Marissa Fernandez’s 7 tips for successful incentives

Tag Archives: Philippines

Tighter budgets and rising costs mean the business events sector is working harder to win work. Marissa Fernandez, managing director of widely respected company Destination Marketing Services (DMS), offers this salutary advice to incentive and events planners.

1. Is it good value – and different? When selecting a destination, consider: does it offer good value for money and quality service, and is there a strong point of difference when you compare it to where the previous conference or incentive event was held?

2. Have they ever done anything like this before? Seek to create an experience that’s superior to what people in the group would have experienced in their own travels. It should obviously serve to encourage and motivate participants to continue working hard so they can enjoy similar rewards again.

3. Don’t sacrifice quality for cost. In the current, increasingly competitive market, many incentive agents are having to tender for business against their competition. With this type of bidding process, a key criterion is the cost of the program. Incentive agents are often judged on bottom-line figures, so we’re seeing more and more programs designed to be as cost-effective as possible, and competition on all levels is becoming more fierce. This is a positive change in many ways, because it keeps businesses sharper and makes them work harder to turn out the best possible program to win business.But it does create challenges when designing the best incentive experience – putting pressure on the MICE agent to cut budgets to the bone while retaining the incentive elements that make a program distinctive.

4. Plan ahead. Pre-planning is key to ensuring you always get the best deal. Timing plays a huge part in pricing. This is one area in which a destination management company (DMC) can play an essential role, thanks to their buying power. Well-established DMCs supply business to venues and hotels around the globe so they’re able to negotiate very competitive pricing via bulk buying.

5. Consider Asia, South Africa and Europe. Look to countries that offer the best value for money for meetings and events. Asia, with its proximity and great service levels, will always be well suited to MICE clients from Australia. And with the Australian dollar strong against the rand, South Africa is now more affordable than ever. Though the Aussie dollar has declined against the US greenback, it remains quite stable against the euro and this is still helping to push business towards Europe.

6. Embrace the ‘unknown’. Organisers and their delegates should remember that while past experiences certainly count, the world is forever evolving so it pays to keep an open mind and explore the unknown. Destinations such as South Korea, Croatia and the Philippines have developed into dynamic destinations for conference and incentive travel. These are often not considered, because of unfamiliarity or experiences from 20 years ago. Good companies will maintain quality while offering value, and have the vision to source and propose new destinations and ideas. They’ll not only adapt to changes in the global marketplace, they’ll respond with innovative offerings.

7. Follow the new airline routes. Airline access and routing are affecting trends in the marketplace and opening up new opportunities. For example the collaboration between Emirates and Qantas has strengthened travel to Europe with stopovers in the Middle East. New direct air services to Sri Lanka start in November and major hotel chains are investing heavily in this destination. This has already sparked a rise in interest in this new incentive location.

MARISSA INSIGHTS

Marissa Fernandez joined Destination Marketing Services in 2005 and became owner of the company on 1 October 2013, taking over from founder and industry veteran Leila Bishara (formerly Fiedler). As managing director, Marissa prioritises high standards of customer service and ethical practice in her team. Her background spans more than 20 years in tourism and hospitality, and she has worked for multinational organisations in Australia and overseas.

Email: marissa@destinationmarketing.com.au

Web: www.destinationmarketing.com.au

Madrid Fusión, the annual Spanish gastronomy congress to be held in Manila in April, represents a great opportunity for events planners, says Consuelo G. Jones, Australia and New Zealand Tourism Attaché for the Philippine Department of Tourism.

“More than ever, food is a vital component of the MICE business, and events and incentive organisers are increasingly making their plans and engaging their participants based on culinary considerations, Consuelo told The Siteseer. “By linking wonderful, inspiring meals to the purpose and themes of events, they can boost the value of any experience.”

Anyone in the meetings and events business who understands that food represents a great opportunity to build connections and inspire teamwork will benefit from attending the show, she adds. It also gives chefs, food aficionados, and food-and-beverage professionals a chance to pick up and share ideas and new products.

They’ll learn the latest culinary trends and techniques from Michelin-grade Spanish chefs and celebrity chefs from the Philippines and Asia, and discuss technological innovations and revolutionary techniques.

Organised annually since 2003, Madrid Fusión is the most important Spanish food congress, Consuelo says. This year it’ll incorporate three events: an international gastronomy congress for chefs, a trade exhibition where F&B companies showcase premium products, and a “Flavors of the Philippines” festival in which the country’s restaurants, hotels, bars, malls and weekend markets pitch in to feature special local food offerings, like the renowned Flipino adobo (pictured below).

The show will be held from April 24-26 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila’s Pasay City. It’s a joint partnership between the Philippines’ Department of Tourism and the Tourism Promotions Board, along with Madrid Fusión organisers Foro de Debate and Arum Estrategias de Internacionalización.

For more information, go to: www.madridfusionmanila.com.

Or email: flavorsofthephilippines@madridfusionmanila.com or call +632 832 5401.

“Just press the icon on this little screen if you need me, sir,” says Maico, the young butler. “We’re on call 24 hours and can sort everything out for you.” He ushers me into an ornate, sprawling suite that looks like a gambler’s den on a Mississippi steamboat.

The pile carpets are rich burgundy and the sofas, chairs and covers on the bed are deep ruby red. The lamplit walls are yellow and ochre, offset by brown drapes and side tables in dark wood.

The gambling-themed décor is appropriate for the 172-suite Maxims Hotel at Resorts World, Manila. A short drive from Manila’s main airport, Maxims is part of a complex that includes a 30,000-square-metre casino as well as two other giant hotels – a 342-room Marriott and a 712-room budget property, the Remington.

Throw in a four-level shopping mall, theatre, ballroom, conference and meeting rooms, restaurants and cinemas and you have a facility that’s so enormous it seems like it’d take all day to explore. (I walked round a great deal, and never got to see it all).

Yet my “deluxe” suite at Maxims, at 72 square metres – bigger than most one-bedroomed apartments – is the smallest accommodation on offer here. The biggest is a 652-square-metre villa, The Mansion.

“Maxims is the first all-suite luxury hotel and Resorts World is the first integrated resort in the country,” explains John Hagamann (pictured, right, with colleagues), International Travel and Trade Sales Officer for the complex.

Each room is assigned a butler to attend to guests’ wants and whims, from their travel itineraries to spa bookings or finding them a dentist in an emergency. And it has the latest in high-tech hotel technology. For instance the big flat-screen TV can convert into a PC monitor that you can operate remotely while lounging in bed.

“Casino visitors are a vital part of our business but we cater for everyone, from MICE visitors to leisure travellers and others en-route to somewhere else looking to spend a night at a really attractive, reasonably priced hotel near the airport,” says John.

The Resorts World complex, jointly owned by Alliance Global Group and Genting Hong Kong, is set to expand further to maximise the use of its 14-hectare property that flanks Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The expansion will take in a three-storey convention centre that can accommodate up to 2,500 people at any time, and two more hotels, a Hilton and a Sheraton, while both Maxims and Marriott here will add more luxury suites.

Suites from $335 a night

The rack rate for deluxe suites starts at PhP14,800++ (USD335) a night, and they can accommodate up to four people. But travel agents and casino guests can expect to pay less than that, says John Hagamann. Rooms at the Remington Hotel next door, part of the same complex, start from as low as PhP1,000 ($25) a night.

Contact Maxims at reservation@rwmanila.com.

The Siteseer was a guest of Maxims Resorts World, Manila.

The sky over El Nido is overcast, scoured by the tail end of a typhoon that’s passed and headed north. I’m the only passenger in the Filipino trigger boat, whose bamboo outriggers scud over a smooth, slate-coloured sea.

Having left a wharf near a small airfield, the boat chugs through a chain of extraordinary islands sculpted into strange, alien shapes. Towering limestone cliffs shoot dramatically from the ocean, their crowns covered in foliage, their bases fringed by white sand beaches and palm trees.

“That’s Lagen Island,” says Jake Lindo, the young boat guide, pointing ahead to a string of cabins in the distance, suspended over the turquoise waters of a small lagoon.

This resort on Lagen, one of 45 islands and islets in the environmentally protected area of El Nido, will be my sanctuary for the next two nights, and I find myself delighted at the prospect. For decades I’ve wanted to visit this place, widely acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful destinations in the Philippines and, finally, I’m going to experience it.

As I step ashore, a group of the resort staff are lined up to sing me a welcome and a cool drink is thrust into my hand. “Please, leave only your footprints here and take away only memories,” says one who shows me to my room. It’s a timber-lined, air-conditioned space set against an old-growth rainforest whose trees, vines and leaves loom over the roof. My balcony overlooks the resort’s big freshwater pool and al-fresco dining area, beyond which the lagoon, lined with more bungalows and fringed with mangroves, shimmers in the evening light.

This tropical resort in the north of the big Philippine island of Palawan is every bit as good as I’d hoped it would be. It’s not just the other-worldliness of the environment here that makes it outstanding; the genuine warmth and obligingness of the Filipino staff is a tonic for anyone seeking a break from workaday routine – as I discovered.

In recognition of the value of its ecosystem, the Philippine government declared El Nido to be a protected area in 1998. But, interestingly, it only became internationally renowned as a tourist destination around 1979, when a dive boat broke down one night, forcing the crew to drop anchor in an inlet.

The next day the divers woke to find themselves surrounded by sparkling sea, white beaches “and a series of magnificently sculpted jade islands,” according to one story. Since then it’s gained further recognition thanks to movies and TV shows.

The final scene of the film “Bourne Legacy” was shot here. (Watch the great scene at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWt-pPn5rS0.)

Lagen’s is one of three island resort facilities operated in El Nido by one company, El Nido Resorts. The other two are set on nearby islands Miniloc and Pangulasian.

The food, usually served in buffets in the main restaurant or, on special days, at poolside, is adequate and plentiful, and there’s a terrific spa, with massage services starting at around AUD30. A plethora of activities from scuba diving to kayaking and guided eco-tours are available. For me though, one of the most agreeable was sitting at the poolside bar at dusk, ice cold San Miguel beer in hand, watching the sun sink into the ocean.

From USD250 per person sharing

Like its sister resorts on Miniloc and Pangulasian, Lagen caters for weddings, meetings, team-building and other corporate events, with a minimum two nights’ stay required. The offer starts with the use of the accommodation for two at PhP 22,000.00 (about USD500; ie $250 per person) per night. That includes breakfast, boat transfers and use of the resort’s recreational facilities. For groups, there’s a meetings supplement of PhP 1,200 (about USD30.00) per person, which includes a snack, half-day use of the conference room, coffee and tea and the usual meetings set-up and pads and pencils.

“Room rates are negotiable depending on the size of the group and the travel period,” says Bambi Samson, Director of Sales, “so the supplement may change according to the requirements of the group. Rates are higher from November to May, and promos and special rates are usually offered from June through to October.”

The ideal season for team building, when staff can set up a private beach club” as a corporate playground, is February to May. An ideal size for a group is about 40, adds Bambi, but the resorts can handle more, or facilitate a “buy-out” of each property in its entirety.

The usual direct method of getting to the islands is from Manila on Island Transvoyager Inc (ITI), with El Nido Resorts handling the bookings. It’s a 55-minute flight on a 50-seater ATR aircraft, followed by a boat trip of about an hour to get to the islands. Cost of the travel from Manila: about $100 each way.

Undeniably it takes some effort to get there from abroad and it’s priced at a premium, but El Nido is worth every cent.

For more information, email holiday@elnidoresorts.com or visit www.elnidoresorts.com.

The Siteseer was a paying guest at Lagen Island.

Like other cities in the Philippines, Manila has its challenges and drawbacks, not least the traffic snarls and pollution. Its best assets, in my view, are its unfailingly cheerful people and splendid hotels.

I’ve been lucky enough to stay at a selection of really good Manila hotels, including the “Edsa” Shangri-la and Crowne Plaza in Ortigas. They have outstanding facilities in common, at a remarkably competitive price, usually less than half what you’d pay in a comparable property in, say, New York or Sydney and with vastly better service. Recently I checked in for three nights at one of Manila’s best and newest – the five-star Fairmont located in Makati, the city’s main business, shopping and leisure hub.

It represents a step forward for tourism in the city and country, say its marketers, with the last luxury hotel in the area having been built way back in 1993-94.

The 280-room Fairmont is incorporated into a 30-storey tower that includes the 32 all-suite Raffles Makati hotel as well as the 237 one- to four-bedroom Raffles Residences, set up for short- or long-term stays. They’re all owned by the same parent company (FRHI). What makes it especially attractive for business and MICE visitors is that it’s been conceived by architects Arquitectonica and interior designer Bent Severin to ensure guests’ privacy, as far as possible, according to Monique Toda (pictured, left), Director of Communications.

“The design allows for exclusivity,” explains Monique, a 27-year veteran of the hotel business. Its lobby, for example, unlike the cavernous foyers of many hotels, has been created as an assembly of separate, partitioned spaces where people can get together and talk in relative solitude.

“We view ourselves as a kind of oasis in the city and place a high priority on people’s privacy,” explains Monique. “A lot of our conference guests or business travellers like that; they don’t want to be stared at, or to feel ‘out there’ in any way.”

In addition to “Fairmont Gold,” the executive room and lounge offer, the hotel has over 1,700 square meters of meeting and function space, including an 859-square-meter ballroom accommodating up to 600. Additional meeting rooms cater for 30 to 40.

“Having Raffles next door and part of the same complex allows us to attract leisure travellers,” says Marketing Communications Coordinator Bianca Rodriguez (pictured, right).

“The Fairmont is almost exclusively for business people, and we generally tend to offer better rates in July-August.” Another agreeable feature is the “Willow Stream” spa, a headily-scented facility covering 1,200 square meters and including a hair salon, nail studio, mineral as well as outdoor pool.

From around US$200 a day The rooms at the Fairmont start at around US$200 a day, and it offers a swag of conference packages.

Take the “Spectrum Buffet” full-day package for up to 30 people. It includes use of a meeting room for eight hours, morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch, all the usual IT and wifi whistles and bells, free local phone calls, a conference “butler,” and complimentary car park tickets for 10% of the guests. That package is PHP2,280 per person, or just over $50.

Contact the hotel at makati@fairmont.com.

The Siteseer was a guest of Fairmont Hotel in Makati.