The show was held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore in April and drew a considerable crowd.
“It’s a great environment for learning,” said Timothy Glanzer, founder and CEO of US-based Elevated Meetings Solutions of the new show.
“The quality of appointments is better than some other trade shows I’ve been to. The level of vendors in the appointments is nice and I’ve had the opportunity to make some useful connections.”
For Darren Crichton-Browne, managing director of dcb conferences and events in Australia, it was “a great two days”.
“So many new hotels and venues were presented, as well as a host of educational sessions,” he said.
“AI is certainly the latest buzz word and it’s clear this is going to benefit all of us with our ever-overwhelming productivity workloads.”
Buyers were also seeking new and unusual venues and itineraries. A Singaporean buyer enthused over the range from New Zealand and Australia – he was offered a stadium, a mansion and stables for his events.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG), an active participant in TMS London, said supporting TMS APAC was a natural progression, given Pan Pacific’s headquarters are in Singapore.
“It surpassed expectations. Sydney, Perth and Melbourne emerged as focal points of interest for our Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands. Vietnam and Malaysia attracted those seeking new opportunities for partnership and collaboration,” said Izann Lee and Mary Ang, both directors of global sales at Pan Pacific Hotels Group.
Singapore was ever-popular, especially the PARKROYAL COLLECTION brand, known for its commitment to sustainability.
“Interest revolved around hotel locations and room categories. Buyers were keen to understand the proximity of hotels to event venues and availability of various room categories to accommodate diverse attendee preferences.
“They expressed a desire for destinations and stakeholders to prioritise sustainability initiatives and incorporate eco-friendly practices into event planning and execution,” the pair said.
Andy Tan, Millennium Hotels & Resorts’ senior vice president of global sales and partnership operations for Southeast Asia, liked that buyers provided relevant information and their take on future trends.
“Booking lead time for Asian countries continues to be short. Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and Bali continue to see increases due to their lower cost versus other countries. We had a good number of potential leads.”
Macao twinned with neighbouring Hengqin, but also promoted the variety of hotels and venues at its integrated resorts, including for extended trips from Hong Kong.
For exhibitors from Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Australia may be a new market worth tapping.
