Wow Macau!

There are few cities anywhere in the world that have grown at the break-neck speed seen in Macau over the past 10 years. Corporate clients have been quick to capitalise on the premier business facilities in this tantalising and vibrant city and Macau is quickly becoming a regional centre for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE).

Supported by a booming economy and in-flow of funds from initiatives rolled out by the Macau Government Tourist Office, the city now boasts an extensive choice of affordable convention and meeting facilities.

Like chips on the roulette table, the numbers are beginning to stack up on what sets Macau apart as the natural choice for corporate meetings and conferences. For businesses in Hong Kong, it is just a short hop on a super fast ferry to find the perfect venue, in refreshing, dynamic surroundings. In 2009, a grand total of 1,485 MICE events were run in Macau, with well over 600,000 attendees. Over the same year, quarterly growth in event numbers was recorded at over 40%, with the positive trend set to continue through 2010 and beyond.

With the aim of further benefiting additional MICE events coming to Macau, the Macau Government Tourist Office offers generous market stimulation packages for company organisers hosting events within the special administrative region. The Strategic MICE Market Stimulation Program (SMMSP) was first launched in May 2009, and due to its overwhelming popularity, has now been extended until 31 December 2010. The size of the compensation available under the SMMSP is dependent on both the scale of the event and the number of overseas delegates in attendance. Organizers of MICE events are offered support, including financial subsidies, tailor-made to their specific requirements, under the programme. Support includes accommodation rebates, speaker sponsorship, and food and beverage allowances. Potential events may also be eligible for fully sponsored site inspections and bid assistance. All MICE events confirmed before the end of 2010 are eligible for financial subsidies and other support under the programme, even if the events are scheduled beyond this cut-off date.

So far, the programme has already supported, from various organizers worldwide, 67 meetings and conventions, 36 exhibitions and 62 incentive programmes.

For example, the group with a minimum of 100 overseas delegates staying at least two consecutive nights in a local hotel and have at least three full day meetings qualify for 10% accommodation support, 400 F&B support per head and key note speakers…

The explosive growth in demand for MICE venues in the former Portuguese colony is well serviced by the establishment in recent years of numerous combined hotels and convention complexes, well supported by modern public infrastructure. In recent years, the rapid increase in the number of available conference facilities and guest rooms has facilitated Macau moving forward as a major contender in the MICE industry. Macau boasts a huge range of diverse MICE facilities including: the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center, the Macau Forum, the Tourism Activities Center, the World Trade Center, the Macau Cultural Center, The Macau Fisherman’s Wharf Exhibition and Convention Center, the Macau East Asian Games Dome Exhibition and Convention Center, the Venetian Casino Exhibition and Convention Center and the City of Dreams. With the continued emergence of MICE facilities, Macau is set to further broaden its reach globally and enhance its portfolio of visitor sources. Another clear advantage Macau has as an international MICE venue is that charges for hosting meetings in Macau are often lower than those in neighbouring cities, while delegates are still able to enjoy an excellent standard of service and facilities.

The Grand Hyatt Macau is a showcase MICE venue, with one entire floor dedicated to event space. The Grand Ballroom area boasts an expansive space that can handle 2,500 conference attendees. The ballroom is also available for banqueting functions and VIPs can be accommodated in a special area, the Salao do Teatro, a showcase kitchen designed to allow corporate guests to indulge their own culinary skills and friendly rivalry by whipping up a meal for the other event delegates.

For al fresco events, the Grand Hyatt’s Pool Deck offers both the atmosphere and space to hold a large, more informal event.

The nearby Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel is a hotel and convention complex, which since opening two years ago, has rapidly established itself as one of the premier MICE hotels in Macau, with six exhibition halls. The venue has won several prestigious awards including the CEI Asia Industry Award for Asia’s Best MICE Hotel, two years in a row. An integrated facility for MICE and entertainment, the facility offers 3,000 suites; 108 meetings rooms; 75,000 sq. meters of exhibition space and a 15,000 seat arena in addition to 30 restaurants.

Newer still is the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which opened its doors in Macau in the summer of 2010, which caters to smaller functions, with a ballroom capable of hosting just over 300 guests. The original hotel is still close to the ferry pier and operates under the same Group, but has been renovated and rebranded as the Grand Lapa Hotel.

At the other end of the timescale is the Grand Lisboa—the grand old dame of Macau. Owned by legendary gaming entrepreneur Stanley Ho and constructed in the late 1960s, the venue is also surprisingly well appointed for incentive groups. The hotel is a venue, steeped in history and tradition but also capable of putting on the Ritz with white-glove service. The diamond-shaped grand ballroom offers a unique space for events and a fleet of Bentleys is available to chauffeur delegates around Macau.

For a venue with a little more attitude and altitude, the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre provides a more adventurous MICE alternative. The Observation Lounge—perched at 220 metres above sea level—not only offers sweeping views of the Pearl River as a backdrop for business events, but also a range of corporate team building opportunities. The Macau Tower offers the more intrepid MICE delegates three team-building, and nerve-testing, activities designed for the Tower: bungee jumps; Skywalk X—utilising the world’s first overhead safety system; and SkyJump—utilising fan descenders to let guests fly at 75km/h without rebounding or inverting. Claire Saunders, Managing Director, MCI Hong Kong pointed out the unique attributes of the MICE venue and urged attendees to rise to at least one of the challenges on offer. She said, “The Tower Walk, and particularly the Jump, really is unforgettable and guaranteed to get the adrenaline racing through your system. We needed a venue that enhanced delegates’ experience of Macau and the views are terrific.” She added that the 360° Cafe was also able to offer an exclusive section enabling the delegation to dine together before being briefed for the afternoon’s team-building event.

Macau is rapidly becoming a team-building location of choice and multi-activity days are very popular, where team-building events can be combined with physical & mental team challenges. Such team building events range from light-hearted fun activity days to encourage team bonding, to sports and team games, to full-blown adventure activities. One such event was the World Heritage Treasure Hunt and earlier this year a group of 400 staff raced around the city looking for clues, working together as a team and getting a whirlwind introduction to the heritage of Macau to boot.

According to Darren Kerr, Executive Producer, Luminous Asia, “Macau is the next hot incentive destination in Asia,” Kerr speaks from experience, having organised ten MICE events in Macau over the past few years for clients including HSBC, Louis Vuitton and Cathay Pacific. He added, “Those thinking ahead of the pack have already discovered that Macau is a sensational and safe destination for MICE events. What we enjoy most is conceiving business event experiences that are not easily forgotten—discovering ancient forts, bravely leaping into the blue, of speeding go-karts meets and special egg tarts, all in a single day.”

As well as attracting companies from Hong Kong and around the region for meetings and conferences, Macau is also capitalising on its potential to attract interest from further afield, with groups from around the globe more easily able to explore the enclave’s wide range of entertainment and sporting options and cutting-edge business facilities. Delegates flying in will benefit from the plan to implement a HK$400 million upgrade of Macau International Airport. This includes new and improved immigration counters, boarding gates and terminal facilities. These enhancements are part of an ambitious five-year, HK$5 billion project to double the airport’s current capacity to 12 million passengers annually. On the ground, a light rail system is slated to open in 2011, to accommodate increased visitor traffic between the Macau peninsula and the Cotai Strip, which will then link the Chinese border to the airport.

With continued facilities and infrastructure diversification, Macau is now busy grooming skilled staff to service this increase in corporate events. HR in the service sectors has certainly got their work out, as Macau continues to draw more MICE events in the future.