing like Australia for business events. The show was a great success, reaching over 25 million people through media coverage, and [generating] several confirmed pieces of business for Australia.

SS: The new International Convention Centre Sydney has been the subject of much publicity. How important is it for the industry and Australia generally?

JOS: The ICC Sydney, on track to open in December 2016, is significant and will assist in attracting future business events to Sydney and Australia. In fact it will be crucial to Australia’s business events future and help us to succeed, with its offering of the largest exhibition space in Australia and an international convention centre that can collectively host more than 12,000 delegates. The entire precinct has been revitalised with new retail and dining facilities, public spaces plus new hotels in the pipeline. That’s also going to generate huge benefit for Australia.

SS: You’re well-known for using social media successfully; how effective has this been, in your view, and what key lessons have you and your colleagues have learned in this respect that might be useful for events organisers?

JOS: We’ve successfully used social media to engage with the leisure travel market through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter along with WeChat and Sina Weibo.

From an events perspective we’ve used social media for delegates to share their experiences of our events such as the Australian Tourism Exchange, for the leisure sector, and Dreamtime, for the business events sector, while also using it to share our news announcements from these events with delegates and a wider audience. LinkedIn, too, has been a great tool for business event [organisers] to share insights and information with stakeholders. The key thing we’ve learned is really about making the content relevant to the audience, and inspiring.

SS: There’s been much publicity recently (such as the hotels.com annual survey) about the stellar growth in China tourism. What do Chinese MICE travellers like best about Australia and what should operators be doing to engage them effectively?

JOS: They enjoy Australia’s beauty, in particular our natural environments and their proximity to urban centres. Australia’s seafood and wine, as well as the quality and variety of our food offering, are highly valued by Chinese travellers. Our wildlife, clear open skies and friendly people also appeal. Relationships are key in the China market. It’s important to invest the time and energy to develop these in order to operate effectively and grow your business.

JOHN INSIGHTS

As Managing Director of the nation’s global tourism marketing agency, John is responsible for driving Tourism Australia’s strategies to increase demand for Australian tourism experiences and grow the sector. John joined Tourism Australia in March 2014. He was previously Chief Operating Officer of Fox Sports, and has held executive positions with Events Queensland (Chief Executive) and Football Federation Australia (Chief Commercial Officer), as well as with the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee.

More info: www.tourism.australia.com

The first striking feature visitors note when entering the lobby of the ibis Styles hotel at Bali Kuta Circle is a startling angular swimming pool, which seems to be suspended in air. Closer examination shows that it is.

Guests can walk under the pool, supported by pillars, and through glass windows set into the bottom, and swimmers can peer down to the floor below. Flanked by a cute bar and small but well-equipped gym, the pool is set in a quadrangle between white-painted and balconied hotel rooms rising several floors above the waterline.

Accor’s ibis Styles group of 141 hotels, comprising the chain formerly known as All Seasons (rebranded in 2012), gives the lie to the old Ibis image of a basic hostelry with plastic shower cubicle, cell-like room and vending machines dispensing food and drinks. This is a transformed offering.

The corporate undertaking is to ensure each ibis Styles establishment has a different design and offers a resort or boutique-style experience.

Despite its not-too-snappy name of ibis Styles Bali Kuta Circle, this property, one of three “Styles”-branded hotels on the Indonesian holiday isle, has a bright, breezy, welcoming feel. It’s well-maintained and its public areas, like the room interiors, are painted in vivid colours. That, along with the sharp, colourful uniforms of the staff help impart a young, go-getter branding.

The hotel is in a busy business area adjacent to a mall, ten minutes from the airport and a brief, two-kilometre cab hop to the restaurants and buzz of Kuta Beach, Legian and Seminyak. It has a restaurant, “internet corner” and shuttle service.

The 190 rooms have good airconditioning, important in Bali, and include 32-square-metre loft duplexes designed to accommodate up to four. All rooms have king-size beds, safe deposit boxes, mini bars, hairdryers and free wifi internet access. Family rooms, also 32 squares, can accommodate the same number.

Online room rates start at around AUD 50, and include a full breakfast. Meeting packages start at around AUD 24 for a half day, including lunch, AUD 30 per person for a full day, or AUD 43 for full-board meetings, including two coffee breaks, lunch and dinner. Also thrown in are welcome drinks, free internet and discounts of up to 20% in the on-site spa.

There are two meeting rooms of 101 square metres and 83 square metres, able to accommodate up to 100 and 80 respectively in a theatre configuration. They have the AV, digital, wifi and other bells and whistles that come standard with vastly higher-priced facilities in other properties.

Interestingly, the group has embraced green principles, with flow regulators on taps, recycling of food waste for compost or energy, promoting of local food in the restaurant and in-room recycling. It’s also involved in a program to protect local children.

More info: Email H8118-RE1@accor.com

Or visit

http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-8118-ibis-styles-bali-kuta-circle/index.shtml

Arriving at 11pm at the Hotel Santika Siligita in Bali, tired after a long flight, the immediate signs aren’t too appealing: a driveway with security guard off a busy thoroughfare in Nusa Dua, and a tiled lobby mostly deserted. At reception, a woman is complaining loudly to a staff member that a driver had tried to rip her off. Obligingly he orders her another cab.

It’s when I wake next morning and wander down to breakfast that I’m reminded again how pleasant it is to visit southeast Asia, especially Bali.

A large, high-ceilinged breakfast terrace served by smiling staff in traditional Balinese gear looks out over an enormous blue swimming pool surrounded by walled tropical gardens of lawns, frangipani trees and shrubbery. On one side, a sign emblazoned with “Uluwatu Spa” beckons. I could relax here.

Breakfast is a feast with a bewildering choice, from fresh papaya and other local fruits to an omelette station and western fare, with eclectic Asian choices including braised or fried chilli fish, curried chicken, nasi goreng, stuffed cabbage, salads, pastries and much else.

The three-star Hotel Santika Siligita is set near the centre of Nusa Dua, a MICE hub in Bali. It’s 30 minutes’ drive from the airport and about five minutes by free shuttle bus to good beaches and shopping. It has 153 rooms with high-speed wifi connection – something that some higher-priced chains, like Hilton, still, incredibly, don’t offer non-member guests – tea- and coffee-making facilities, safe deposit box, LCD TV and cable channels.

The hotel itself includes six well-equipped meeting rooms, and full banquet facilities are available for larger gatherings and special events.

“We’re part of a strong local company that has over forty very reasonably priced hotels throughout Indonesia,“ says Ni Wayan Yoni (pictured, above), Assistant Sales Manager for the Hotel Santika Siligita Nusa Dua.

“We recently hosted a five-day conference for a business group of 70 people here very successfully, and we can easily accommodate up to 140 people theatre-style.”

The half-day rate including lunches is USD 23, for a full day it’s USD 35, and for full board that includes lunch and dinner it’s USD 40. And even these rates are subject to negotiation, says Wayan Yoni. The online room rate starts from USD 29 a night, including breakfast, which, notwithstanding the value-for-money reputation of many Asian three-star hotels, is reasonable indeed.

Meetings clients are roughly split between local and international groups, with a significant number of MICE visitors from Singapore, Korea, China, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Australia, she says.

The Santika hotel group includes two-star Amaris properties, three-star Santika branded hotels and Santika Premier hotels which incorporate a collection of four-star properties. The Royal Collection is a brand of boutique Villa properties under the Samaya and Kayana brands.

More info: sales@siligitabali.santika.com, and at

http://www.santika.com/indonesia/bali/hotel-santika-siligita-nusa-dua-bali/

Geoff Donaghy (pictured, below), CEO of the new International Convention Centre Sydney, which opens in December, talks to The Siteseer about the imminent opening of a vast state-of-the-art precinct that will help pump billions into a nation’s economy.

Siteseer: It’s been much heralded; but why is ICC Sydney so important for the events industry in Australia?

Geoff Donaghy: ICC Sydney will be Australia’s premier convention, exhibition and entertainment precinct, and will emphasise that Sydney is one of the world’s most desirable business event destinations. Over 340 events have now been secured at the $1.5-billion venue, which is expected to provide $5 billion in incremental economic benefit to New South Wales over the next 25 years.

The variety of facilities we offer will put ICC Sydney, and the city itself, at the top of the list for many event planners the world over. Indeed we expect it to play a pivotal role in increasing Australia’s market-share of the business events industry.

SS: But in an ever-more-competitive market, what really makes it special?

GD: It’s been built from the ground up on a 10 gigabits-per-second digital backbone, so it’s one of the most technologically advanced venues in the Asia Pacific. Moreover it’s the centrepiece of the 3.4-billion-Australian-dollar transformation of Darling Harbour, set over twenty hectares, that will help revitalise the way business events are delivered in Sydney.

The venue covers more than 200,000 square metres – three city blocks – and it’s flexible enough to allow for any number of space configurations. It will be capable of hosting three major conventions simultaneously with capacities of 2,500, 1,000 and 800 delegates, each with their own dedicated plenary, exhibition space, meeting rooms and catering areas. Plus there’s a dedicated support team to assist through every step of an event.

It also has 35,000 square metres of internal exhibition space, 70 meeting rooms, hospitality suites, a 2,000-seat ballroom – which is the biggest in Australia – and an impressive 5,000 square-metre open-air event deck with spectacular views.

On top of this it’ll be a major draw for entertainment seekers, as we have the ICC Sydney Theatre with 8,000 seats – 9,000 in GA mode – the Darling Harbour Theatre with 2,500 seats and Pyrmont Theatre with 1,000 seats – all of which will contribute to a terrific experience for delegates.

SS: Could you tell us a bit more about the venue-testing schedule?

GD: From the end of this month the centre will undergo three months of intensive operational testing to ensure it’s fully functioning to its world-class benchmark. This will have the added benefit of ensuring staff are trained in-situ for every type of event, as well as previewing the venue to businesses and local communities ahead of the official launch. This is a crucial phase because major international events, such as The Hunger Games: The Exhibition [celebrating the blockbuster Hunger Games movie franchise] are already contracted for the very first day of operation on 20 December.

SS: That sounds exciting – could you share some details with us about this and any other interesting events snagged for next year?

GD: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition will be an experience like none other. It’ll run for 45 days and immerse visitors in the inspirational story of the cult films’ heroine, Katniss Everdeen. It’s the largest build and installation in the first wave of exhibitions to be held at ICC Sydney. It’s also the first time this extraordinary event has taken place in Australia – all thanks to the exceptional facilities and flexible floor space we offer.

The Reed Gift Fairs, OZ Comic Con and Beauty Expo are among Reed Exhibitions’ events that are also gearing up for a huge season at the centre in 2017. Further down the track we’ll host other major business events including Sibos 2018, a world leading financial services event, and the robotics event RoboCup International Symposium and World Championship 2019.

Thanks to the broader entertainment offering at the integrated precinct, we’ll also host performances from international superstars Keith Urban, PJ Harvey and José Carreras.

SS: Your recruitment strategy has been the subject of interest. Could you tell us a bit about that?

GD: Our reputation precedes us. As an organisation we know that preparation and an unwavering commitment to setting world-class standards is key. At the heart of this is our people, who’ll define our offering. We’re currently on a comprehensive recruitment drive to fill 1,500 casual and 300 full-time roles.

Our specialist human resources team has dedicated more than 6,000 hours to recruit these vast numbers before the December opening. To streamline our approach, we’ve developed a specialised digital interviewing platform that allows us to “meet” candidates and assess their suitability for our job requirements and culture. This will save approximately 1,440 hours in group and one-on-one interviews.

SS: What’s the key selling point for Sydney, in your view? Where does the value lie for events visitors, mostly?

Sydney is Australia’s commercial powerhouse and the gateway to its distinguished research, scientific and technology communities. Over 600 multi-national companies run their Asia Pacific operations from here and the burgeoning ICT and digital economy in Australia is attracting even more international attention.

The new centre is pivotal to the unprecedented infrastructure revitalisation taking place that’s positioning the city as a global technology and innovation hub. Beyond this, our venue is located at the heart of all it has to offer. Sydney is a destination international travellers dream of visiting, offering sandy beaches and cultural icons. It’s also filled with green spaces and natural beauty spots with a great choice of outdoor music, theatre, art, history, dining and entertainment outlets.

Q: Are you mainly focusing on inbound business?

Not at all. The architectural design means we can cater to multiple events concurrently. As mentioned we can host three conventions concurrently and, depending on their size, we could also host several exhibitions and entertainment acts all in the same week.

We set our sights on the longer-lead, inbound events when the team first came together to market ICC Sydney more than two years ago. Now we have a strong pipeline of national business, public, B2B and B2C exhibitions, the full spectrum of the local market. On top of that, when the main 9,000 capacity-8,000 seat theatre isn’t hosting very large conventions, it’s doubling up as the city’s new heart of entertainment. Entertainment events are being booked in spaces across the venue.

Be assured, when you attend an event at ICC Sydney, you’ll be visiting a dynamic waterfront destination.

More info: sales@iccsydney.com, info@iccsydney.com

GEOFF INSIGHTS

In addition to his role at ICC Sydney, Geoff is Director of Convention Centres AEG Ogden and President of the Brussels-based International Association of Congress Centres. He is the latter’s representative on the Joint Meetings Industry Council.

Geoff’s extensive experience in the business events industry was born from his airline and hotel industry experience. He headed the Cairns region’s successful tourism and convention bureau for five years before managing the 1996 opening of the Cairns Convention Centre.

Geoff also served five years as Chairman of the Business Events Council of Australia. He has been awarded the Australia Centenary Medal by the Federal Government, the Australian industry’s Outstanding Contribution Award, and the Joint Meeting Industry Council’s Global Power and Profile Award.

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.

The Chief Executive of the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia is one of the most respected personalities in her industry. In this interview with The Siteseer, Joyce DiMascio shares her insights into the business she loves and lessons learned in her long and distinguished career.

Siteseer: What, in your view, are the key issues facing the industry? You’ve praised its resilience in the past: are you optimistic or otherwise now, and why?

Joyce DiMascio: Many issues impact the performance of the exhibition and events industry – in particular, the state of the economy and the performance of industry sectors within it. When business and consumer confidence is up or down, it directly impacts the sector. When technology, food and lifestyle sectors are up, so are the shows. When the industry category, say mining, is down, so are the mining-related events.

Government policy is also a driver. When you have investment in infrastructure, particularly in venues and transport, it sends a strong message to the events industry that the government values the contribution made by those who deliver events.

“There’s no value in squeezing the small suppliers to cut their margins, they’ll simply be put out of business. Organisers, venues and suppliers have to work together for the good of the whole industry.”

At present we’re seeing record investment in venues around the country, and fit-for-purpose infrastructure helps the industry to run outstanding events. With refreshed venues you get more efficient back-of -house and more satisfying front-of -house experiences for partners, exhibitors, delegates and visitors.

I’m optimistic about the future because our sector is very commercial and nimble. Organisers create new shows to replace under-performing ones. They create marketplaces where buyers and sellers can meet, or where enthusiasts can pursue their passion. This is at the heart of the value proposition of expos.

SS: What kind of additional support for the industry in Australia would you like to see?

JD: In Australia we’d like governments to continue to recognise the power of exhibitions to drive the economy, stimulate trade and investment, drive visits and stimulate employment. We’re getting much more traction at a political level and greater awareness of the importance of our sector, but it’s been a slow process. Business events certainly drive tourism, but they do much more [than just that] and we need governments to embrace the opportunity to make more use of trade and consumer expos, meetings, conferences and incentives more.

SS: What will the most successful operators be doing differently in future?

JD: Ultimately the trade or consumer show experience has to be rewarding for customers, whether they’re buyers, visitors or exhibitors. Commercial organisers or association organisers who listen to the customers and evolve their show experience to deliver what they want – they’re the ones who will succeed.

We also need strong partnerships between the organisers, venues and suppliers. All players need to prosper and do well. There’s no value in squeezing the small suppliers to cut their margins, they’ll simply be put out of business. Organisers, venues and suppliers have to work together for the good of the whole industry.

SS: Do Australian venues, generally, represent value for money for inbound business? What have we got that makes us special, and what should we be doing/building to stay a step ahead?

JD: Australian venues are generally very good and we have some outstanding facilities across the states and cities, though some could do with more investment to keep their facilities fit-for-purpose and stay competitive. Venues should consider their food and beverage services, wifi and AV, signage, transport access, back-of-house efficiencies, services, parking, weather-proofing, sound-proofing. These are all basic things fundamental to the operations of a good venue.

Our big convention and exhibition centres are outstanding, and this is recognised globally in the plethora of international awards presented to our venues. We work with them closely and find their capacity to deliver on our requirements to be outstanding. The EEAA holds about 30 events each year around the country. For our meetings and events they’ve all been very good.

SS: You have significant experience in the business, comms and government. What key lessons have you learned along the way that could be useful for PCOs reading this?

JD: I’ve worked in the most extraordinary roles throughout my career – privileged roles. I’ve also worked in a couple of truly awful places. My message is very simple – operate with professionalism always, invest in good staff, communicate openly, understand what’s driving your stakeholders. The thing that drives me most is my love for what I do. I always try to do my personal best every single time. That’s a value I promote with my staff as well. I do my best and I expect my staff to do the same always.

For PCOs and other organisers it’s really important that they build a strong partnership with their clients. They need to demonstrate a much deeper knowledge of the industry sector too. We know PCOs can organise events, but their remit needs to be much deeper. Their knowledge of the industry sector also needs to be outstanding so they can add value for their clients.

SS: There’s a strong need these days, obviously, for venues and business events to embrace CSR and social and environmental credentials. Where’s this trend heading, do you think, and what else should the industry be doing in this respect?

JD: Corporate social responsibility should be in the DNA of all companies; I prefer to call it “responsible business practice”. Australia has a good CSR track record in the business events sector and we continue to recognise its importance. However, we need to keep it on the agenda and not become complacent.

SS: How and why are you enjoying the job?

JD: I’ve been heading up the EEAA for over five years now, and each day is totally energising. I work in an important industry and know the hundreds of events it delivers make a difference to the Australian economy. It’s my job to spread that message. I also love my job because it is difficult. It challenges me always to be looking at new ways to drive outcomes for our members and the industry. But most of all I love it because I feel valued and respected. I work with clever people in a stimulating environment where the future is bright. What more could I ask for?

JOYCE INSIGHTS

Joyce DiMascio has led the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia since May 2011. In February 2014 she was named Industry Person of the Year at the Asia-Pacific Incentive and Meetings Expo (AIME) for her contribution to the industry and advocating on its behalf. She is former head of Business Events Australia at Tourism Australia and has led the work to position Australia globally as a place for business events.

Earlier in her career, Joyce was press secretary to two New South Wales Premiers and led the development of the tourism industry’s media strategy for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. She has extensive experience in major events and was a media manager for around 15 visits to Australia by heads of state and royalty including Charles and Diana and the Pope. She also launched the NSW Government’s foray into major events in the ‘90s, kicking off the first big events in food in Sydney and regional NSW – including Feast of Sydney and the Sydney International Jazz Festival.

She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a councillor on the Board of Business Events Council Australia and a former board member of Trainworks and the Food Media Club of Australia.

ABOUT THE EEAA

The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) is the peak industry association representing organisers, association organisers, venues and suppliers in the exhibition and event sector who deliver over 500 trade and consumer expos and shows a year.

An Ernst & Young study, The Value of Business Events to Australia, showed that in 2013-14 there were 2,157 exhibitions staged in Australia, attracting 9.3 million visitors and over 65,000 exhibitors. The direct expenditure from exhibitions was $3.1 billion and these events contributed direct “value-add” of $1.5 billion and generated over 21,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

A not-for-profit organisation, the EEAA supports the industry by encouraging high standards, promoting association members and highlighting the business opportunities that exhibitions represent.

Read more about EEAA or view the Power of Exhibitions video.

For more information contact Joyce DiMascio, EEAA Chief Executive, on 02 9413 9520 or 0412 869 229, or Rebecca Ius, Events and Marketing Executive, on 02 9413 9520.

Captions:

Show images, from top:

Reed Gift Fairs

Sydney Boat Show

Mind, Body, Spirit Festival

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

It was after midnight when I checked into the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India. As I usually do when I arrive in a hotel room, I set up my laptop. And as I usually do, I used a piece of paper to serve as a mouse pad.

Next morning when I’d returned to my room after breakfast, I discovered that a staff member had placed a real mouse pad on the desk, unasked. Later, in the elevator, I bumped into another obliging employee who introduced himself as F&B Director Ritesh Choudhary. I sought a booking at one of the hotel’s restaurants that evening, I told him. He insisted on personally showing me to The Chambers, a club-like eatery that overlooks Mumbai’s waterfront and The Gateway of India, a famous British colonial monument.

It was an auspicious start to my visit to the Taj Mahal Palace, the venerable flagship of the Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces group. Since its opening in 1903, the “Palace” has hosted conferences for representatives of virtually every one of the top 300 companies in the world, according to Nisha Dhage (main picture), Associate Director of Public Relations.

“It’s geared to MICE business and always has been,” says Nisha. “From the day we opened we’ve had the ballroom and crystal room, which are still important venues. Over the past hundred years we’ve added another eight venues and we’re in the process of adding one more.”

Big social events, product launches, black-tie evenings and weddings are a key part of the hotel’s business today – and what its operators perceive to be its future, she adds. “The Taj Bombay’s seen it all. We were the first hotel to provide outdoor catering in India, and today we’re equipped to handle everything from intimate events like a five-person sit-down dinner to a banquet for five hundred.”

Plus the Taj operates four other hotels in the city, so if it can’t cater for everyone, it has sister hotels from which it can pull chefs and staff, and expand its capabilities. Plus, because it has so many rooms, guests can attend, say, a very large banquet and stay overnight on site as well.

With 550 rooms and suites, the Taj Palace has two accommodation wings – the Tower, which was built in the ‘70s as a complement to the original “Palace,” which was the brainchild of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, founder of the Tata industrial conglomerate. (According to one anecdote, he decided to open the hotel after he’d been refused entry at another Bombay hotel because he wasn’t a European).

The Palace’s seventy-metre-high dome was the first clear marker of Bombay Harbour that could be seen from the sea, and it still serves as a navigational aid. When it opened, the hotel claimed a series of firsts: American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers. It was the first building in Bombay to be lit by electricity and had the city’s first licensed bar.

For landlubbers it also enjoys a good strategic location in Mumbai’s main commercial hub. An hour from the airport, it’s close to the financial district, parliament, stadium, offices and shopping districts.

The variety of things to do means it can offer events organisers a swag of opportunities for team-building. “In fact we’re about to start offering a broader variety of team-building activities for groups,” explains Nisha Dhage. “One of these is sailing on the Arabian Sea right outside our front gate, which is something we can arrange from October onwards – the non-monsoon months.”

Events staff can arrange city tours on bicycles and an educational Mumbai-by-dawn excursion which starts at 5am and takes in such sights as the flower and fish markets. “We’re in the art district of Mumbai which also sets the scene for great tours,” adds Nisha. “We have the National Gallery of Modern Art and at least 15 other galleries in this area, plus the Taj’s own gallery which just reopened. Many great Indian painters started their careers here from the 1940s onwards.”

When to get the best deals

The monsoon months, June to September, are the best time to have an event at the Taj Palace, price-wise. From mid-September occupancies tend to rise, says Nisha. “That means the combination of the room and banquet venue, and of course if you’re planning a banquet here and take a room as well you get a better deal, as a package.”

Rates depend on the kind of conference PCOs are seeking. The hotel often recommends they keep the bed-and-breakfast element separate from the conference deal, because it allows for more versatility in what you can add into the package. “Being a hundred-year-old hotel, while we’ve upgraded our services, there may be things you add in for vendors who bring in equipment that may not be available here, for example.”

On average, for organisers who take say fifty rooms and up, the bed and breakfast-plus-taxes rate during the monsoon months would be in the INR 9,500 to INR 10,000 range, says Nisha. And a lunch and dinner buffet together would be around INR 7,000 plus taxes. That means all-up you’d be looking at INR 15,000 (USD 225) to INR 18,000 (USD 270) per person, based on a stay in the tower section which is aimed more at business travellers.

Anyone fortunate enough to stay here can expect uniformly brilliant service. When I asked housekeeping to collect some laundry, it was returned in about an hour, with shirts beautifully cleaned and pressed and individually wrapped. And when I checked out very early in the morning, staff at one of the restaurants insisted on arranging a packed breakfast for me to eat in the cab.

“I think it might be part of our DNA somewhere, in everything we do, that guest is God,” says Nisha Dhage with a smile. “It’s part of the Taj way of doing things.”

The Taj group has over 100 hotels in 62 locations.

More information:

Call +91 22 66011825

Email reservations@tajhotels.com

I was strolling the narrow streets of Coron Town, Philippines, when a late-afternoon thunderstorm blew in from the sea. The tropical deluge forced me to run up a set of ramshackle stairs off the main square, to take shelter in a tiny wooden-framed restaurant. It proved to be an excellent decision.

From my first-floor seat on the covered balcony, I watched motorised tricycles scud by through the downpour, and ordered an ice-cold San Miguel Light, one of the country’s most popular brews, followed by another. Then came fried calamari along with a delicious green chicken and coconut curry. When the rain stopped and the bill eventually arrived, I forked out the equivalent of AUD 8 for my meal and all the drinks. “Come again tomorrow,” said the restaurateur, Malou, with a gap-toothed smile.

The affability of the people and value for money are among the most notable attributes of this place, a coastal settlement flanked by the green karst mountains of Busuanga Island north of the larger isle, Palawan.

With a scattering of hotels and island resorts, relatively few tourists and pristine beaches and coral atolls providing some of the best diving and boating opportunities in the Philippines, undeveloped Coron Town and the surrounding Calamian archipelago may represent some of the great incentive trip surprises of the Western Pacific.

That may change of course, with Palawan having been named best island in the world by Conde Nast Traveler fairly recently. Meanwhile bargains for incentive groups – and brilliant experiences – await those prepared to hop on one of the daily 50-minute flights to Busuanga from Manila. (Starting from about AUD 150 for each leg on local airline Skyjet, for example. Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines also fly this route).

An essential part of a visitor’s itinerary should be an island-hopping day trip from Coron Town to nearby beaches, inlets and reefs. The guided tours invariably take place via native, double-outrigger bangka boats, and start from the wharf on the town foreshore. I paid roughly AUD 35, which included the tour, lunch and refreshments.

Tours typically include visits to seven or eight spots, diving and snorkelling onto the remains of a merchant ship in shallow water – the area is also renowned for WW2 wreck diving – lunch on an icing-sugar beach and a climb up, and down, to Kayangan Lake, a body of clear blue water set in a “hole” of its own among steep, heavily wooded hills and cliffs.

Here’s a typical online comment about one of the island resorts in the area: “It’s like you died and woke up in beach heaven . . . the sand is talc and the water is crystal clear. . .”

While isolated luxury resorts in this region, like Huma Island (www.humaisland.com) are brilliant incentive destinations in their own right, one hotel, the 80-room Westown, pictured above, stands out as a meetings destination close to restaurants and shops in Coron Town.

With four-star-standard rooms with great views, three swimming pools, a spa, bars and restaurant, the Westown is a five-minute trike ride from the town centre. It has three main meeting venues and rates are extraordinarily low. For example one package that includes use of a venue for 20 people for three hours, waiter service, sound system equipment and a plated three-course lunch starts at PHP 400 (about AUD 12) per person. Rates for the well-air-conditioned, spacious rooms start at around AUD 115 per night.

Busuanga has great venues and outdoor experiences, representing fantastic value – as do so many of the 7,107 islands of the Philippines, where almost everyone speaks English and domestic carriers serve dozens of routes. More info:

coronwestownresort@yahoo.com.ph