Hotels making concerted push into MICE market

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 09/23/2007 3:12 PM

I. Christianto, Contributor, Jakarta

The expanding MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) market in Jakarta has prompted star-rated hotels in the capital to improve their facilities for visitors who travel for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions as well as to provide improved facilities with more cost effectiveness with no compromise on quality.

Jakarta is starting to once again be considered a favorite MICE destination, internationally and domestically. The city is believed to have vast potential for MICE tourism.

To attract more international visitors, the Jakarta Tourism Office has participated in various travel and tourism events including the Korea World Travel Fair, and particularly the International Meeting and Exhibition event in Frankfurt to promote the city as a promising destination for MICE.

As the metropolis is expanding and offers more opportunities for such a service, several star-rated hotels run by international or local management firms have completed renovations or reconstruction of parts of their facilities to meet what is needed by today's MICE market and business travelers.

Many hotels boast that they offer first-class facilities with state-of-the-art technology for MICE visitors while providing star-rated accommodations, comfort and service with value added services and rates.

Yudith Nurwulan, director of public relations of Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, said that her hotel had seen a rising demand for MICE services from year to year.

""We are very pleased that despite the travel advisories (on Indonesia issued by a number of foreign governments), Indonesia, including Jakarta, is becoming another international option for the MICE market. Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta has considerable growth each year from different market segments; the corporate sector, government and NGOs,"" she said, adding that the name of Four Seasons, which runs over 65 properties worldwide, had supported cross-selling opportunities in Jakarta.

The hotel enjoyed a busy 2005 resulting in an 85 to 90 percent occupancy rate for function rooms each month while the booking cycle did not change and the lead time ranged from one month to two years, she said.

She added that the MICE sector in Jakarta had recouped in recent years. ""The demand for MICE services has been on the increase in the last two years. The market sentiment for 2005 looks extremely favorable for the hotel and tourism sector. As hotels in Jakarta are the yardsticks for business travel to Indonesia, we anticipate a healthy growth in the meetings market as well as guestroom occupancy for the upscale market. We foresee that in the coming years, Jakarta as well as other cities in Indonesia will be choice venues for many regional and international meetings due to the opportunities that lie at the doorstep of the investor.""

The public relations manager of Hotel Borobudur, Fransiska Kansil, and director of communications of Hotel Mulia Senayan, Romy Herlambang, have similar opinions.

""The MICE sector has high potential to grow given the increasing demand for meetings, seminars and exhibitions from local private firms, governmental offices as well as international parties. What we, the hotel players, need to do is improve services, from Wi-Fi facilities in each meeting room to security affairs,"" Kansil said.

According to Romy, despite the EU's decision to ban Indonesian airlines from flying to the region due to safety concerns and the absence of national branding, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism plans to proceed with ""Visit Indonesia Year 2008."" The year was chosen to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the nation's Awakening Day. More than 100 MICE, culinary, cultural, sports and lifestyle events are being prepared to attract visitors during the year, she said.

Offering a variety of tailor-made and off the shelf packages and services, MICE facilities at star-rated hotels in Jakarta have undeniably attracted major meetings, conventions, seminars, workshops and exhibitions, with events hosted by many private corporations, government agencies and civil society organizations.

Many hotels boast that their ballrooms are kitted out with the latest audio and visual technology. Other function rooms are also prepared to comfortably host events with an auditorium-layout or another style. There are rooms available for conferences and events of varying sizes and budgets. The rooms are as practical as they are flexible.

Equipment like LCD projection screen, plasma TVs, soundproof partitions and computer-controlled spotlights even have a team of engineers on stand-by for assistance with all the technicalities. For any given event or conference, some hotels are able to theme rooms and cuisine to a business' needs from Western concepts to traditional Chinese touches with a wide range of prices.

Apparently, the hotels are making a concerted push into the MICE market with the focus on exclusivity, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

The Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, for example, claims the Four Seasons International Brand awareness and legendary service are key attractions. The hotel has a total of 14 meeting rooms, ranging from 56 square meters to 980 square meters, which can accommodate from 10 to 1,800 persons.

""Our newly renovated ballroom and function rooms offer an elegant, warm ambience and are equipped with the very latest business requirements. All events at Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta enjoy the same standard of cuisine featured in the hotel's restaurants, which offer a choice of exquisite Cantonese fare, Indonesian and other Asian and International cuisine,"" said Nurwulan, adding that the proximity of the hotel to downtown made it an ideal choice for events and conferences.

Kansil said that Hotel Borobudur had the well-known Flores Ballroom that can accommodate up to 1,200 persons, as well as 23 meetings rooms located in the lobby area, third and 19th floors.

""We now offer a video-conference package as there are more demands for meeting rooms with such a facility,"" she said, adding that MICE events accounted for 30 to 40 percent of the hotel's total revenue.

Meanwhile, Hotel Mulia, with 15 meeting rooms and the largest grand ballroom measuring 2,500 square meters, offers the widest selection of conference and banqueting facilities in Jakarta. Romy said the hotel had a choice of three ballrooms and 15 breakout rooms to meet customers' demands for any occasion.

She added that the hotel provided meeting planners for a one-stop solution for all events, from meetings to themed breaks, meals, accommodation, transportation and city tour arrangements, with the events services team and dedicated events concierge taking care of all the arrangements.

MICE events, including seminars, meetings, conferences and exhibitions, at Hotel Mulia averaged 40 to 50 per month, she added.

MICE tourism is considered to have vast potential as it can make turnover much higher than any other kind of tourism, presuming that MICE travelers always consist of several hundred travelers who have big budgets and use many kinds of services. The future of MICE tourism in the country depends not only on how sophisticated a hotel's facilities are but also on the quality of services from all related aspects like transportation, travel agencies, souvenir shops, etc.

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