<B> Meetings Beat</B>
<B>Singapore Deals</B>
For corporate incentive buyers on the hunt for a decent bargain in a tight market, the Singapore Tourism Board's Global Meet 2000 campaign might be a solution.
Coinciding with the financial crisis in Asia and as a sequel to a 1995 campaign that brought a 16 percent increase in convention business, Global Meet 2000 offers special rates from air, rail and destination management companies--as well as promotional discounts from travel agencies, tour operators, cruise operators and restaurants--as part of an island-wide effort to showcase the destination.
Not that Singapore doesn't already hold the lion's share of the spotlight in the Pan Pacific because of its extensive development. By January 1999, the city-state will offer more than 200 hotels and an inventory of about 35,000 rooms, with 20 international hotel chains providing first-class and deluxe accommodations, said Charles Leong, senior vice president for the Americas in STB's Los Angeles office. For more information, access the Singapore Website at www.singapore-usa.com.
<a name="art2"><B>ICPA Membership Drive</B>
The Insurance Conference Planners Association, an industry group for meeting and incentive managers in the insurance industry, is running a new membership campaign to increase its ranks. Effective immediately, members who join the organization at the regular membership fee of $150 will receive $50 off the registration fee for the group's Educational Forum, which will be held at the Four Season Resort & Club in Dallas on June 12-14, or the 1998 ICPA Annual Meeting, which will be held on Nov. 9-13 at the Westin Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The campaign runs through June 1. Contact Karen Hopkinson at at 604-988-2054.
<a name="art3"><B>Conf. Ctrs. Rate Higher For Meetings</B>
Conference centers host superior meetings when compared to hotels, a Cornell University meetings facility study determined. Cornell researchers Timothy Hinkon and J. Bruce Tracey queried planners in a series of focus group sessions and found that conference centers rated higher on 19 out of 20 factors deemed to be of critical importance to planners. The centers scored well for their levels of service from staff, size and layout of meeting rooms, ability to maintain individual temperature and climate control, and ability to provide comfortable, well-constructed tables and chairs. But it also found that human interaction has the greatest positive impact on both planner and attendee experience.