HIGH-END-TRAVEL itinerary designers, luxury hoteliers and destination specialists have been attending the Essence of Phuket conference this week held under Traveller Made’s Serandipians network.
Traveller Made operates “three shows on three continents” with conferences aimed at organisers of customised luxury-travel including those specialising in the corporate-incentive segment.
Serandipians, which has 547 agencies in the Traveller Made membership, returned to Laguna Phuket for buyer-supplier meetings and a conference under the theme “Audacity”. Traveller Made’s other conferences are in Panama, to represent the Americas market, and Sardinia, which is positioned for Europe.
Bart Callens, general manager at Saii, one of the resorts at Laguna, played an instrumental role in helping bring Traveller Made and its members to organise events in Thailand aimed at the Asia market.
Traveller Made had originally held a global conference in Marbella, Spain, before the event was restructured to cater for three key international markets.
“That event had been traditionally kept in Marbella for many years, and it started off with a few hundred people, becoming bigger and bigger,” Callens told MIX. “I was there to inspect it back in 2024. That was when we were first started talking about doing it here in Phuket. So basically they split that huge conference in Marbella into three, and it turns out that Phuket is the base for the Asia market.
“People from the travel industry, the vast majorities of hoteliers, are within five or six hours flight from here – they cover quite a bit including the Middle East, China, Australia and Southeast Asia. Whereas the travel agents come to this event from all over the world.”
Callens said SAii Laguna Phuket, which was rebranded from Outrigger, was being positioned as a premier Asian hub for upscale meetings and incentives along with other properties at Laguna Phuket.
He said that Traveller Made was just one gathering that showed how integrated resorts could deliver seamless, self‑contained event experiences. With facilities located around a lagoon, delegates could stay, meet, dine and network within walking or ferry distance of each venue.
The main conference sessions were staged at Banyan Tree Phuket, the flagship property of the Laguna complex. Delegates spent the week travelling between venues via the resort’s lagoon ferry system – a unique logistical asset that organisers say has become part of the event’s charm.
Ludovic Gallerne, S Hotels and Resorts’ VP of Global Commerce, which operates SAii Laguna Phuket under its owners, Singha Corp, told MIX that more organisers preferred that large‑scale events could be contained within one destination.
Callens said SAii Laguna Phuket played a central role in Traveller Meade’s Essence of Phuket gathering. The hotel’s events centre hosted full days of buyer‑supplier meetings and the property’s event outdoor event podium was transformed into the backdrop for the Boho Sabah welcome party.
Executives from Laguna Phuket and the SAii brand emphasised throughout the week that their priority was to offer organisers a cohesive delegate experience where transfers were minimal and activities held against a backdrop of Thai culture, service, and hospitality.
