MICE Geography, Singapore: shopping in the hotel, gardens in the airport and other features of the country of harmony
ABT-ACTE Educational session of the «MICE Geography» series devoted to Singapore was held in the Fireplace hall of the Savoy on November 28. Participants and experts discussed corporate event facilities of this country, saw a city in the airport and learned how to reimburse part of travel costs.
The educational session that was held in the form of a business breakfast gathered travel and event managers, administrative directors, managers and heads of procurement and administration departments, marketing and internal communications experts of companies like Vi, Reynaers Aluminium Rus, Takeda, Kärcher, BNS Group of Companies, CRDF Global, Prahs and others. Partners of the event were Singapore Tourism Board, Hilton Worldwide hotel chain, Changi Singapore airport, Sshikom Creative Group and UAE`s national carrier Etihad Airways.
As Dmitry Saveliev, moderator of the session and an independent expert in business travel and administrative business support said in his greeting speech, Singapore is a country of harmony, which is not surprising, because even underground routes and buildings there were constructed according to feng shui rules. Interestingly, when the panoramic wheel was opened, it span towards the airport. But soon the direction was altered, so that money did not leave the country.
Other features of Singapore and facilities the country offers for corporate events were presented by Singapore Tourism Board — its Regional Director in Russia and Eastern Europe Raymond Lim and Assistant Manager Guizel Safiullova. According to Ms Safiullova, Singapore attracts lots of travellers due to its numerous parks and gardens, boutiques and malls and a busy program of cultural, sport, educational and entertainment events. But the most important thing is that it is a multi-national country with ethnic areas — you can visit small India or have a walk around the Chinese quarter in the same day and try various national cuisines at the same time.
You can easily fulfill different ideas in Singapore: for example, go on a cruise around the bay or on a zoo safari and then have a gala dinner on the roof of a skyscraper or in the oceanarium. Those who are willing to get knowledge in various fields can contact Singapore agencies to arrange a trip to ports, schools, companies or meet experts in many industries. Singapore airlines make direct flights from Moscow five times a week. The experts drew everyone’s attention to the fact that Singapore had convenient transport links with other Asia-Pacific countries, so after visiting Singapore you can arrange a holiday at the seaside in Indonesia.
«Singapore Tourism Board offers vast opportunities for events», Ms Safiullova noted. «We can help plan it, find partners and providers. If you want to book a tour, we will send several persons to Singapore at our own expense, so that they can make a preliminary acquaintance with the city, take a look at hotels and transport facilities. We also offer a stimulating program: the state offers subsidies that cover part of costs for getting acquainted with cultural facilities of the city — travel, catering costs and excursions. We provide help in this case. Besides, we can help you get better rates for a flight with Singapore airlines, stopover flight discounts. In its turn, Changi Singapore airport supports groups of 100 persons and more with a $20 voucher for every group member. Travellers can spend this money in Duty Free or collect vouchers and spend the sum for a gala dinner or a conference in Changi airport».
Changi airport is a real city with gardens, relax and entertainment zones, a wide choice of shops, a whole street of Singapore cuisine with 13 restaurants, a swimming pool on the roof and a gym. «Have you ever seen butterflies flying around the airport? There are more than a 1000 of them in the Butterfly garden!» Tamara Ilyina, Marketing Representative of Changi Singapore airport in Russia and the CIS, says. «You can take a look at the Orchid garden where around the fish pond you can see 15 species of these flowers including the national flower of Singapore — Vanda Miss Joaquim. And as you watch planes take off and land in the Sunflower garden in the open air you will not immediately guess that this is a smoking area».
Movie-goers can visit cinemas that are open 24 hours a day. Children, teenagers and adult gamers can use Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and music fans can relax in comfortable armchairs with built-in speakers (watch video clips or just listen to music). All this is free.
You should keep an eye on time. «When I first saw the kinetic sculpture, I was completely lost in contemplation (more than 1200 bronze drops move in a certain order and make various figures) and almost missed my flight!» Ms Ilyina shared her impressions. Nevertheless, even if you miss your flight, you will always find an alternative: planes take off and land in Changi approximately every 90 seconds.
The speaker also noted that business travellers would definitely feel comfortable in Changi. You can keep in touch due to free Wi-Fi. More than 550 Internet-terminals are everywhere in the airport — they will be very useful for those business travellers who do not have their personal notepad or a tablet with them. There are business centres in the airport, and the lounge The Haven by JetQuay offers both meeting rooms and facilities to relax before and after the flight.
Not a single event is possible without accommodation. Julia Efremova, Director of Sales of Hilton Worldwide spoke about hotels of this chain in Singapore — Hilton Singapore and Conrad Singapore. Hilton is situated in the street that is famous for boutiques, shops and Orchard Road malls. The hotel can accommodate various groups and has 421 rooms. By the way, all the rooms are spacious: the area of Deluxe Rooms, which is the starting category, is 30 sq. metres and more. Executive rooms are of the same size, but they are situated on higher floors and have a better view of the city. Besides, guests staying at this room category have access to Executive Room lounge, where they are offered free breakfast, tea or coffee, or can have a snack during the day. By the way, all guests of Hilton Singapore can shop without leaving the hotel: it has a two-floor gallery with boutiques of famous brands. The hotel offers excellent conference facilities: Hilton has 12 conference halls with maximum capacity of 600 persons.
If you plan a corporate event for a very big group, you should pay special attention to Conrad Singapore hotel (it has 590 rooms), which is situated in Marina Bay. There is an adjacent congress centre with 46 halls of different capacities. The largest hall can hold about 10 thousand persons. The hotel is also famous for its cuisine. «The Chinese restaurant of this hotel has been awarded with a Michelin star. And the second buffet restaurant is popular even with locals and travellers staying at other hotels. You can hardly find any other restaurant with such a variety of dishes. There are 12 kinds of oysters alone from all over the world» Ms Efremova notes. Both hotels have a fitness centre, a spa and an open air swimming pool on the top floor where you can enjoy a wonderful view of the city.
Olesya Andreevskaya, Special events manager of Mary Kay Russia shared her experience in holding corporate events in Singapore. A short time ago, in October this year the company arranged an incentive trip for the best Mary Kay Leaders according to the results of the seminar year. This time female participants of the trip and their husbands went to Singapore where they spent the most part of their journey and then had a three days` rest at the beaches of Indonesian island Bintan which is 45 minutes away from Singapore by ferry. The group included 35 persons. Singapore Tourism Board helped arrange the journey, it was also the sponsor of the inspection tour.
«We chose Singapore as our destination at once, and there were several reasons for it», Ms Andreevskaya said. «They include a direct flight and simple visa rules, rich culture and fascinating landmarks, one of the best airports of the world, tropical climate that let us plan our trip in any time of the year, great cuisine (Singapore is heaven for foodies!). Shopping that has fully satisfied our expectations was also very important for our group».
The speaker gave detailed information on their busy trip schedule and gave her recommendations: what places of interest are worth visiting and where you can have teambuilding. And those who plan to go to the nearest countries, Indonesia or Malaysia, from Singapore, should choose a hotel carefully, Ms Andreevskaya advised. «If in Singapore you will definitely find a high service level in any 4-5 star hotel, even 4 stars in the neighbouring countries do not guarantee high service. You should definitely inspect the hotel first», Olesya Andreevskaya advised. And the speaker’s colleague, Nadezhda Lebedeva noted that you should make sure that the dates of your trip do not fall on some large-scale events, like Formula-1 races. In case it does you should check beforehand whether all places of interest are open and function, whether the roads are not closed, and take all this into account when you plan your trip.
Julia Abarenova, customer service director, and Alexey Shikin, general director of Sshikom Creative Group, spoke about arrangement of social events in Singapore. «Corporate culture and philosophy of most companies include explicitly stated fields of social activity where the company fulfils its social responsibility», Ms Abarenova said. «Such fields are environmental protection, preservation of history and culture, support of sport and healthy lifestyle, help to children».
Representatives of Sshikom Creative Group spoke about a relatively new tool of event arrangement — social teambuilding. This tool was illustrated by a project that experts of the agency organized for top managers of 1C-Rarus not far from Singapore — on Pangan-an Island in the Philippines.
The task was to arrange an active program, definitely with the local colour, and to have teambuilding in order to establish communication between the employees. «At first we wanted to hold teambuilding as a quest», Ms Shikin says. «We had neither time to arrange the event, or an opportunity to inspect the site beforehand. Only two days before the event we went there to choose the venue and happened to visit this island. After we came up with the island, we decided to explore it. We came across a run-down house which was a school with only one class for 90 children and realized that we just had to be there, and changed the form and the concept of the event completely».
According to Ms Abarenova, the first idea was to equip the school with technical appliances, computers, TVs, but it turned out that there was no electricity on the island. Then it was decided to purchase furniture, blackboards, handout materials. The form master even asked for paper instead of copy-books, as it was more economic. The speakers noted that when the top management of the company was travelling to the island by boats, communication between them was scarce or absent at all. But when they all got to the island and understood what they were to do, everyone was so carried away by their task and the atmosphere in their team changed completely.
The event consisted of three parts: at first the company staff assembled furniture and installed it in the school, equipped the classroom with all the educational materials. Then they held sport activities for children and of course the first bell rang in the new school. And in the evening the employees had dinner where everyone discussed their experience of that action-packed day.
Everyone was very much satisfied with the work they had done. «To make a holiday for children is not the same at to lie on the beach or go shopping», general director of 1C Rarus Dmitri Kazachkov noted after the event. «The greatest luxury is the luxury of human contact. To see these children’s and their parents` joy, the teacher open new books and put them on the desks with care is worth much».
The participants of the business breakfast also shared their impressions of having social events. For example, Elena Antipova, Head of Administration & Procurement of Kärcher recollected with warmth how instead of having a New Year party, she and her colleagues brought a fir tree and presents to an orphanage in Kaluga region, where children did not even have sledges, skis or skates. «Social teambuilding is on the rise nowadays, and this is great that people become closer to each other», Marketing communications manager of Reynaers Aluminium Rus Victoria Nikolaeva says. «People sometimes have their own psychological barriers or family problems that make it difficult for them to visit an orphanage. But anyone can plant trees or paint a long unsightly fence around a huge factory together with graffiti artists».
Sales manager of Etihad Airways Maria Zamova held her speech in the final part of the educational seminar. «Despite the fact that Etihad Airways is the national UAE carrier, it is not mere chance that we go to this destination. Our airline carries out flights to Singapore with connection in Abu Dhabi. And this year the frequency of flights from Moscow to UAE capital has increased — now the airline makes three flights per day to this destination» Ms Zamova said. Besides, the flight is 14 hours long — the difference is not big when compared to a direct flight. A connection flight may even be more convenient, as you can leave the plane and get a little exercise in the airport when you change flights.
The speaker also demonstrated several videos of the new product of the airline — Airbus A380, on board of which Etihad Airways offers a completely new service class — Residence. Three-room suites in the Airbus consist of a family room, a bedroom and an individual bathroom and are suited for 1-2 passengers. A butler is at your disposal during the flight. The participants also saw the video about Boeing 787 — the Dreamliner with an air humidifying system and large illuminators that is expected to be launched on the route Moscow — Abu Dhabi next June. Etihad Airways will offer a three class composition (first, economy and business classes) in this plane in the Russian market.
During the entertainment break Natalia Gonchugova, a carving expert, held a master class — the participants of the seminar carved flowers from fruits and vegetables with interest thus creating a bunch of flowers. The event ended with a lottery that included two certificates for a cake, two vouchers for a business breakfast in the Savoy and other prizes provided by the partners of the seminar. After that anyone who wanted could have an excursion around the hotel.
Natalia Travova