by Joachim Fischer, presently in Shanghai

TTG Asia Media and MP International are the organizers of the third IT&CM which started today in the ShanghaiMart Expo.

“With its vast economic resources, China is indeed one of the fastest-growing MICE markets, being the third largest business travel market behind UK and USA. The success of the past two IT&CM China events serves to develop this potential and establish IT&CM China as a distinctive and effective platform for MICE professionals from all over the world”, underlined Darren Ng, Managing Director of TTG Asia Media.

by Christian Schwarz

Christian Schwarz lives in Bangkok and is Group Master of the Xing Group “Thailand Business Forum”.
He sent out a letter on the present situation in Bangkok/Thailand this weekend:

Time for an update. Hot season in Thailand. Red season in Thailand. Today, the pro-Thaksin red shirts pushed Thailand back to the times of 1973/76. They highjacked the meeting venue for the ASEAN+3+6 summit in Pattaya. They destroyed the entrance hall of the Royal Cliff hotel and sent the delegation of 15 countries fleeing. Some Ministers of other Asian Countries had to escape with helicopters!

by editorial office, ch

Anonymous quality check conducted by trade magazine ‘Top hotel’ reveals significant shortcomings

The latest hotel evaluation by ‘Top hotel’ at Ritz London surprised even experienced hotel experts, for in obtaining an overall rating of ’satisfactory’, the ‘Leading Hotel of the World’ fared unexpectedly badly in the anonymous quality check conducted by the experienced hotel critic. “The Ritz in London could be a jewel, but many members of staff turn it into a bauble,“ the conclusion states.

PATA has secured the services of two high profile speakers from China (PRC) for the opening keynote addresses at this month’s Business Forum in Macau SAR.

Sheng Li, General Manager Visa, China and Dr John Liu, VP sales for Google in Greater China, are to make the lead presentations covering the Forum headline topic ‘Discovering Opportunities in Tough Times’.

The plenary session ‘Tapping Greater China Opportunities’ is headed by Wang Yan, Deputy Director-General for Marketing and Communications at the China National Tourism Administration. Expedia VP Cyril Ranque leads the discussion on eCommerce strategies; and Umang Pabaru, MD for Nielsen in Greater China, is lead presenter in the plenary session ‘Leveraging Special Interest Opportunities’.

Christoph Debus, 38 years old, will join the management of Air Berlin PLC on June 1, 2009. He will be responsible for sales, network and IT. “We are glad to have gained a proven aviation expert in Christoph Debus,” said Joachim Hunold, Chief Executive Officer of Air Berlin PLC.

Before his appointment, Debus had worked for air carrier Condor for four years, managing IT, controlling, personnel, accounting, balancing and financing. As part of his role at Condor, he was also a member of the Airline Executive Board at Thomas Cook Group PLC. The father of two sons worked for management consultancy Roland Berger from March 1998 to late 2004.

Malaysia was among the Asian countries with the strongest rise in visitors from Germany in 2008. The Southeast Asian country was able to maintain this growth in visitors from the German market throughout the first two months of 2009, despite the global economic crisis.

In order to continue the positive trend, Malaysia is increasingly cooperating with its Asian neighboring countries and international airlines, while at the same time continuously expanding its tourism products. True to this approach, there will be several hotel openings in 2009 – Penang, for instance, will see the opening of Malaysia’s first Hard Rock Hotel in late summer, while the Bunga Raya Island Resort & Spa will be welcoming its guests in Sabah on Borneo.