Q: How would you assess Shanghai’s current MICE market?

Peter Clarke: Shanghai as a destination is still experiencing steady growth rates. According to the Shanghai Tourism Administration, the number of inbound tourists in Shanghai has reached 7.91 million in 2014, increasing by 4.5 percent over the previous year.

Silvio Rosenberger: The MICE market continues to expand in Shanghai, which opens more opportunities for all hotels and venues in the city. The city continues to develop new facilities and venues that would be able to accommodate any type of group and event.

Shanghai also continues to build its reputation and trust domestically and internationally, which attracts more investment and makes the city a solid destination for MICE in Asia Pacific.

Robert Hamer: Shanghai is becoming increasingly popular as an overseas destination for conferences and the demand for MICE in Shanghai is expected to grow stronger in the coming years.

While there are many destination choices available in key gateway cities in China and throughout Asia, Shanghai offers a tremendous lineup of luxury and boutique hotels, exhibition and convention centers and bountiful historical and cultural experiences.

The nostalgic charm of Shanghai in itself is a key factor.

Robert Rippon: MICE market will keep driving the hotel market for a long period. The Hongqiao and Pudong exhibition areas show the government encourages Shanghai to be the MICE center of not only china, but the world. The Shanghai MICE market will keep growing.

Steven Chen: With the opening of the National Exhibition and Convention Center, the MICE market in Shanghai becomes more international. The hotel market puts more differentiation on the conference team and guest resources. The opening of Disneyland in Shanghai will bring more opportunities to the MICE market in the Pudong New Area.

Q: Competition is fierce in the hospitality sector. What advantages does your hotel offer to stand out from others in the MICE market? What challenges are you encountering at the moment to maintain long-term solid growth?

Peter Clarke: We have the most comprehensive facilities in Shanghai, making Pudong Shangri-La the ideal one-stop solution for any MICE event. To elaborate on facilities, Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai offers over 7,500 square meters of prime meeting space — from the pillar-free Grand Ballroom that holds up to 1,500 people and the China Hall that holds up to 1,700 people. We cater to high-end and intimate events with the beautifully appointed 18-seater Summit Room and the Victorian-style Pudong Room. From big conferences and seminars to small exclusive board meetings, our hotel can cater events of any scale. In addition, the hotel has a dedicated group check-in area to provide exclusive service for participants of large-scale events. Our key advantage is our people. We have an experienced, flexible and professional events team who has successfully executed thousands of in-house and outside catering events, which ensures that each event is nothing less than perfection.

Clients are always looking for “something new” be it a venue or a different theme and if you cannot offer an alternative they will go elsewhere to find one. We are fortunate that Pudong Shangri-La has 22 function rooms, offering natural light, views over the Bund, ballroom options and rooms that can cater from 10 to 1,700 persons — this variety satisfies different requests. It is important to understand the client’s needs.

Silvio Rosenberger: At JW Marriott, we believe that the best setting is the one that allows the extraordinary to emerge. We are proud of the brand and having the best people to deliver customers the highest level of service for meetings and events. And I believe it is the people that we have that makes a big difference. Without the dedication, hard work, professionalism, creativity and passion of our associates, all the hardware of the hotel counts for nothing, especially when there are many new hotels coming out every year with larger and newer meeting facilities.

Our hotel is located in the heart of Shanghai and recognized as an iconic building in the city. We have a selection of unique outdoor spaces, such as a large terrace right outside of our Grand Ballroom overlooking People’s Square to cater up to 250 people, an outdoor swimming pool to arrange outdoor events for up to 100 people, and our famous “Highest Library in the World” on top of the hotel that connects to one of the highest terraces in Puxi with a stunning view of Shanghai.

Our hotel has 342 bedrooms and over 1,512 square meters of dedicated meeting and events space. The size and distribution of the hotel allows us to provide our customers much more personalized attention and spaces that deliver exclusiveness.

Robert Hamer: Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai has seen its MICE business increase significantly in 2014, owing to a growing desire for unique event spaces in Shanghai. Situated in the heart of Xintiandi, one of the city’s most famous entertainment, shopping and commercial districts, Andaz’s guests are provided with ample opportunities to explore a more social environment.

Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai offers some of the most creative meeting spaces with 11 dynamic venues, including meeting studios that can seat 14 to 16 guests and a ballroom that can cater to groups up to 330. The most unique space, however, is the Garden Studios, a flexible residential-style event venue that features a glass-walled pavilion, an open kitchen and two outdoor terraces with beautiful gardens and barbecues. All venues are fitted with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, cordless phones and wireless broadband Internet access and feature lounge areas for less formal interactions.

It all comes together to allow the hotel to give MICE groups flexible, personalized experiences.

We treat every guest like executive floor guests by offering benefits such as free Internet access, snacks from the minibar and a wine and canapé service every night from 6-8pm.

Robert Rippon: In one of the most beautiful locations in Shanghai, Sofitel Shanghai Hyland creates a unique venue to stage fruitful meetings and events with its famous “Art de Recevoir.”

Because meetings are significant events for your company, Sofitel Shanghai has designed creative and personalized business experiences called “Sofitel Inspired meetings.” We offer residential conference packages and MICE packages for your choosing. Our teams, partners of your success, will be entirely dedicated to your event from the beginning to the end. Our passion for excellence will turn your meetings into unforgettable moments for you and your guests.

Steven Chen: Opened on February 1, Shanghai Nanxiang Holiday Inn has a convenient location and complete meeting facilities. Having 316 rooms, the hotel competes well in the MICE market in the Hongqiao area and Jiading District. Another five-star hotel will open in next few months. Facing the competition, we will improve service and win the satisfaction of guests. Hotels in Jiading District all aim at the quick development of Jiading New Town, more international events like the China Grand Prix Formula One race and promotion of eco cars.

Q: Are there any new projects your hotel will launch this year to attract business travelers and enlarge your share in Shanghai’s MICE market?

Peter Clarke: There is an ongoing focus on continuous improvement of quality standards to enhance the guest experience at Shangri-La properties. We constantly update our facilities and services to ensure their relevance to the modern consumer. Recent re-configurations include River Wing ballroom and function spaces, carpets and tapestry and LED lights were also installed to save energy and help protect the environment.

This year the hotel launched innovative themed coffee breaks for meetings, such as Deli, Garden, Mr Bean, Egg Break etc. Initiated by our creative culinary and food and beverage team, each theme has an interesting concept and a unique presentation to add some excitement and fun to attendees during normal meeting intervals. Not only the decor, but also the food is specially designed to cater to each theme. This aims to deliver an exceptional and incomparable meeting experience to our guests, which allows them to enjoy a “mind break,” a short getaway from intensive meetings.

Silvio Rosenberger: 2015 will be an exciting and fruitful year for us. We have just launched two new projects recently that aim to deliver more inspiring, more engaging and more technology savvy meeting experiences. These two projects are the Meeting Services App and Meetings Imagined. Meeting Services App is a suite of meeting services apps that places meetings management at the fingertips of meeting planners. At the touch of a button, planners can connect in real-time with hotel event staff on any web-enabled device 24/7. The other project that has been brought to life this year is the online platform, Meetings Imagined. It is the industry’s first visual, social and collaborative website to change the way people shop, plan and design meetings. It is a differentiated approach for selling and planning based on the purpose of a meeting. The website features expert tips and leading trends organized by meeting purpose and an inspiration gallery with more than 1,000 hotel event images to spark creativity.

The third project, which is the biggest project of the year, is our room renovation. We will introduce brand-new rooms, as well as some new meeting spaces and facilities to meet the elevated needs and expectations of the city’s MICE market.

Robert Hamer: We will soon be unveiling our remodeled Penthouse located on the 28th floor. The Penthouse occupies the top two floors of the hotel and houses three uniquely designed suites which are all interconnecting or can be occupied individually, being the ultimate choice for prestigious cocktail events, product launches or VIP/celebrity accommodation.

Robert Rippon: We finished room renovations in 2014, which will definitely attract guests. We also offer different MICE packages in 2015 with a variety of accommodation, function space and catering options.

Steven Chen: Our hotel will offer special weekend packages and attractive MICE guest rooms. Moreover, the InterContinental hotel group’s global booking system will get more online guests. We will also offer special meeting packages and competitive goods to improve the MICE market.

Q: Do you consider MICE business an important engine for your future revenue/profit growth? How do you expect the overall MICE market in Shanghai to expand over the next couple of years and how do you anticipate it to impact your own business?

Peter Clarke: Our hotel’s long-term strategy is to maintain a healthy mix of international and domestic travelers, and this has effectively helped to ensure we retained our market position as a leader in the city. We remain optimistic toward the city’s future MICE market. With so many positive aspects such as 72-hour transit visas, improved city infrastructure, the opening of Disney, we are expecting more MICE business generated from international companies and organizations. And we also have a lot confidence in domestic companies as the Chinese economy grows at a healthy pace.

Silvio Rosenberger: Certainly, it is one of the key engines for growth. The MICE market will continue to grow in the years to come, along with the supply of hotels and venues in Shanghai. We believe JW Marriott will have more opportunities and new customers from more cities. The future of MICE is bright in Shanghai, the facilities are improving and the local authorities continue to invest in “Brand Shanghai” not only on the business side but also on the leisure side. With more and new entertainment options in the city, Shanghai as an MICE destination to be, will be more attractive and vibrant.

Robert Hamer: MICE business is essential and the best market segment to drive total hotel revenue and profitability. It’s a win-win for rooms and food and beverage, and generates incremental revenue streams for spa, laundry, mini bar etc.

With the establishment of the Shanghai International Circuit and the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai), business from automotive companies will play a key role in the MICE industry.

Another stable increase will be from the entertainment and banking sectors as well as luxury brands.

Robert Rippon: Balance the business and leisure clients, MICE market covers all hotel products during the trip. Disney and the National Convention and Exhibition Center are putting more energy into Shanghai’s MICE market. The future is positive for hotels and encourages the competition to improve both service and hardware.

Steven Chen: Occupying 30 to 40 percent of businesses, the MICE market plays an important role in the hotel business. Our hotel hopes to raise the proportion to 36 percent in the coming two or three years. We think the MICE market in Shanghai has a great future and will witness an annual growth of 20 percent during this and next year. Our hotel will complete the meeting facilities and improve sales teams.