Conf. Ctrs. Spread To Asia

<I>The Woodlands, Texas</I> - Benchmark Hospitality plans to introduce something radically different to the Asian meetings market this year: the full-service conference center.

While there are specific plans for only one such property so far, Benchmark and other conference center operators are almost certain to spread the idea throughout Asia, spurred by the region's growing commercial power and by the increasing presence of Western businesses that are already familiar with the concept, say industry observers.

A new company called Benchmark-Pacific Hospitality will manage and promote the development of conference resorts and on-site corporate conference centers in Thailand. Benchmark's first project will be a conference resort scheduled to open north of Bangkok in December.

The company hopes eventually to operate conference centers throughout the region, including the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Full-service conference centers designed in accordance with the strict criteria set by the International Association of Conference Centers do not yet exist in Asia outside of Japan. But Benchmark believes the time is right, particularly in the burgeoning industrial and high-tech enclaves of Southeast Asia.

"Both the economy and the market have matured to the point where there's a real need for sophisticated conference centers in Asia," said Tom Cole, managing director of Benchmark-Pacific, a new joint venture between Benchmark Hospitality and Bangkok-based Pacific Assets PC.

"Although huge convention centers have opened in many Asian cities, the market for the serious small meeting has been ignored," Cole said.

It is only a matter of time before other companies besides Benchmark seek conference center opportunities in Asia, according to Joseph Toy, director of hospitality consulting for Coopers & Lybrand.

"Most business meetings in Asia now take place in major cities, but conference resorts will be the next step," he said. "While there will be opportunities for U.S. companies to get involved, you're going to see a lot of homegrown Asia hotel companies jumping into this market too."

Whoever is doing business in the Asian conference center market, they likely will court more and more business from North America as time passes.

"The more you see Western companies doing business in Asia, the more you see the service industries reflecting that fact," said Robert Twomey, vice president of marketing and hospitality at Matrix Development Group in Cranbury, N.J., and immediate past president of IACC.

"The style of how these companies do business is putting demand on overseas facilities to meet their needs. Conference centers are part of this."

The Benchmark-Pacific conference centers primarily will serve the Asian market, but Cole said the company also will target North American clients. "Eventually we will build a client base among companies that know Benchmark in the U.S.," he said.

Untapped Thai Market

Jeanine Thomas, marketing manager for the Tourism Authority of Thailand in Chicago, is hopeful that the introduction of the Benchmark brand in Thailand will stimulate more meetings business from the United States

"There's a huge untapped market for corporate meetings in Thailand, and we need companies like Benchmark to help us in this area," Thomas said. "Thailand is an exceptionally good value, but we haven't been as successful as Singapore or Hong Kong in attracting corporate business."

Benchmark-Pacific's first project will be the U-Thong Inn, a 270-room property located at a business park in Ayutthaya, an historic city 50 miles from Bangkok. The luxury property will include a three-level, 20,000-square-foot conference center built to IACC specifications and amenities such as a full-service fitness center and access to four 18-hole golf courses.

While individual rates have not yet been determined, an all-inclusive Complete Meeting Package, a standard offering at Benchmark conference centers in the United States, will be available.

Also like many of its counterparts in the United States, the U-Thong Inn will offer a conference environment at a site that's outside of a major city and yet in close proximity to a variety of corporations.

"Ayutthaya has become a management for a lot of industrial development -- it's Thailand's answer to Silicon Valley," said Benchmark-Pacific's Cole. "That makes it right for this sort of property."

Benchmark-Pacific now is looking for other conference center sites close to Bangkok, including the beach resort area of Hua Hin. Along with pursuing start-up projects, the company is looking for management opportunities with existing hotels and resorts.

"Thailand is seriously overbuilt with hotels right now, and so this is a good time to acquire distressed properties that can be converted into conference centers," Cole explained.

The new company also hopes to encourage the development of on-site conference centers at Thai-based corporations that would be similar to the facilities that Benchmark Hospitality manages in the United States for such clients as AT&T, Exxon, J. P. Morgan and Shell.

Another goal of Benchmark is the establishment of a new IACC chapter in Thailand, Cole said. The organization currently has a long-established chapter in Japan and a new chapter in Australia, but no others in the Asia-Pacific region.

IACC executive director Tom Bolman said a new chapter will not be formed until there are at least three conference centers up and running that are unrelated to each other in ownership and management.