Wine lovers take note, there is a conference just for you (!), and a number of hotels have been awarded for their business offering. This is the MICE News wrap for the week.
If you have any MICE news to share, please email Kate on kate@travelmonitor.com.au.
2019 Wine Media Conference
Registrations are now open for the 2019 Wine Media Conference, to be held in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales from October 10-12, 2019. Founded in 2008 as the Wine Bloggers Conference, this conference attracts wine bloggers, wine writers, and wine influencers who write, photograph, and video about wines and the wine industry. Australian Media Partners include Winestate Magazine, National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the Halliday Wine Companion. The Agenda includes sessions on state of the wine writing industry, social media, writing, technology, community building, career growth, and marketing. For more information or to register, please visit www.winemediaconference.org or email mailto:karen@zephyrconferences.com.
Marriott celebrates win at HM Awards 2019
Asia Pacific Hotelier award won by Craig S Smith of Marriot International received on his behalf by Sean Hunt and presented by the HM Magazine team.
Marriott International has once again been recognised for its commitment to exceptional quality and service, taking home four awards and multiple commendations at the 2019 HM Awards. Craig S. Smith, President and Managing Director of Asia Pacific, took out the esteemed title of Asia-Pacific Hotelier of the Year at the industry’s night of nights. The award comes in recognition of his remarkable leadership during what has been a significant year for Marriott in the region – the company relaunched Marriott Bonvoy, its travel program, and continues to grow its footprint, targeting 1,000 hotels and resorts open in Asia Pacific by the end of 2020.
BLLA Soft-Launches New Website
BLLA (Boutique & Lifestyle Leaders Association) is re-energising and extending its leading brand with the debut of two bold websites offering a host of benefits and enhanced features for hotel members and boutique-loving customers. Continuing to successfully reinvent and expand the global boutique experience, BLLA has launched Stay-Boutique.com which offers the first-ever Master List of the world’s authentic boutique and lifestyle hotels that are bookable on the site, along with integrated City Guides showcasing boutique businesses. The new StayBoutique site can be found at stay-boutique.com, while the newly designed BLLA site can be found at blla.org. More information on the launch and purpose is found here.
Hyatt wins award for business
Hyatt’s Grand Hyatt brand has been named the ‘Best Business Hotel Brand in the World’ at the 2019 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards for the 15th time. Nine Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt hotels, listed below, were also voted ‘Best Business Hotel’ in their respective gateway cities by the publication’s readers:
- Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok
- Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
- Grand Hyatt Jakarta
- Grand Hyatt Macau
- Grand Hyatt Melbourne
- Grand Hyatt Shanghai
- Park Hyatt Saigon
- Park Hyatt Sydney
- Park Hyatt Tokyo
These prestigious accolades follow the inaugural Stella Awards presented by Meetings and Conventions Asia in August 2019 which recognised Hyatt as ‘Best Meetings Hotel Chain’ and Grand Hyatt Seoul as ‘Best Meetings Hotel’ in South Korea.
