Cover story
Philippines
undertake an intensive global roadshow which
will cover over 25 cities commencing with the
US in March 2019,” she detailed.
To encourage continued growth, particularly
in inbound incentive trips, the Macao Govern-
ment Tourism Office is maintaining its support
scheme for this segment of events as well as
its presence at various relevant tradeshows
worldwide to promote the destination.
– Prudence Lui
Inbound business events are expected to fare
better in 2019 than the previous year, embold-
ened by agile business from China, devaluing
local currency that makes travel in the Philip-
pines much more affordable, and renewed
importance being given to this oft-neglected
tourism segment.
“Business travel has grown exponentially
and demand for corporate events has equally
increased. This growth has seen China as the
single strongest feeder market,” said Agnes
Pacis, vice president sales and marketing, SMX
Convention Center.
Marco Polo Ortigas Hotel’s general manager
Frank Reichenbach said that based on tourism
figures in 2018, China and Taiwan are expected
to bring in more corporate guests. Conventions
will continue to grow, he added, due to the
“continuous development of infrastructure and
facilities” while others said corporate meetings
are another growth sector.
Another booster is the continued weakening
of the Philippine peso, which fell 53.3 pesos to
the US greenback in June 2018 – the weakest
in 12 years – as experts predict that it will
reach the 55 peso mark in 2019.
Factoring in inflation, currency fluctua-
tions and other global macro issues, Marisa
Nallana, president of the Philippines Exhibits
and Themeparks, said the industry should take
heed of the growing trend for “cost savings,
fewer delegates for meetings, shorter meetings
and events, and transfer to smaller/less costly
venues”.
Joel Pascual, president of PACEOS (Philip-
pine Association of Convention/Exhibition
Organizers and Suppliers), said 2019 augured
well as the MICE roadmap over the next nine
years is already in place and the new COO of
Tourism Promotions Board, Marie Venus Tan,
has adopted the “bid, bid, bid” policy for inter-
national events while the government has the
“build, build, build” infrastructure policy.
– Rosa Ocampo
Malaysia
Malaysia has a healthy forecast for this year,
citing new attractions and confirmed venue
bookings as reasons for jubilation.
Arokia Das Anthony, director, Luxury Tours
Malaysia, said: “Desaru Coast in Johor is shap-
ing up and this will be a new destination for us
to promote in 2019. Our main markets, Indone-
sia and India, performed well in 2018 and we
expect the growth to continue in 2019.”
Adam Kamal, general manager, Tour East
Malaysia, is optimistic as the company has
confirmed forward bookings for incentives
from Australia and Russia for 1H2019. Tour
East Malaysia has also ventured to US and
South America in search for new business.
Over in Penang, a fast-rising destination
for business events, Setia SPICE Convention
Centre is enjoying full venue occupancy from
Fridays to Sundays throughout 2019, and will
be busier in the new year than it was in 2018.
Yeoh Kheng Ho, senior manager, said
advance bookings came mostly (70 per cent)
from local companies planning meetings, an-
nual dinners and exhibitions.
Ashwin Gunasekeran, CEO, Penang Conven-
tion & Exhibition Bureau, summed up that
2019 will be a busy year for Penang, with many
national and international conference bids won
in 2016 and 2017 materialising in 2019, includ-
ing the World Seafood Congress 2019 which
will take place in September.
However, Alan Pryor, general manager of
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, is cautiously
optimistic. Describing 2019 as a “moderate
international meetings year for the centre”, he
explained that clients are taking a wait-and-
see approach to their event planning against a
backdrop of uncertainties in geo-politics and a
new government in Malaysia. – S Puvaneswary
Sensoji Temple in
Tokyo, Japan
Singapore
While inbound business events performance is
expected to hold strong for Singapore, industry
players are keeping a cautious eye on the rip-
ple effect of international relations.
Jeannie Lim, executive director, conven-
tions, meetings and incentive travel, Singapore
Exhibition & Convention Bureau, is keeping an
eye on “ongoing global tariff war and poten-
tial geopolitical tensions that might affect
consumer confidence and business travel
sentiments”.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group’s chief, sales &
marketing officer, Cinn Tan, reflected similar
sentiments. She projected that the “mount-
ing trade tensions between the US and China
will pose the biggest risk to global economic
growth in 2019”.
The resulting climate may affect suppliers
who are reliant on traffic from Central and
South America as well as around Asia-Pacific,
said Kerry Healy, vice president of sales Asia
Pacific, AccorHotels. These markets “consider
economic and political safety as their main
issue when selecting a meeting destination,”
she explained.
Geopolitical tensions could also affect air
connectivity, which is a “top factor influenc-
ing meeting location” for planners in North
America and Europe, Healy added.
Still, business is proceeding as usual in
Singapore, as “the global economic outlook
for 2019 and Asia-Pacific travel growth seems
favourable,” forecasted Lim.
Tan added: “There is a silver lining in the
clouds as the longer-term outlook by GBTA
is more positive, as business travel-related
spending is forecast to increase by 7.1 per cent
in 2018 over 2017 (which totalled US$1.3 tril-
lion globally). 2019 will also see more bleisure
travel across all regions worldwide, particularly
for top destinations such as Singapore, Tokyo
and Shanghai.”
Singapore looks forward to a strong pipeline
of conventions and large meetings from tech-
nology, innovation and direct selling compa-
nies. Growth momentum in the exhibitions
and conferences sector is also expected to
continue, according to Lim, driven by emerging
clusters, such as advanced manufacturing,
fintech, smart logistics and lifestyle. – Pamela
Chow
South Korea
While MICE performance data for 2018 had
yet to be compiled at press time, the Korea
Tourism Organization (KTO) revealed that
corporate meeting and incentive arrivals to the
country as of November 2018 had risen 21 per
cent year-on-year.
Baeho Kim, KTO’s director of MICE planning
& management team, believes that the figure
will rise further by the year’s end.
Cyril Constantino, Asia Pacific supplier
management lead, CWT Meetings & Events,
reports stronger interest in the country too.
“We’ve seen an increase in the number of
clients enquiring about hosting their events
in South Korea and we organised a few large
events here in 2018,” he shared, adding that
Seoul and Jeju were a hit while Pyeongchang
might gain more adventurous corporate groups
in the new year due to publicity surrounding
the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Constantino projects a brighter future for
the country in 2019, “helped by the easing of
tensions with the North”.
Various factors have also led to more in-
tense interest in South Korea, he opined.
“South Korean culture has gained tremen-
dous popularity across the globe. This is a
major draw not just for incentive trips, but
also for corporate events that are becoming
increasingly ‘festivalised’ and incorporating
K-pop elements into their concepts. Coupled
with new creative spaces and experiences,
these factors will continue to drive demand for
South Korea moving forward,” he said.
Kim, too, anticipates continued “positive
growth” in incentive arrivals thanks to the
recovery of the Chinese market and strong
economic developments in South-east Asia.
KTO will maintain its focus on growing the
corporate meeting and incentive segments.
Escalating competition with Thailand,
Singapore and Japan will see KTO intensifying
its promotional activities. In 2018, KTO moved