Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com 18 OCTOBER 2019 D AY 3 TRAVEL WEEKLY ASIA I T B A S I A S H O W D A I L I E S 18 I n today's information overload, meetings organisers face a unique challenge: How do you keep audience engaged at your event? "In 1990, we were exposed to 2,000 advertisements daily, but today, it's 5,000," said Lauren Fuchs, CEO of UNICEO (United Networks of The latest news and happenings from the floor. IN BRIEF A midst stiff competition in the hospitality landscape, savvy hoteliers are turning to powerful apps to better understand trends, filter data and push for higher ROI. "Hoteliers are constantly signing deals, they need to be at the forefront knowing the developments in a destination, what brands are out there, who are my competitors, should I plant another brand in a city?" explained Bernard Kee, regional manager SEA, STR. With STR's AM:PM app, branded properties, tourism bodies, consultants and PMOs can visualise ongoing updates of hotels and developments worldwide, spread across 60 columns of data. Clients can even further drill down to where a hotel's brands are, a property's number of rooms, spa availability, parking Hoteliers' souped up apps KEYS TO ENGAGEMENT: MICE experts share tips on holding attendees' attention options, and even pipeline plans. On the consumer front, help is also readily available with software development kits like Leanplum – a platform that enhances an existing app by driving customer engagement, retention and ROI. One of Leanplum's key client is Choice Hotels, where they analyse the hotel's existing app to see what customers look for, then suggest ways to up the experience. "Does this traveller book at low seasons? Fly in at a certain time? Why did people uninstall the app? Based on this, we might suggest promotions, points, an extra stay – we also International Corporate Event Organizers" at the session "Engaging successfully in a V.U.C.A. world". He added that time spent on social media averages about 1.9 hours daily per person. V.U.C.A is an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. In response, Patrick Buhl, head of event/marketing and hospitality of Oped Gmbh, which is in the medical technology sector, shared how they engaged attendees by creating intimate settings to BY NATALIE JOY LEE BY NATALIE JOY LEE "We also track which gives the best results, then we provide the same carrot to the rest of the app users." –DAVID BOCHSLER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, APJ REGION Apps the way to go for hoteliers keen to make sense of industry trends and grow their businesses minimise distractions, "so they are not running off for dinners in the city during their Sport & Medicine Symposia." Involving employees by using them as experts for panel sessions is also effective, he said. Anastasia Belyanina, manager for global events at Veeam Software, an information technology company, cited other examples from an event recently held in France for existing partners, which include curating specialised tracks to cater to different audiences, and creating an app for attendees to ask questions and get answers in real time. The event exceeded attendee and sponsorship targets, she said. WHAT THEY SAY: "I head the travel services team and sometimes hold five events in a day ranging from 10 to 500 people. In India, which has an active MICE scene, we are known to organise events personally (instead of through) agents, which is why I'm here to connect with hotels, DMCs and partners. Networking is key." — Tanvi Mazmudar, head of travel services, Biocon Limited Finnair homes in on North Asia Asia will play a key role in Finnair's plans to grow capacity by 11-12% in 2019, said Tamas Hanyi, GM, APAC. The airline is adding capacity to Japan with daily flights to Tokyo's Haneda Airport for the 2020 summer season and introducing a thrice-weekly service to South Korea's Busan from Mar 30. GICC to announce new luxury hotel The Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) will soon open a new luxury lifestyle hotel in Macau that will be integrated with the state- of-the-art Galaxy International Convention Center (GICC) in the first half of 2021. According to Scott Kreeger, GEG's director of operations development, new resort, the 700-key hotel will offer luxurious accommodations and prestigious event venue choices. "I'm based in Jakarta, where I oversee outbound travel to Europe. Demand for European destinations is always increasing so it's a good chance for me to look for suppliers in Northern Europe regions like Lapland, Iceland and the Balkans." – Edhi Sutadharma, director, Golden Rama Tours & Travel A UNICEO-moderated panel on ways to engage attendees. track which gives the best results, then we provide the same carrot to the rest of the app users," explained David Bochsler, managing director, APJ region.

• Cover