ITB Asia News 2019 Preview Edition
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10 TRADE TALK<br />
THE EVENTS INDUSTRY IS<br />
EVOLVING WITH NEW<br />
TECHNOLOGIES AND MORE<br />
PEOPLE ARE COMING IN TO HIRE<br />
VENUES AND UNDERGO NEW<br />
PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES.<br />
Christopher Lee<br />
Founder, Venuexplorer.com.sg<br />
Meeting MICE demand –<br />
the right way<br />
Venueexplorer.com.sg now under the umbrella of Meetings.com<br />
– at <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Asia</strong> to spread the word and “network”<br />
Christopher Lee, Founder of venuexplorer.com.sg, talks about<br />
the recent partnership with Meetings.com, and how the MICE<br />
market is evolving from a demand point of view. We asked<br />
him to tell us a little more about his organisation, and how<br />
he started out in the business.<br />
I’ve been working in the events<br />
and entertainment business<br />
industry for almost 15 years,<br />
servicing hundreds of corporate<br />
clients. We started off with simple<br />
dinners and dance projects, then<br />
slowly moved into other segments<br />
such as exhibitions, meetings,<br />
conferences, weddings and road<br />
shows. Over time, we gained a pool<br />
of regular clients who placed their<br />
trust in us and asked us to manage<br />
their yearly calendars of projects,<br />
from sourcing venues to catering<br />
services and entertainment.<br />
Nowadays, for venue hiring in<br />
Singapore, venuexplorer.com.sg<br />
is emerging as one of the leading<br />
online venue marketplaces.<br />
There are more than 100<br />
venue space options available on<br />
venuexplorer.com.sg including<br />
different restaurants, bars,<br />
country clubs, unique venues like<br />
karting circuits, Singapore Turf<br />
Club and many more. In just a few<br />
clicks, be it corporate or individual,<br />
one can hire the ideal venue.<br />
Our acquisition by hotelplanner.<br />
com will definitely broaden our<br />
canvas and we are really thrilled<br />
about this partnership. It is a win<br />
for both parties. Our target is to<br />
increase the market share by up to<br />
300 event spaces by the end of this<br />
year. By 2020, we are hoping to<br />
broaden our network to <strong>Asia</strong> Pacific<br />
to cover the needs of corporates<br />
as well as individuals to assist<br />
them in getting the right venue<br />
spaces with our highly compatible<br />
products. The events industry is<br />
evolving with new technologies<br />
and more people are coming in<br />
to hire venues and undergo new<br />
personalized experiences. All of us<br />
at venuexplorer.com.sg are really<br />
eager to be at the lead of these<br />
changes.<br />
How hard is it for people to “get<br />
things right” when booking for<br />
weddings, conferences, parties,<br />
product launches, etc., and how<br />
do you help?<br />
In general, it can be a real headache.<br />
But it is very easy and convenient<br />
to use venuexplorer.com.sg.<br />
Options available on the platform<br />
allow consumers to search for<br />
places of their preferences.<br />
They can easily search for an<br />
appropriate place and it lessens<br />
their difficulties in sourcing for<br />
good venues. The venuexplorer.<br />
com.sg platform saves the<br />
customers from the hassle of<br />
calling and getting quotations for<br />
venues. Our platform provides<br />
the facility of instant booking and<br />
consumers can hire venues for<br />
their next events.<br />
If consumers are unable to search<br />
for their ideal venue online, they<br />
can simply ring one of our venue<br />
experts and they will provide a list of<br />
suitable venues according to their<br />
requirements. We are also offering<br />
a number of other services, such<br />
as anger management activities,<br />
bungee jumping, or bike riding for<br />
corporate travellers.<br />
What are you seeing as being<br />
the key trends in terms of<br />
MICE bookings at the moment?<br />
It is quite common for many<br />
corporate travellers and<br />
individuals to seek distinctive<br />
venues for their events as they are<br />
moving away from the traditional<br />
places such as hotels. Everything<br />
is now available online and people<br />
can book hotels, rooms and<br />
restaurants, but there was no<br />
facility that offered a one-stop<br />
online venue booking platform.<br />
Such a platform can ease the life<br />
of many people.<br />
As you are attending <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>,<br />
what are the main things you will<br />
be looking for at the show?<br />
We will share our platform and are<br />
looking forward to partnerships<br />
for the growth of our network in<br />
the <strong>Asia</strong> Pacific region.<br />
How important is it for you to<br />
network at events like this?<br />
It has great importance for us as it<br />
definitely helps us in the growth of<br />
our platform. With this opportunity,<br />
we will come in direct contact<br />
with our partners, or client and we<br />
can personally share the benefits<br />
and features of our platform<br />
<strong>ITB</strong> ASIA NEWS • Thursday 10 October <strong>2019</strong><br />
www.itb-asia-news.com
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