Safety, security in the spotlight What industry By Caroline Boey raise safety and security standards. Williams noted there was a special members are saying The issue of safety and security in “No matter what, people will con- events unit within Australia’s Immigra- “Clients are asking us more light of the tragic shootings and air tinue to travel for meetings and we will tion Department, and IPIM – the Macao questions relating to safety, crash incident in recent weeks has not have to rely on our local partners to be Trade and Investment Promotion Insti- such as the culture of the dampened the outlook of well informed,” said Vietnam’s tute – also works closely with authori- people in a destination delegates, who described the Robert Tan, executive director, ties as the destination handles a number and the happiness quotient. Christchurch incident as an JTR Events & Marketing. of mega-size events. They are also putting more isolated occurrence; alongside Russia’s Oksana Tcoi, MICE Noor Ahmad Hamid, regional director effort into researching the destination a possible technology glitch in operation manager, Rozintour, of ICCA Asia-Pacific, commented: “I do to get a sense of how safe it is. Some the case of Ethiopian Airlines. commented that other incidents not believe the incident will affect the clients are avoiding Paris, as they don’t Delegates interviewed be- such as the 2003 SARS outbreak industry. It is important for the industry think it is safe, and small groups in a for- lieved the impact on meetings had a much bigger impact com- to come together to show support, while eign destination are asking for escorted in Asia would be limited, and pared to terror attacks. “For our event organisers have to be vigilant.” tours, rather than free time to explore Tan: necessary to the city. Clients are also getting compre- the solidarity of the industry stay well informed programmes, travel insurance is ICCA has 11 members in New Zealand. in tackling participant and a must and we also send a doc- He added governments could do hensive insurance coverage that covers organiser concerns about safety and tor on our educational programmes with more to ‘pre-clear’ bona fide delegates terrorism.” - Avinash Kumar Khanapur, travel security would be a positive step mov- young participants,” Tcoi said. and make baggage screening compul- consultant, Avni Holidays, India ing forward. Melbourne-based Mike Williams, sory, instead of random checking. Biometric screening, face-recognition senior partner and consultant, Gain- An industry veteran commented that “In some destinations where there were and other new technology were cited ingEdge, advised: “It is much better to fingerprint scans at airports to enter a incidents in the past, clients want us to as examples of what governments and be open and every supplier must have a country should also be made compul- guarantee that the destination is safe risk management plan.” sory for everyone regardless of age. businesses could invest in and utilise to when they visit. We are not in a position to do so. This is where NTOs play an important role. Information should be meetings can help,” shared Feng Li, readily available and accessible on what Using MICE to mend strained ties assistant manager, strategic planning de- public safety steps have been taken.” partment, Premium Pass International. - Mint Leong, director, Sunflower By Pamela Chow is a Japanese company and we don’t Jesmond Lam, event planner with Holidays, Malaysia Refusing to be defined by political ten- do business in China. We want to break Japan-based Event Services, remarked sions, corporate travel companies and away from that. It’s very untrue because that young Japanese corporates “I do not think random acts of terrorism event organisers in Japan and South there are actually a lot of Japa- are starting to be interested in will stop people from attending business Korea are actively reaching out to Chi- nese companies in China.” Chinese culture and are pick- events. However, organisers will have nese MICE suppliers to build stronger South Korea-based MICE ing up Mandarin. to take more precautions and steps to relationships and encourage more busi- management and event promo- Lam explained: “The Japa- ensure the safety of their personnel. For ness travel. tion company Premium Pass nese tend to be traditional. My instance, we have added more ques- Public concern about the political International is also using clients have always preferred tions to the security evaluation forms climate in North Asia has led to miscon- IT&CM China as a platform to incentive destinations like that staff have to complete before they ceptions that Japanese travel companies meet more Chinese venue and Singapore, Hawaii and Guam. are given permission to travel. On the do not organise events in China. convention suppliers. Tan: want to do But now, they are opening up part of governments, they can keep the business with China Calvin Tan, JTB’s manager, MICE “The relationship between to visit China. public informed on safety and recovery department, Singapore outbound office, China and Korea is not good now, so we “We want to grow Japan’s outbound updates in the aftermath of an incident.” shared: “This year, I’m targeting to meet would like to do something to develop numbers next and hope to establish an - Saurav Chakrabartty, corporate travel more Chinese suppliers, because a lot of ties between the two countries. outbound MICE team in the next three buyer, Siemens, India people still have the perception that JTB “Doing this through conventions and to four years,” he added. FA SCCC TTGmice_horizontal strip ad 8319 ol.pdf 1 08/03/2019 13:08 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Talk of the trade/Gallery Hilton maps China strategy By Pamela Chow The study found corporate guests travellers rose by 15 per cent from the The brand launch of Asia-Pacific’s responded positively to the idea of previous year to reach 71.3 million. first Canopy by Hilton in January in “thoughtfully local” hotel offerings, and Besides the neuroscience study, Hil- Chengdu, demonstrates the importance the property reflecting its neighbour- ton previously commissioned a survey the global chain is attaching to China, hood through local designs, food and by Kantar of 1,000 Chinese citizens, and a leading second-tier city. drink, product partnerships and more. covering participants across different Chengdu is a business city Gary Steffen, vice president/ age groups and regions who have stayed where its primary industries global head, Canopy by Hilton, in an upscale hotel at least once. are IT, food processing, ma- elaborated on the importance This study found that 83 per cent of chinery, petrochemicals, metal- of shaping products to cater respondents were keen to explore local lurgy, automobiles, building to the Chinese customer: “On cultures, 82 per cent enjoy self-pamper- materials, and light industry. a global level, the Chinese ing, 77 per cent were open to socialising To underscore the impor- market is just so critical to with locals and 63 per cent felt thought- tance of catering to the Chinese tourism around the world. ful and personalised perks were more market, Chinese guests who Steffen: Chinese To us, it’s been fascinating important over opulence. market far-reaching stayed at the new Canopy by to observe Chinese domestic Steffen added modern business trav- Hilton in Chengdu were asked to be tourism continue to grow at the rate it ellers cared very much about the quality TTG’s lensmen are on part of a neuroscience study, conducted has”. He added that China has become a of the guestroom, which aligned with the prowl for great photos. in partnership with Nielsen. trendsetter in the past few years. what the Kantar study found. See this photo and more at The aim was to identify qualities or According to the China Tourism Acad- As such, Canopy by Hilton Chengdu our online gallery by scanning offerings that were most effective in emy, domestic tourist volume reached City Centre would meet the needs of engaging the attention, emotions and 2.8 billion in 1H2018 – up by 11.4 per Chinese travellers doing business in the the code above. memories of Chinese guests. cent YOY – and the number of outbound city, Steffen opined. { Hot leads } New Chinese products wanted TeamUmbrella, is looking for suppliers in operation manager of Rozintour, is looking to Halal travel in China Vietnam’s JTR Events & Marketing Robert mainland China to organise more incentive send corporate and student groups to China Muslim travel specialist, Tripfez Travel, is Tan, executive director, hopes to find new travel trips. Email [email protected]. on technical and educational missions. The looking for DMCs in Shanghai, Beijing and food and culture products in Chinese cities company also plans to organise association Korea to cater to the Muslim travel market with good connectivity for Asian, Eastern Bringing exotic destinations closer meetings. Email, [email protected] from South-east Asia. Email Agnes Ho at European and South African groups. Email First-time Singapore buyer Crystal Sim, [email protected]. [email protected]. of Albatross World, is interested in new Looking for interesting places to meet products in China’s northern second-tier Daniel Verschaere of corporate travel Fresh meeting spaces apply here Seeking more incentive ideas cities and exotic locales. Email: crystalsim@ company Wavestone is on the lookout for South Korea-based MICE management Martin Ellis, managing director of UK-based albatrossworld.com.sg interesting meeting venues and incentive company Premium Pass International is on programmes throughout Asia for his the lookout for convention venues and travel Searching for corporate travel contacts European clients. Email daniel.vershaere@ companies from across China.