Incentive Travel & Corporate Meetings magazine has for 20 years been reporting on the developments in the MICE market from all around the world. The ITCM website brings you the latest news every day from hotels, conference centres, unusual venues and destinations.
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Corinthia to open hotel in Sharm El Sheikh in July
The 351-room Tiran Hotel is opening in July as part of the Corinthia Beach Resort Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. It is a luxurious 4-star property designed for leisure and conferences. It has two restaurants including an Indian specialty restaurant, three bars, an extensive landscaped outdoor pool, amphitheatre, business centre, internet café and conference facilities for up to .......more
Thistle's listed building in Newcastle reverts to historic name
One of Newcastle's historic hotels has been refurbished and renamed to hark back to how it was originally known. A 130-year-old Grade II listed building, the County Hotel by Thistle has benefited from a spend of £750,000 that preserves its 19thC whilst ensuring it has .......more
Exeter's Mercure Southgate unveils £4m refurbishment
Coincidental with its 20th anniversary, the 4-star Mercure Southgate Hotel Exeter has undergone a £4m upgrade. It is owned by the Moorfield Group that owns 24 of the 31 Mercure hotels in the UK. The upgrade has completely renovated the Cloisters restaurant, the Lounge Bar, Seymour suite conference and banqueting room, as well as bringing 26 bedrooms in line with the stylish new Mercure .......more
Swissôtel Chicago doubles function space
A 47m-dollar conference centre has been opened at the Swissôtel Chicago, providing 38,000 sqft of function space. This includes a 14,000 sqft ballroom. Tim Herman, the General Manager, says: 'This new facility doubles our function space and gives Swissôtel Chicago an Event Centre ideal for .......more
Kempinski opens on Red Sea beach at Aqaba, Jordan
Kempinski has opened a 201-room luxury hotel in Aqaba on the Red Sea in Jordan. It is located on the sandy shores and can offer sunshine almost all year round. Leisure activities provided by the hotel include trips on private yachts, windsurfing, kayaking, diving, snorkelling and swimming, a .......more
KL to get a Raffles
Raffles Kuala Lumpur is scheduled to open in 2011 with the largest guestrooms and suites in the city. It will be located in the Central Business District within Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's lifestyle destination. An iconic integrated development in the heart of the thriving Bukit Bintang commercial district, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur comprises a shopping centre, urban leisure, an office tower and .......more
InterConti's new resort on Fiji's main island
Natadola is the only stretch of white sand beach on Fiji's main island, Viti Levu. On the Coral Coast it runs alongside a lagoon and has been voted one of the world's top 25 beaches by Forbes Magazine. This month the InterContinental Fiji Golf resort & Spa has been opened at the beach, giving group organisers the chance to offer something unique. It means that the journey time to a beach of this quality in .......more

Krakow and Prague open Park Inns

Park Inn, one of the Rezidor Hotel Group brands, now has its first properties in Poland and in Prague. The new-build Park Inn Krakow in Poland, with 152 rooms, is within walking distance of the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter, both special visitor attractions. The property has been created with MICE events in mind. It has .......more
Winton House shows how
Christopher Lamotte, General Manager of Winton House, is someone who sees the need to get cracking when things get tough. 'Our business is keeping up very well and our forward bookings are healthy', he says. Business threatened to take a knock when the financial sector turned down sharply. 'We are half an hour from Edinburgh', he says, 'and we were booked a lot by financial clients based there. However, .......more
Royal Horseguards is now a 5-star Guoman
The Royal Horseguards Hotel in Whitehall was rebranded as a Guoman property 18 months ago and then underwent a £16.3m refurbishment. It has now been awarded an AA 5-star rating. It is the first 5-star property in the Guoman collection. The historic building has 280 bedrooms on 9 floors, all of which have been equipped with iPod docking stations, plasma .......more
Estonia launches new MICE website
Estonia recently established the Estonian Convention Bureau and now the Bureau has launched a brand new website. It is www.ecb.ee. Among the site's new features are a rolling column of updated news on the Estonian conference industry, a quick and easy online 'Request for proposal' form, and downloadable marketing materials. The Bureau's Managing Director, Riine .......more
Two Brighton hotels to join Rezidor group
Royal York becomes Radisson Blu By the end of April 2009 there will be two additional Rezidor Group hotels in Brighton. Both are existing properties being upgraded and re-named. The Royal York Hotel, a local landmark, is to be called Radisson Blu Hotel, Brighton. it was built in .......more
Rose Bowl in Leeds is a £50m new venue
The Rose Bowl, Leeds Metropolitan University's state of the art new conferencing facility, is now open. The dramatic signature glass building offers dedicated space to conferences and events with capacities that make Well Met one of the largest conference venues in the city. Its unique structure is the new home for Leeds Business School and provides organisers with a choice of 7 lecture theatres which .......more
Etihad Airways DMC
According to Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways' chief commercial officer, the establishment of the airline's own DMC is 'another example of Etihad responding to the requirements of the UAE's capital city'. This new entity will offer leisure and business activities for visitors to the UAE, embracing tours, desert .......more
New Crowne Plazas in Paris and Kensington
The Crowne Plaza Paris République and Crowne Plaza London Kensington hotels are now open for bookings. The 328-room Crowne Plaza Paris République , owned by Westbridge, is the fifth Crowne Plaza in France and the second in Paris. The property, built in 1865 during Napoleon III's reign, boasts the classic Parisian Haussmann-style exterior and a historic inner courtyard. Its '10 Bar' offers .......more
86 Park Lane re-opens
Number 86 Park Lane has re-opened. Immediately adjacent to the main entrance of Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel. it is owned by Marriott, but run independently as one of the country's most fashionable and flexible of conference and meeting centres. With its own dedicated reception and kitchens, it offers 20 rooms able to accommodate from 10 to .......more
New tower hotel south of Vienna
Brand new on the Austrian skyline is the 4-star Pannonia Tower Hotel. It is in Parndorf, Burgenland, south of Vienna and is the 35th property in the portfolio of Vienna International Hotelmanagement AG. The 16-storey building represents an investment of 16m Euros and .......more
New large space in London's Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh restaurant has launched one of London's largest event spaces. Called the Gilgamesh Studio, it is located above the restaurant. It looks down on to Camden Market. The new facility is 9,000 sq ft. and has the same original wood carvings as on the walls of the main restaurant. Otherwise .......more
Golf and conference resort to open in Bulgaria
By April 2010 the Royal Tulip Golf, Spa & Wellness Resort Balchik should be open in Bulgaria. This will be the first Royal Tulip in the country and it will be part of the Lighthouse Golf Resort near Varna on the Black Sea. There will be 189 deluxe rooms and a Conference .......more
Courtyard by Marriott lands at Gatwick
Gatwick Airport now has one of the new contemporary-design hotels recently introduced into the UK under the brand Courtyard by Marriott Hotels. They aim to offer a full service hotel experience at a moderate price. This 218-bedroom property is on the airport close to South Terminal. New features of the Courtyard style include an open lobby and daylight-flooded atrium, comfortable Italian .......more
New upmarket hotel for Madrid
Villa Magna is a property that is re-opening after 17 months of renovation. Up to 3 years ago it was a Park Hyatt, but is now new and independent. It will offer 100 guestrooms and 50 suites. These include the .......more
Group organisers please note
Group organisers should be aware that the Department of Health recommends that from April 1 2009 any UK residents visiting the Channel Islands should have adequate travel insurance. The current agreement, which allowed UK travellers to get a limited number of medical treatments in the Channel Islands free .......more
Wine Sponsorship Manager for Vinopolis
Kate Mackenzie is now Wine Sponsorship Manager at Vinopolis in London. She will be the wine buyer working closely with suppliers and major sponsors. Kate will also be responsible for creating new themes and .......more
Sicily's new Rocco Forte resort
An hour's drive from Palermo International Airport, in the south west of Sicily, Rocco Forte's Verdura Golf & Spa Resort has been designed as the ultimate place to relax in unrivalled luxury. There are 203 spacious rooms, two .......more
Shakespeare Country gets Conference Bureau
The Shakespeare Country Conference Bureau is a new unit with a dedicated team of advisors offering a range of free services to support conference and event organiser. Its area includes Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Royal .......more
Hyatt Regency back in Hong Kong
The 567-room Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin has opened, bringing the brand back to Hong Kong for the first time since 2005. It is the first international hotel brand to open in the countryside of the New Territories and features spectacular Tolo Harbor views, special restaurants and meeting space, as .......more
Oliver Staas is the new GM at Park Inn Heathrow
Oliver Staas joins the Heathrow hotel as GM from Radisson SAS Hotel, Frankfurt Airport, where he was General Manager for almost four years. Earlier he worked in numerous hotels in Europe, the United States and in Seoul, South Korea, making his way .......more
Darryl Holdnall is GM of QHotels' Telford Hotel & Golf Resort
Darryl Holdnall has joined QHotels' Telford Hotel & Golf Resort as the property's new General Manager. He brings almost two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, having worked .......more
Wrest Park is now a venue
Wrest Park, a 19thC English Heritage mansion, can now be hired on an exclusive basis for corporate events. It is located at Silsoe near Bedford with easy access from the M1. This Grade I building is known for its formal garden, laid out over 150 years ago in a design inspired by Versailles. Groups as small as 10 people can use the .......more