Northstar

Jul-Aug 2016 11 meetings & conventions • mcmag-asia.com 10 tips PLANNING YOUR NEXT TO CONSIDER IN GLOBAL EVENT To help planners decide on an overseas destination and organise an event that best suits their needs, we take a look at the attractiveness of popular cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Seoul and Dubai as MICE destinations, and what DMOs and CVBs have in the goodie bag for planners. 1. Safety First With a tumultuous landscape peppered by global political unrest and health warnings, planners have to manage risks and plan contingencies. Seoul, a rising star in MICE, has recovered well and is back on track after dealing with the MERS outbreak last year. "No matter how well thought out and well planned an event is, unforeseen circumstances can happen. That's why we launched the 24 Hour MICE Help Desk last year. The new system allows event organisers, planners, participants to contact us in emergencies via phone, email, or online message board. These new channels ensure a response is made within 24 hours and provides the assurance that STO is with them every step of the way to ensure their event is a success," says Kim Byung-tae, president and CEO, Seoul Tourism Organization (STO). 2. Find the Funds Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has recently announced a five-year tranche of the Tourism Development Fund to support industry efforts. "The schemes under this fund provide greater assistance at the earlier stages of a project's development. For example, the Business Events in Singapore (BEiS) fund has been expanded to support joint initiatives by industry stakeholders to promote Singapore as a business events destination, such as familiarisation trips and trade shows," says Melissa Ow, deputy chief executive of STB. The previous tranches of the fund supported the bidding and organisation of more than 650 business events, including world-renowned events such as Lions Club International (LCI) Convention 2020. Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) also shared that two new programmes have been launched: the Convention and Exhibition Stimulation Programme and the International Meeting and Trade Fair Support Programme. "These programmes cover event aspects such as accommodation, F&B, key note speakers, Above: Zaha Hadid's spectacular City of Dreams New Hotel Tower in Macau Below: IPIM develops Macau further as a place for large- scale MICE events

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