Meeting News - April 21, 2008 - (Page 11)

Edited by William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com International Benchmark Plants Foothold in Panama City Going with hotels, not conference centers, company sets up Latin America expansion The Woodlands, TX—Known more for its conference centers, Benchmark Hospitality International is in Central America for the first time with the construction of the Orchid luxury hotel in Panama City. The 170-suite hotel, which will be outfitted with a large business complex with meeting facilities, is the first of three planned hotels in the Panama City area to be operated by Benchmark. “This is an exciting opportunity as we embark on our expansion into Latin America,” said chairman and CEO Burt Cabanas, who alluded to the moves in an earlier one-on-one interview with MeetingNews (Feb. 11 MN, p. 12). And, the announcement quickly follows news of Benchmark’s expansion in Japan, where it began a new subsidiary and publicized two conference center developments (March 24 MN, p. 24). Like the Orchid, the second hotel will be in Panama City’s financial district, while the third property will be an oceanfront resort hotel about an hour from the city. The second property will break ground in six months and the resort in 10 to 12 months. The Orchid, a 17-story tower, will be ready for service in December 2009. Its business complex will feature two floors of meeting rooms, including a ballroom and a boardroom. Though dimensions were not furnished at press time, Juan Carlos Contalba, Benchmark’s director of international development, said the facilities will have the meetingsfriendly features found in the company’s conference centers, like ergonomic chairs and tack walls. Asked why Benchmark elected to go with business hotels rather than conference centers, Contalba said the decision was due to market demand for the former. The properties will seek out mainly U.S. inbound transient and group business, mixed with local and regional meetings and conventions. Described as central to shopping, casinos, restaurants, and nightlife, the Orchid will also have a spa, which will offer customized treatments via five rooms; a pool; and a tapas-style restaurant with a bar. Accor Pulls Strings In Far East Market Hotelier to seed Pullman brand across Asia-Pacific Shanghai—European hotelier Accor is taking its new Pullman brand into China in a big way with five planned property openings within the next two years. As well, Asia-Pacific figures to be a major market, as Accor intends to have a 100-hotel Pullman lineup in the region by 2015. Worldwide for the brand, the company aims to have 56 hotels by year end and 300 properties by 2015. Pullman is Accor’s business brand aimed at international hub cities and meetings. Accor launched the brand in December with 10 properties in France, Germany, and Belgium. In China, last month it opened the Pullman Dongguan Forum, a 260room hotel in the city of Dongguan, about 60 miles east of Guangzhou. That property is to be followed by the 419-room Pullman Beijing E-Park, which has a pre-Olympics launch of July set by Accor. Beijing E-Park will have a 15,000-sf pillarless ballroom and five “small and medium-sized” meeting rooms. Other properties are planned in the cities of Tianjin, Sanya, and Hohhot. Accor’s Asia-Pacific chairman and COO, Michael Issenberg, said the regional Pullman portfolio will be a mix of new builds and reflaggings. The growth curve in the region figures to be exponential, with 18 Pullmans expected by 2009; the first Far East property was launched in January, the 386-room Pullman Bangkok King Power, which has nearly 11,400 sf of meeting space. Brand-wide, Pullman aims to grow by 25 hotels across the world each year. By end of 2008, the brand will have a presence in 23 countries in Europe, Asia, the Mideast, and South America. www.meetingnews.com The Orchid is set to bloom. Mexico Pursues Associations Washington, DC—Association planners could be getting more Mexico meeting suggestions from their bosses as the Mexico Tourism Board has signed up for a custom marketing platform with the American Society of Association Executives & the Center for Association Leadership. The alliance will give Mexico exposure at ASAE events, access to the trade group’s members, and opportunities like joint promotions. Involved is Mexico’s hosting of future CEO Symposiums, which are ASAE educational conferences attended by chief executives, officers, and key staff of associations. “This is a significant step for increasing the visibility of Mexico among ASAE members and the association community,” said Eduardo Chaillo, Mexico Tourism Board’s director for the U.S. and Canada. Study Shows Profile of Inbound Finnish Meetings Helsinki, Finland—A study commissioned by the Finland Convention Bureau indicates that the country remains untapped by U.S. corporate meetings and incentives. The study looked at Finland’s meetings and incentives where at least 40 percent of group participants came from outside the country. It tallied a total of 4,950 such events—750 of them incentive pro- grams—for a total of 143,000 attendees. They generated nearly $196 million in revenue for Finland. Most of the participants were from Spain, France, and Germany. German, Russian, and Spanish companies held most of the foreign events. Some other facts and figures: G Thirty-six percent of the incentive programs had a meeting or a training event. G Meetings and incentive programs averaged three days. G Average daily cost per corporate attendee was $310; average daily cost per incentive participant was $520. G Seventy-one percent of groups had less than 50 attendees. G High season is January to March. H April 21, 2008 MeetingNews 11 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/mn021108/index.php?startid=12 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/mn021108/index.php?startid=12 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/mn032408/index.php?startid=24 http://www.meetingnews.com

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