I'VE discovered something even better than watching True Blood on my laptop in the bath. Watching True Blood on my laptop in the bath on the 68th floor of Beijing's tallest building.
I'm staying in a grand premier room at China World Summit Wing, Shangri-La's second hotel in the Chinese capital. Opened in late 2010, the 278-room five-star hotel occupies the top 16 floors of the 330-metre-tall China World Tower in the city's central business district, about 15 minutes' drive from Tiananmen Square.
"The art of life at the peak of Beijing" is the hotel's slogan. Even after an explanation from a delightful staff member, I'm not entirely sure what it means but who cares as my gaze is torn from vampire Eric to the exquisite dusty pink view through the huge bathroom window as the sun sets over the mind-bogglingly vast metropolis. (Pollution, I later learn, contributes to the city's famed sunsets. Whatever they're doing, it's working.)
The bathroom also has a rain shower, double vanity, TV installed in the mirror and L'Occitane toiletries. Suites have Bulgari potions and lotions. The 75-square-metre grand premier room is the biggest of three room categories. There are five types of suites above that, including a 296-square-metre presidential suite.
A misty mountain scene above the king bed dominates the bedroom. All over the city, funky "design hotels" have sprung up, featuring edgy art works and futuristic finishes.
This hotel, however, takes a more traditional path with its elegant, understated look, perhaps intended to make high-end business travellers feel at home rather than shamelessly appealing to fashion-forward jet-setters.
The pool, gym and day spa, on the other hand, are knock-your-socks-off gorgeous. Rows of shiny new fitness machines line a light-filled space on the 78th floor. On the other side of the building is the piece de resistance, a 25-metre infinity pool overlooking the city, with comfy lounges and lush plants lending a swanky resort feel.
A lifeguard on duty must have one of the cruisiest jobs in Beijing. The pool is deserted each time I visit. I splash about in a clumsy attempt at swimming laps and each time I pause to catch my breath, which is often, he quietly appears to ensure I haven't drowned.
The relaxation space is more my speed, especially a delightful herbal sauna with pinprick lights in the style of a hamam, and a bunch of fresh ginger, lemongrass, cinnamon and lemon resting over the source of the steam. It feels like being dunked in a warm cauldron of chai.
Blissing out continues at CHI, The Spa. Therapists in six dimly lit, sumptuously decorated treatment rooms offer a range of scrubs, wraps, facials and massages. For a cool 2580 yuan ($400), the Ultimate Indulgence offers a bath or steam shower, milk-and-honey wrap, massage and oxygenating facial.
There are six restaurants or bars at China World Summit Wing, offering fare ranging from Cantonese fine dining to modern Japanese and an "international grill" – complete with Aussie beef – at Grill 79, where breakfast is also served. Offered a choice of Chinese or Western-style breakfasts, I opt for the local selections. The noodle soup and dim sum are fine but not a patch on the flavours and textures of street food I sample outside the hotel.
Dinner is another story, as the high-rise restaurant becomes a buzzy hub for travellers and well-heeled locals, lured by the interesting food and views to the Forbidden City. A ban on smoking in restaurants is enforced here, thankfully, unlike at many other eateries around the city.
The hotel uses Imperial Tours (imperialtours.net) to organise trips for guests and their service is truly five-star. Don't tell vampire Eric, but lunch in a turret on a quiet stretch of the Great Wall of China at Jinshanling rivals any episode of True Blood. Rose petals are scattered on the ground and a chef is on hand to serve the meals at a table – complete with tablecloth and chilled white wine.
Imperial Tours also works with a network of contemporary art experts, who conduct tours through the city's vibrant art districts, 798 and the newer Caochangdi. Trips can be tailored according to guests' level of interest in art.
While we're in the hood, we take in lunch at Green T. House (green-t-house.com), a seriously chic restaurant in a beautiful white space where green tea is incorporated in some form into every dish. Pumpkin soup is served in hollowed-out pumpkins as white birds chirp away in ornate wire cages. This dish is a triumph but some other offerings are so fancy that the presentation overpowers the flavours.
Beijing is exploding in size. Extremes of poverty and wealth are on display at every turn. I spy more luxury cars speeding around the streets in a few days than I would in an entire year in Sydney.
As the city's population rockets towards 20 million, plans have been approved for high-rise towers even taller than the China World Summit Wing. For now, at least, a stay at this hotel leaves me feeling on top of the world.
The writer was a guest of China World Summit Wing.
Trip notes
Where China World Summit Wing at China World Trade Centre, No. 1 Jianguomenwai Avenue, Beijing, China, shangri-la.com.
How much Executive room from 5290 yuan ($823) a night, including breakfast. Grand premier room from 5980 yuan a night, including breakfast.
Top marks Some of the most comfortable pillows I have ever slept on.
Black mark There's a shaver socket but no power points in the bathroom for a hair straightener.
Don't miss A cheeky cocktail on level 80 at Atmosphere, the highest bar in Beijing.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/style-thats-right-up-there-20111230-1pf9b.html#ixzz2B1dobdM7
By Nancy Kim, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Imperial Tours
The intriguing tapestry of China’s robust culture, rich history and inspiring future make it an appealing destination for incentive groups seeking an unparalleled itinerary filled with exceptional ‘wow’ moments on the international stage. A thrilling incentive program can be successfully crafted while keeping budget considerations in mind and without compromising the quality of the experience for the deserving participants.
Customization of an event based on a client’s individual desires and budget is crucial to the success of any incentive program. China is certainly a ‘good value’ destination in terms of cost even at the five-star level (with a wide variety of price points and experiences available at the high end), and the impeccable service standards here are unmatched. When orchestrating a bespoke incentive in China, I recommend planners consider the following five tips to maximize their group’s budget and deliver indelible memory-making experiences.
1. Consider the type of hotel and room category in each city. Determine your accommodation priorities in order to carefully select the appropriate hotel for your group. If you’re heading to a beach destination in China, where the itinerary might be laid-back and more time spent in the room, then you might look to allocate a higher budget for hotel accommodations. But, if your group is staying in a major city and rooms will primarily be used for sleeping, then the budget can be shifted with a heavier emphasis on off-site activities and experiences. Once you know the type of hotel, you can also manipulate room category to get the most for your client’s money.
2. Generate one ‘wow dinner’ per city. Gastronomic offerings leave a distinct lasting impression so we recommend one ‘wow’ meal in each city visited and then less money allocated to other meals. Generally, dining experiences can begin with private events at well-known quality dining establishments (such as M on the Bund in Shanghai or Lan in Beijing) and then progress in cost from there to catered events in semi-public spaces such as art galleries or other high-profile venues. There is a marked difference in price range between a traditional restaurant (even on the high-end) and a venue with exclusive, limited access. Some of what Imperial has organized for incentive groups include a special banquet on a less-populated section of the Great Wall (with champagne and white-linen tablecloths), a private meal in the Cheng Courtyard where menus from famous meals of Chinese modern history can be replicated, a spectacular gala in an exclusive section of the Forbidden City, and dinner inside the Water Cube (where U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps won eight Olympic gold medals), to name a few.
3. Think ‘thrilling entertainment’ at different parts of the program. In the same vain as delivering gastronomic ‘wow’ moments, there is a range of entertainment options depending on budget, and you can choose to do one in each city while reducing costs for entertainment during other parts of the program. For example, the traditional musician who opened the Beijing Olympics, a high-tech company leading the way in digital entertainment, or a well-known Chinese contemporary band are at the high-end of the spectrum. At lower price levels, you can invite a middle-range of musicians or opt for lions dancers, drummers and other forms of traditional entertainment.
4. Expand activities beyond ‘the traditional’ with enriching experiences that reflect ‘social responsibility.’ An ideal complement to a China incentive program is mixing the ‘must-see’ sites of a destination with activities that yield personal enrichment. Corporate Social Responsibility is a high priority for us at Imperial Tours (as we support the improvement of children’s welfare and environmental sustainability) so one of the activities we can arrange is a half-day visit to a local school – a journey that feeds the spirit but doesn’t break the bank. Groups even have the opportunity for sponsorship – whether in the form of equipment for a school or subsidizing a student’s education (and groups can often meet the children they are sponsoring, such as in Shanghai). These types of activities are actually a cost-effective strategy when arranging an itinerary, and the personal rewards are invaluable.
5. Select speakers and experts from industries who would have an interest in meeting with your client’s organization. Creating a mutually beneficial opportunity can reduce costs for an experience (such as a panel discussion or shared meal). China fascinates people in almost any industry so talking with international counterparts can be extremely informative and inspiring – and this also allows an incentive in China to be positioned as part ‘education’ and part ‘play.’ Integral to matching incentive groups with speakers is possessing the right connections. As this can be challenging for companies not based in China, Imperial can assist through our insider access afforded by personal contacts we’ve cultivated over more than a decade in business.
It is imperative to ensure that the character of the program matches the goals of the incentive group. A group themed around China as forward-thinking will require progressive venues and experiences, while a more conservative viewpoint would necessitate a more traditional itinerary. Value for money is not just about the hotel room, the meals and the activities – it also encompasses what the company spending the money hopes to derive from the trip.
China is a compelling draw for incentive groups across diverse industries. The country is steadily carving out its way on the world stages for incentives – and we hope you’ll join us here soon.
Nancy Kim, Founder and Managing Partner, of Imperial Tours along with her husband, Guy Rubin grew up in Seoul, Lugano and Beverly Hills. With a degree in art and many years of study here in the US as well as Rome, South Korea, China and Japan she got involved in several archeological digs and went on to learn Mandarin and earn post-graduate degrees in London and Beijing. She’s fluent in English, Mandarin, Korean and Italian.
Those global interests led her to a career in travel, creating Imperial Tours with a focus on luxury and customization – a perfect fit for the incentive travel market. Nancy and the company has earned numerous accolades including recognition from Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure. As a result she’s provided service to celebrities and royalty and of course, meeting and incentive groups.
James Shillinglaw talks with Guy Rubin, managing partner of Imperial Tours, a Beijing-based upscale operator of customized small group and independent travel to China. Rubin discusses new destinations and top experiences in the country, as well as the emergence of a new, very modern and unexpected China for visitors.
http://www.travelpulse.com/an-interview-with-imperial-tours-guy-rubin.html
China remains one of the world’s most intriguing destinations – and one that Americans increasingly want to explore. To get an idea of the wide range of experiences this destination has to offer, we spoke with Nancy Kim and Guy Rubin, the husband-and-wife team who are managing partners of Imperial Tours, a high-end China tour operator based in Beijing but with an office in San Francisco. The company offers individually designed FIT and small group programs featuring unique experiences and destinations in China.
What do you believe higher-end American travelers are looking for in a trip to China today?
There’s a greater stress on authenticity than ever before. There’s an urge to break down the barriers to understanding what China means both in its present context and its probable effects on all of us 10 or 20 years down the line. We’ve noticed that in recent weeks and months the news media have also taken up the theme of how China will affect our future. It’s been a topic that has fired travelers for at least a year.
What are some of the unique experiences that Imperial Tours delivers for its guests?
We have a great variety of unique experiences. For those seeking authenticity, we have a democracy activist who left China after the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989 who conducts a personal tour of Tiananmen Square and helps our guests contemplate what the role of Chinese government was at the time and where it might be going forwards. A very different way of discovering history is offered by our jazz tour of Shanghai, which takes place in the evening and takes you through the jazz bars and dance halls of the 1930s to end at a contemporary jazz venue. Our guide is a historian of the period and so jazz becomes a vehicle for looking at the dynamic society of those times, which is eerily reminiscent in some ways of today’s Shanghai. Apart from those, we have some classic family experiences, such as playing table tennis against the Olympic Champion or, at a lower price, against the coach who trained her when she was a high school student. For well-connected travelers, last year we were able to arrange access to the beautiful downtown mansion of a Shanghai socialite.
What is your customer demographic – and has it changed since you launched the company?
We have always focused on providing services to the high-end of the market. Our guests are well-educated and successful travelers in the 40-75 age range. Apart from many celebrities, business leaders and royalty, we are increasingly honored to work with a number of well-known institutions, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art of San Diego, Babson College, and the Victoria and Albert Museum of London on more specialized itineraries. In 2009, we launched China Escapades, a lower-priced FIT product, which does not include the western, Chinese speaking concierge for which we are known, (in addition to the guide and driver). This has proved successful and has made our FIT services accessible to a wider audience. That said, China Escapades is itself still a high quality product and our demographic has not changed substantially as a result of this launch.
What is the range of tour programs that you offer in terms of the number of customers on the trip and length of the program?
Our FIT business is all about customizing itineraries around the personality and interests of the traveling party. We are not about fitting clients into a mold and so we have no defining range or number for clients for FIT experiences. We will do a one person, three-week FIT and we will do a 120-person incentive for 10 days. Our criteria are that the travel experience be of a high quality, since this is the segment we know and understand and have been serving for over a decade. We also run scheduled group tours. These have a low maximum of 16 persons on a group and run from 10 to 13 nights, the shortest tour visiting what we term the “essential destinations” of Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin and Shanghai.
That’s a shame, given the striking venues those countries offer to incentive groups, Roach says. Per the common wisdom among planners, the most successful incentive programs give participants an experience they can’t easily get on their own, and a major way to achieve that is to stage a special event at a venue that is not accessible without certain “connections.”
What are some of the most popular but unusual destinations in China for your customers, and why?
Travelers of an academic bent very much enjoy Dunhuang. Located at the beginning of the Silk Road, this destination’s principle attraction are the Mogao Caves, which are 492 frescoed caves recording Central Asian history from the 4th to 14th centuries, as well as the inspiration for much Chinese figurative painting. This is a world-class site in an oasis town in the middle of the world’s second largest desert. Its popularity relies on the quality of its art, the originality and exoticism of its art and a sense of authenticity that is derived from traveling to an out of the way destination lacking the polish of the major urban centers.
What destinations in China do you think will become major tourist draws in the future that maybe the rest of the world doesn't know about?
The world is familiar with Lhasa primarily as a city associated with political disputes, but it’s also an amazing cultural capital. Now that the beautiful St. Regis has opened on the roof of the world, Lhasa has suddenly become a highly desirable exotic destination for the cultural adventurer. Since 1997 when we visited for the first time, we have long been fascinated with Lhasa and the Tibetan region and have made nearly 20 trips here. We find the scenery captivating and the local culture intoxicatingly colorful.
How easy is it to get around China today in terms of modes of transport?
One of the greatest successes of China’s transport industry has been the safety record of Chinese airlines over the last 15 or so years. The airline network has had to deal with fast-paced expansion and its subsequent demands. Little thought is given to the pressure this must have placed on the developing nation. We take it for granted, and yet in this area the Chinese aviation administration deserves the highest praise and respect. Although the road network has been well expanded, few travelers are going to drive the long distances required to follow a typical itinerary. Until recently, railway lines and carriage stock have lagged in investment. Over the last two to three years, the tables have been turned and investment in rail has increased exponentially. Recently, high-speed rail links connecting many popular destinations have sprouted all over the country. The Beijing-Shanghai link, for example, has reduced travel time from to five from 12 hours so that the train will be able to compete with air service.
How easy is it to operate a private tour operator today in China?
Imperial Tours was founded in 1999, and since that time we have always felt welcome in China. Given that our business is structured on the premise of our bringing foreign currency into China, this is not surprising. What has been more challenging is changing the mores of the travel industry to operate according to our standards and expectations. For example, we operate no shopping tours, meaning our guests are not taken to commission-paying stores or restaurants. When we started operations this was unheard of and we encountered great resistance in implementing such novel practices. Even though 10 or so years later, the industry is more open to such concepts, the Chinese travel industry still tends strongly towards a pattern suitable for high-volume mass operators rather than niche high quality operators. Joining Virtuoso as an on-site in 2002 was a great boon followed by our accession to Signature’s network as a preferred supplier in 2006.
What do you see as your biggest challenges in promoting China in the U.S.?
What is marvelous about the U.S. as a free and permeable society is how open it is to outside cultures. The general tenor of opinion towards China is increasingly positive and this trend chimes well with the forecasts we are regularly shown predicting explosive growth in the inbound China market. Against this backdrop of increased interest, our greatest challenge is in raising the level of knowledge about China around the world. While most people will think of the Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors and Yangzi River with reference to China, few would quickly associate the Himalayan Mountains, the tropical South China Sea islands or one of the world’s largest deserts. There are also destinations with stunning landscapes in southern China or bafflingly advanced bronze technology on the central plains created at the time the pyramids were being built. Imperial Tours’ China Expert program, a four-part training course that we run for North America agents in November every year, aims to address this issue and open agents’ eyes to out-of-the-ordinary activities available to families, couples and travelers across China’s various luxury destinations. To register for this training, travel agents are encouraged to contact reservations@imperialtours.net.
For more information on Imperial Tours, visit www.imperialtours.net.
In an era of DIY vacations, travelers have more tools—online travel agencies, review sites, booking apps—at their fingertips than ever before. But when it comes to expert advice about a destination and customization, you can’t beat a good agent.
“Today’s agents provide insider access, learn and understand your desires and personality, and are there for you 24/7, before, during, and after your trip,” says Kimberly Wilson Wetty, co-president and co-owner of Valerie Wilson Travel.
To stay competitive in the age of TripAdvisor, agents like Wetty are trying to appeal to a younger, more tech-savvy clientele by offering what no online service can replicate: personalization. Your agent can offer options (coveted dinner reservations; last-minute romantic surprises) and handle potential mishaps (a missed flight; a dank hotel room; a hurricane; a medical emergency)—services that are well worth the planning fees, which generally range from $75 to $500, and are sometimes already built into the trip cost.
And the advocacy on your behalf doesn’t stop there: the best agents know their beats. Whether it’s South America or culinary travel, they’re already out there, scouting that emerging destination, testing the beds in a new hotel, or vetting a local outfitter.
“More small agencies are homing in on a niche,” says Brian Tan, founder and CEO of Zicasso, a service that connects people with travel advisers.
An agent’s knowledge of a destination translates into quality control and insider experiences you couldn’t arrange on your own. Chicago resident Lindsay Everest was glad she handed over the planning reins to Jet Set World Travel’s Julia P. Douglas for her honeymoon in the Maldives. “Knowing that my husband loves food and wine, Julia arranged for a private, nine-course dinner in an underground wine cellar at Soneva Gili,” says Everest, who is working with Douglas again on an upcoming trip to Bermuda.
This kind of access to special perks—ranging from deeply discounted airline seats to room upgrades—is the result of longstanding industry relationships and memberships in invitation-only travel-agent consortia and cooperatives such as Virtuoso and Signature Travel Network, which are affiliated with hundreds of hotels, airlines, and other hospitality groups.
While the benefits of getting professional advice for your trip are clear, wading through hundreds of specialists and companies can be daunting. To help you find the travel adviser who is right for you, we’ve broken out our list by areas of expertise and outlined a few key questions to ask before you book your next trip.
By George Seli
Among the tough decisions that many insurance and financial companies had to make during the height of the recession was to cut back on or eliminate international incentives. The U.S. has plenty of intriguing cities with outstanding meeting facilities, but there’s no denying the adventurous quality of heading to a foreign country and experiencing what is often a very different culture, along with historical venues that date from long before the era of the 13 American Colonies.
For Charles Lane, director of incentive travel and public relations for Green Bay, WI-based Humana, international is “without a doubt” more motivating to potential qualifiers than domestic. “Obviously we’re not going to places like suburban Green Bay, we’re taking people to nice places here on the continental 48,” he says. “But I think going overseas provides people with something that they probably would not avail themselves of, and if they did, they probably couldn’t do it without some of the imagination and access that we provide, working with vendors that enable us to get into venues that the average person couldn’t.”
Like many firms, however, Humana for several years wanted to avoid the perception that it was exporting U.S. dollars abroad and taking agents to “exotic” destinations, Lane explains. As a result, fewer annual incentive trips were held, and to strictly domestic destinations. “I’m hoping we’re making a comeback and that we find out that it’s more acceptable” to go abroad for motivational programs, he says. A small step to reintroducing international is a Puerto Rico incentive the company has proposed for next April. As a U.S. Commonwealth, Puerto Rico offers easy access and a USD-based currency, easing the logistics of meeting there.
Unlike Humana, St. Paul, MNbased Securian Financial Group is a privately held company and less subject to the pressures of perception. The firm maintained its international incentive programs throughout the economic downturn and continues to explore less-trodden ground on that front, most recently taking about 300 Chairman’s Club qualifiers to Chile and Buenos Aires, and 90 Leaders Conference qualifiers to Peru as part of the same May 2011 program. In Peru the participants experienced the modern capital city of Lima; Cusco, the capital of the Incan empire; and the picturesque Incan ruin of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, in the Andes.
Overall, the Southern Hemisphere — particularly South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand — has been rather popular lately with incentive groups, observes Koleen M. Roach, Securian’s director of meetings and conference management. There is also a “trend a little more toward what people consider the safer destinations,” she says. Countries such as Greece and Egypt suffer from unrest and may not be the first choice for insurance and financial companies looking to make a cautious reentry into the international meetings market.
That’s a shame, given the striking venues those countries offer to incentive groups, Roach says. Per the common wisdom among planners, the most successful incentive programs give participants an experience they can’t easily get on their own, and a major way to achieve that is to stage a special event at a venue that is not accessible without certain “connections.”
For a 2009 incentive to South Africa, Securian worked with Dragonfly, a local DMC that was able to obtain a permit to hold a dinner for a group of about 100 at the presidential residence, “which would be the equivalent of having an offsite dinner at the White House,” says Roach. “At the time that we were there the president wasn’t actually living in the palace but in a different home on the property. But now the current president, I understand, has moved back into the palace and nobody had lived there since Nelson Mandela, so I don’t think they’re renting it out anymore for private groups.”
Suffice it to say, the experience in retrospect turned out to be even more special. “We don’t cut any corners in this company; we know our advisors work really hard to get to the level of performance they need to qualify for these trips, and we really want to make this a great experience for them,” Roach says.
Another great experience was had in Malta, a Mediterranean country home to nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Megalithic Temples. “It’s a fabulous destination, very exotic with a vast history, and they speak English,” Roach remarks.
The latter feature is always a plus. “As exotic as my people like to think that they are, they’re always much more comfortable in an environment where they can speak their own language,” she adds. “We had our gala dinner at the MCC (Mediterranean Conference Centre), which is one of the oldest buildings in Malta.”
Erected by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1574, the MCC is located in Valletta, Malta’s capital and itself a UNESCO site. The building is adjacent to Fort St. Elmo and overlooks the Grand Harbour. All of Malta’s attractions are easily accessible given the island’s size. “You’re only 20 minutes away from anything,” says Roach. “If you’ve driven 25 minutes you’re likely in the water.” Indeed, Roach advises planners to consider the amount of transportation to any prospective offsite activity: “ ‘We were on buses for too long’ is a common complaint,” she says.
Among Malta’s 16 five-star hotels and 41 four-star hotels are the 439-room Grand Hotel Excelsior (43,055 sf of meeting space) and the 136-room Phoenicia Hotel (meeting space for up to 300 attendees), both located five minutes away from the MCC.
One of the site decisions a planner must make when going international is whether to book an independent property like the Excelsior or Phoenicia, or one that is part of a global brand. Independent properties do tend to create a more indigenous experience for attendees, but if a planner has done significant domestic business with Marriott or Starwood, for example, there may be a certain negotiating leverage in booking a hotel in that brand overseas. Plus, it’s easier to know what to expect in terms of quality and service level.
Roach typically takes this approach with U.S. hoteliers who have a global presence. “You tap into those relationships and they can really help you,” she says. She has found that independent hotels in other countries sometimes “struggle with large group business because it really cuts into their leisure and business traveler service that they’re very committed to.”
For example, in negotiating with a hotelier based in Buenos Aires, “I wanted to use the property for six nights in a row, and when they saw that the size of my block was basically a buyout, they wouldn’t do it,” Roach relates. “The thought of turning away their business and leisure travelers was not something that they could process. They did end up giving me three nights at a total buyout, but they wouldn’t give me six. Still, the hotel did a phenomenal job for us. And once we were actually there, I think they fully understood the amount of revenue that a large group can bring into a hotel. After we left, they said, ‘If you need 14 nights we’ll give it to you.’ ”
Lane’s groups have stayed at brand hotels such as the 197-room Four Seasons Dublin (14,381 sf of meeting space), but also at the five-star 300-room Landmark London Hotel (18,000 sf of meeting space) and the 212-room Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa (6,639 sf of meeting space) in Interlaken, Switzerland. “Certain properties have a connotation of high quality, and that’s part of the experience that we’re marketing,” Lane says. The Victoria-Jungfrau is one such hotel, with a panoramic view of the Jungfrau mountain range. Jungfrau is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, and the town is a great choice for outdoorsy attendees who enjoy backpacking. Built in 1864, the Victoria-Jungfrau was one reason Interlaken itself became popular among travelers.
Switzerland boasts many such picture-postcard cities in mountain and lake regions where adventureof-a-lifetime activities await, including glacier trekking, mountaineering, canoeing, hiking, river rafting and hang gliding. For the less adventurous, there’s golf and fishing — even city tours by Segway along the River Rhine, according to the Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau.
News includes the reopening of the five-star Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern, which completed a makeover of all 99 rooms and suites, with a new wellness complex to be added late this year. In the heart of French-speaking Lausanne is the Beaulieu Lausanne Congress and Exhibition Centre, which began a renovation project in 2010 that will fully upgrade its conference and meeting rooms, and theater. The elegant lounge bar Locarno Lido is a new 4,000-sf event venue on the shore of Lake Maggiore in Ticino.
Apart from overseas hoteliers, airlines also can be unfamiliar territory for planners and attendees. Among the information Securian gave its agents over the 14-month qualification period for the South America incentive was some guidance on using LAN Airlines, based in Santiago, Chile. “Many people in America aren’t familiar with it,” says Roach. “So we let them know how to get their frequent flier miles, what they could expect to pay in terms of fees if they were bringing family members, and so on.”
The information was included in a series of newsletters on the trip sent out every other month during the qualification period. The pieces cull useful facts on the destination from a variety of sources, says Roach, from National Geographic to convention bureaus and DMCs. “Participants love these newsletters, and they read them cover to cover. They’ll show up at the airport with their newsletter in their travel file folder,” she says.
“We always provide (attendees) with all types of reading materials,” notes Lane. “When we went down to Australia, I supplied everyone with a copy of The Fatal Shore, a book on the history of the founding of Australia and how its culture has evolved. So they had some required reading, which they may or may not have done.”
While reading background material may not be “due diligence” for participants, planners have a major responsibility in researching the safety of a prospective destination. “The U.S. Department of State website is the first place I check. If there are travel warnings established or any indication of terror cells for a particular area that I may be looking at, I’ll just take it right off my list. You’d be really surprised about the places where terror cells are located, places that seem like they’d be really nice to travel to,” Roach points out.
It’s fair to say that a planner should not expect 100 percent safety in any destination. “We’ve been to South Africa and people can argue there are safety issues there, but one can also argue there are safety issues in northeast Minneapolis. Americans are funny, they tend to think we live in the safest country on the planet, which is not necessarily true.”
Roach takes the approach of traveling with both a doctor and security personnel. In addition, she arranges for ambulances to be onsite for any activities in remote venues, such as a polo farm the group visited 90 minutes outside of Buenos Aires.
Another safety measure comes through working with a DMC that can arrange plenty of tours to keep attendees together in manageable groups. “It’s a lot less worrisome to be on an organized tour on buses where you have some semblance of control,” says Lane. “You can limit the number of people who are going to ride off into the sunset and do something foolish” he quips.
Planners interested in China have a new DMC option now that San Francisco-based Imperial Tours is targeting the MICE market. “We’ve done meetings and incentives in China in the past, but this is the first time we’re actively seeking MICE business,” says Margot Kong, vice president, marketing and business development. Kong has a professional background in the financial world, having worked for Merrill
Lynch, Citicorp and other firms. She sees more U.S. companies doing business with China, “and so if you’re doing business there it only makes sense for you to send your employees there as an incentive: You want them to have a good time obviously, but you also want them to see what’s going on and the dynamics of what’s changing in China.”
It seems many firms are doing just that. According to Reed Travel Exhibition’s 2010 China and Asia Meetings Industry Research Report, the overall number of events held in China increased 51 percent in 2010 over 2009, vs. a 28 percent increase for the rest of the world over the same period. One plus is China’s relative affordability.
“We focus on the top end of the China market, but even on the top end you’ll find that China is still a huge bargain compared to Europe or the U.S.,” says Kong. “For five-star hotels you’re looking at $500 to $600 a night compared to $800 to $1,000 in Europe. And if we’re working directly with the hotel and we can guarantee the booking, then we can lock in the exchange rate.”
Imperials Tours has partnered with several financial groups for small meetings in China, ranging from about 20–110 attendees. They include:
• Boston-based Cambridge Associates’ meeting in Shanghai, which featured a cruise on the Huangpu River and a tour of the Bund area with its colonial-era financial buildings.
• A banquet on the Great Wall for St. Petersburg, FL-based Raymond James Financial Inc., complete with drummers and dancers.
Imperial Tours can offer incentive groups special access to the floor of the pit at the Terracotta Warriors, a collection of sculptures depicting the armies of the first emperor of China, discovered in the Shaanxi province.
The company also can gain access to a section of the Forbidden City that’s not open to the public, stage a dinner on the rostrum of Tiananmen Square in front of the portrait of Mao Zedong among many other intriguing possibilities. Groups also are provided “China Hosts,” Westerners who have lived in China for many years and speak Chinese fluently. “They act like a traveling concierge,” Kong explains. “We have one for every 20–30 attendees. They help ensure the best service in restaurants or airports.”
In addition, Imperial Tours can source local experts in China to serve on panel discussions or give keynotes, such as the first hedge fund manager in China, a New Yorker who’s been in China for 20 years; economists; and the foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
China is thus an example of an incentive destination that makes good business sense due to its affordability and position in the world economy, while at the same time being “exotic,” particularly its less conventional destinations Hangzhou and Lhasa.
For planners, determining what will wow seasoned incentive participants isn’t easy. Lane says, “We send out a survey at the end of each of our programs and ask them for their input on future locations, and we get the whole realm. Some want to sleep in a tent in Tanzania and others wouldn’t go near it for the world.”
And while Roach’s team informally asks participants what destinations are on their “bucket list,” given the company’s 30 years of international travel and significant number of repeat qualifiers, “they’ve gotten to the point where they like that element of surprise,” she says.
Imperial Tours, a luxury tour operator based in China, is expanding its FIT business to seek out meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition business. In a webcast press conference, Guy Rubin, founder and managing partner of Imperial Tours, said the MICE business is growing in China, with the mean number of events leaping by 51 percent from 2009 to 2010. Rubin said Imperial will focus on delivering high-quality, custom-designed itineraries for executive board meetings, VIP attendee events, special interest groups requiring high customization, and the like. The main focus will be on groups of up to 180 people, with the “sweet spot” being 30 to 120.
“We see ourselves dealing with high-level groups, which are normally smaller groups,” Rubin said. The company is dedicated to China only, and, for FIT, crafts custom trips with a few pre-scheduled tours. “The same is true for our MICE approach — no cookie cutters,” Rubin said.
Services also include itinerary design, hosting and in-country ground handling for incentive groups, corporate board meetings, conference planning and logistics, VIP groups, and special interest and themed events. Rubin said clients have included Barclays, Ferragamo and the Victoria & Albert Museum, and that 95 percent report that the company “exceeds expectations.” For more information, call 888-888-1970 or visit www.imperialtours.net.
