Pacific World launches first Destination Report

By Megan Gell —–

South Korea has been named Asia’s most popular destination for business events in a new index from global DMC and event management company, Pacific World.

The index covers the period from April to September 2014 and identifies current trends by measuring the number of event enquiries rather than the number of events taking place, for which decisions were likely made months or even years prior.

Pacific World devised the index to provide a quantitative answer to the constant industry question of which destinations are popular. “Most industries are producing meaningful industry reports and data, (but) we do not produce much in the MICE industry,” says Herve Joseph- Antoine (left), global managing director of Pacific World. “This is the opportunity to show beyond the image of fun that we also produce professional and strategic content that supports the development of our field.”

Pacific World hopes the index, and accompanying feedback from country managers, will add another dimension to the reasoning behind destination selection. As business and leisure travel has increased, the company sees these decisions moving beyond ‘discovery’ towards finding the right fit for the event.

The first monthly report in April 2014 saw Hong Kong and Macau take the top spot, followed by Indochina (Vietnam and Cambodia) and China. South Korea dominated the next four months, with Singapore, China, and Indochina also improving. These destinations, along with Indonesia, are seen to be in a highly competitive situation.

Health care industry growth, interest in a new tier of cities, and favourable exchange rates, have helped China, while Marina Bay Sands continues to boost Singapore.

Meanwhile, more flights and destination-pairing between Vietnam and Cambodia has seen Indochina perform well.

Hong Kong remains popular for global and Asia Pacific conferences, and enjoys a reputation for quality events. In Indonesia, Bali remains the preferred choice for conferences and incentives. The new airport terminal, new flights, and supporting infrastructure and gala venues have all played a role.

Thailand is notable in its absence, with bookings down amidst political uncertainty. Future monthly indices and the Report’s second edition in April 2015 will show just how long-lasting the effects are.

The Report also covers trends in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa; though Asia-out-bound data for these markets is not large enough to be evaluated separately. However, Pacific World has found that 20 to 30 per cent of meetings and event spend now goes outside the region.

“Asia-outbound is a specific area of business that is growing, especially automotive and insurance incentives to Europe,” says Joseph-Antoine. “Our team in Spain is seeing incentives from China, and in Edinburgh, groups from India. It is a completely different way of doing business.”

Pacific World began developing the Index in October 2013, and over the next six months refined the methodology calibration, tested results, and benchmarked findings against industry opinion. The equation is designed to absorb factors like seasonality by incorporating a three-month rolling average and year-on-year comparisons. Growth and group size are also incorporated.

Pacific World also scans the destinations monthly, looking at recent changes in country/city image; new flights and accessibility; major events; buzz about new hotels/infrastructure; political, economic and currency movements; and which event types they are seeing requests from. Domestic events are included, but only represent about 5 per cent of business, with 70 per cent from the region and 25 per cent long-haul.- cei.asia

Nov. 21, 2014