Meeting News - January 28, 2008 - (Page 18)

International continued from page 16 nation’s immigrant population) currently work in tourism. MICE Roars in Lion City Singapore—Space inventory for meetings, incentives, conventions, and expositions in predominantly Chinese Singapore is off to a blazing start in the Year of the Rat, with new and freshened group facilities being introduced amid the ongoing construction of a massive Las Vegas Sands resort, the destination’s first gaming center. The Singapore Flyer, a Ferris wheel topping more than 500 feet (42 stories) tall, is offering its 28 capsules as private meeting spaces for up to 30 guests each upon its launch in March. The Flyer will be able to host small meetings, cocktail receptions, award ceremonies, and other events. Rates will be based on half-hour “flights”; more information is available at www.singaporeflyer.com.sg. The Flyer is expected to surpass the Star of Nachang, in Nachang, U.S.’s AEG Buys Into Aussie Venue Operator Los Angeles—AEG Inc., the owner or operator of many U.S. convention centers, arenas, stadiums, and theaters, acquired an undisclosed share of Brisbane, Australia-based counterpart Ogden IFC and formed an Asia-Pacific joint venture called AEG Odgen in mid-December. Through Ogden IFC’s assets, AEG Ogden already has 65 venues in its portfolio, including the convention centers of Kuala Lumpur, New Dehli, and Brisbane. The venture plans to expand with operator agreements throughout the Far East, as well as the Middle East and Africa. AEG is behind the L.A. Live mixed-use area in Los Angeles. China, and the London Eye as the world’s tallest Ferris wheel. It will be located on Marina Bay, an integrated retail, entertainment, business, and residential area under development that will be led by the Marina Bay Sands—reported to be the world’s costliest gaming paradise—opening in 2009. Las Vegas Sands plans to build 2,500 luxury hotel rooms, 1.2 million sf of meeting and convention space, and 1 million sf of retail space and restaurants for the resort. Meanwhile, in the Orchard Road shopping and entertainment area of Singapore, a 299-room, 20-story St. Regis Hotel opened late last month. The fourth St. Regis property in Asia-Pacific—and the first in Southeast Asia—it has 16,000 sf of meeting space, including a 7,600plus-sf ballroom that can hold 800 guests. There are six F&B options and a Remède Spa on property. Singapore Flyer will take groups up into the sky beginning in March. Not to be outdone in the area, Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts takes over the Negara on Claymore hotel as of Feb. 1, rebranding it as the Pan Pacific Orchard. The 200-room property, which has 5,000 sf of meeting space, has undergone “extensive” refurbishment to align with the hotelier’s branding. The property features 48 suites in a four-level “hotel within a hotel.” Two restaurants, a spa, and a mineral water swimming pool round out the features of Pan Pacific’s second Singapore hotel. The sister Pan Pacific Singapore, meanwhile, has unveiled renovations of its guest rooms featuring a technology bent. Aside from upgrades in soft furnishings, furniture, and bathroom fixtures, all 775 guest rooms have gotten either 32- or 37-inch flat-screen TVs wired to Bose audio systems and custom-made “AV portals” that allow connectivity for laptop computers, digital cameras, camcorders, and MP3 players. Plus, each room has a bedside controller for adjusting the drapes, sun filters, lights, air-conditioning, and alarm clock. The hotel has 24 meeting rooms totaling 32,000 sf, including a pillarless ballroom for 800 guests. r www.meetingnews.com Cancun Gallery Brings a Touch of Arts to the Resort Locale n unexpected venue has opened up that may prove versatile for Cancun groups. In late November, the Museo Pelopidas art gallery premiered, housing a permanent collection of Van Gogh, Monet, and other master recreations. It is located in the hotel zone, inside the upscale La Isla Plaza retail complex. The venue has more than 6,200 sf of event space and full audiovisual equipment, suited for groups of up to 720 attendees. “It is certainly something that’s different for Cancun,” said Wanda Taboada, a Museo Pelopidas official, during its first-ever group event, which was held in December and attended by MeetingNews. Taboada said the gallery can host a variety of functions, from standing receptions to fully catered sit-down dinners, all amid a woodthemed decor and master paintings that are suspended A from the ceiling and can be moved aside. Its first event was a standing cocktail reception of 80 guests for medical center Hospiten Cancun. 18 MeetingNews January 28, 2008 http://www.singaporeflyer.com.sg http://www.meetingnews.com

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