Grand Hyatt is repositioning itself within the business events and incentives market to meet demand for creative event experiences. Over the past six years, the hotel group has seen MICE growth of 133 per cent and is responding with a series of updated products and spaces will give planners greater event options, with new services being rolled out at Grand Hyatt hotels in Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Beijing, Melbourne and Bangkok, among others.
A recent survey conducted by Grand Hyatt has revealed that event planners are looking for “more personalised meeting experiences as well as options for pre and post event activities and excursions,” says Carina Chorengel, Senior Vice President of Brand and Commercial Strategy APAC, for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.
From the survey’s key findings, planners said that there were four aspects that require highlighting within the event experience.
1. Quality F&B is key to the quality of delegates’ experience
Special menus can be arranged for MICE groups at Grand Hyatt hotels, catering to cultural tastes, dietary requirements and health interests. Grand Hyatt can also arrange for chefs from sister hotels around Asia to be flown in to cater an event.
2. Memorable MICE experiences
Guests requested more action-packed, adventure and wellness-focussed team building activities, citing a desire to unwind from their fast-paced, digitised lifestyles. The Campus at Grand Hyatt Bangkok offers planners a meetings concept that gives delegates the sense of being back at university, designed as if it were an academic institution.
3. Bringing local flavour to MICE
Referencing the ‘bleasure’ trend where ‘business meets pleasure’, Grand Hyatt can arrange experiences that feature key aspects of local culture and cuisine. Guests can enjoy Beijing’s famous Peking duck at the Grand Hyatt Beijing’s Chinese restaurant, Made in China which won “Best Beijing Duck” in The Beijinger 2014 Reader Restaurant Awards. Chorengel says: "The Chef’s Table in the kitchen of Grand Hyatt Hong Kong’s Cantonese restaurant One Harbour Road can be used by groups for an exclusive meeting set-up, with a round table that seats 12."
Grand Hyatt can also arrange for local artisans to visit guests at the hotel or for spa therapists to offer delegates neck and shoulder massages during coffee breaks.
4. A curated approach to MICE success
“We train our associates in listening and watching techniques to truly understand the needs of a MICE guest. Ultimately, it’s about the mutual exchange of ideas between hotel and guest to create a vision that surpasses the expectations of our guests. Our aim is to put our guest at the centre of the experience,” says Chorengel.
“Curating experience is having empathy with meeting planners. It’s about working with them as partners to do whatever it is to make sure their delegates have great memories to bring back home with them,” Chorengel told media when introducing Grand Hyatt Hong Kong’s repositioning of its meetings, incentive, conference and event product.
