Incentive Travel & Corporate Meetings magazine has for 19 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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Scone Palace's new Murray Suite

Scone Palace by Perth has opened the new Murray Suite as a corporate hospitality facility. It comprises the Tullibardine and Balvaird rooms, with views across the Estate, the parklands and the River Tay. The rooms can be .......more
ExCel London to double in size
ADNEC, the Government of Abu Dhabi's National Exhibition Centre, is known for thinking big, witness the extensive facilities nearing completion in its home country. Having bought ExCel in May 2008 for an estimated total investment of £350m, ADNEC has revealed plans to .......more
NatWest puts teamwork on the menu!
A group of 14 NatWest bankers from branches throughout the North West of England, including Area Directors and Relationship Managers, enjoyed a competition at LucyCooks cookery school. It had nothing to do with cooking the books, but everything to do with .......more
A Highland mix of moose and MICE
A new wilderness reserve in Scotland is keen to host incentive groups or secluded business meetings of up to 16 people. Alladale Wilderness Lodge and Reserve is set 23,000 acres in the wildest area of the Northern Highlands. 'This is the place', says Paul Lister, the owner, 'to .......more
Second Four Seasons opens in Istanbul
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has opened its second hotel in Istanbul. It has a prime position on the European side of the Bosphorus, looking across to Asia. It was a 19th century Ottoman palace and has been restored with a contemporary style. The original .......more
New spaces for successful Barbican
Barbican, the City of London's conference and cultural centre and the biggest facility of its kind in Europe, has been able to celebrate its best-ever year, with a 16% increase in revenue. Its statistics also show that the Barbican Hall, capable of seating 2,000 delegates, had .......more
Whisky Masterclasses for team-building
The Albannach Bar and Restaurant is very Scottish, but is located in Trafalgar Square, London. It is now putting its expertise in Scotch Whisky at the disposal of client companies for staff social events, for entertaining business guests or .......more
Café Royal is closing
London is losing a major functions centre. The Café Royal on Regent Street close to Piccadilly Circus, will close down on December 21 2008. It was opened as a restaurant and hospitality facility in 1865 by Daniel Nicholas Thévenon, a Frenchman. Among its claims to fame .......more
New Park Inn for Edinburgh
The Rezidor Hotel Group will open a new Park Inn In Edinburgh in 2010. It will be a city-centre property, along with four others by Rezidor. It will have 171 rooms, a restaurant, lobby bar and lounge, fitness room and.......more
Derbyshire hotel increases room numbers
The Ringwood Hall Hotel in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, has opened six new bedrooms at a cost of £450k, bringing its total capacity to 70 rooms. The new rooms were previously used as servants' quarters. They include three feature rooms named after former owners of Ringwood Hall. They.......more
Silversea introduces a luxury expedition cruise ship
With the Prince of Monaco himself present, the expedition ship called Prince Albert II has officially joined the Silversea fleet at a naming ceremony in Monte Carlo's Harbour. .......more
Staffordshire/Stoke-on-Trent Conference Bureau's new guide to venues
The Staffordshire Stoke-on-Trent Conference Bureau has issued the 6th edition of the guide to its member venues .......more
Meeting packages at Luna Baglioni in Venice
Luna Hotel Baglioni has introduced a range of Meeting Packages for Half Days and Full Days. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, the hotel is a few steps from St Mark's Square in Venice and claims to be the city s longest-established hotel. It has three .......more
Grand Castle re-opened in Xi'an
The Grand Castle Hotel Xi'an has been re-opened after 6 months of renovations. A member of Summit Hotels & Resorts, it positions itself as 'the most luxurious independent 5-star hotel in .......more
Merlin buys London Aquarium
The visitor attraction operator, Merlin Entertainments, is the new owner of the London Aquarium, located in County Hall on the South Bank, next to the London Eye. Merlin Entertainments now intends to invest £5m in further developing both the displays and the infrastructure .......more
New Air Mauritius business class on all UK routes
Air Mauritius will launch its new business and economy class features on July 1 2008 across all its UK routes. A new business class seat includes lie-flat cocoon seats with a 60-inch seat pitch and a recline capacity of 172 degrees. Each aircraft leaving from the UK will have .......more
SWISS to introduce 'beds above the clouds'
SWISS is adopting a new seating concept for its intercontinental Business Class cabins. These seats have never been used before and will be gradually installed throughout the SWISS long-haul fleet from spring 2009 onwards. The seats include an integrated massage function, USB and .......more
Feline medicine event for Edinburgh
The European Society of Feline Medicine (ESFM) has selected Edinburgh as the venue to host its 2008 Congress. The society was founded in 1996 to promote and assist vets' growing .......more
Hotel will be 'out of this world', says Premier Inn
Premier Inn has unveiled plans for a hotel on the moon. The company claims that a 43,500 sqft site has been purchased and that designers and engineers have been working on the blueprints and .......more
Incentive brochure from Windstar
Windstar Cruises has introduced a dedicated brochure on its charter and incentive services. It operates three motor sailing yachts (msy): Wind Star and .......more
John Lennon Marriott to be a Crowne Plaza
Kew Green Hotels (KGH), which currently operates 18 hotels under franchise agreements, has acquired the Marriott Hotel Liverpool South at Liverpool John Lennon Airport .......more
Marrakech's secret hideaway
AnaYela is a small, beautiful 300-year-old palace hidden away in the north of the Medina in Marrakech, Morocco. The property, with just five deluxe rooms, has been redeveloped and .......more
Kempinski Hotel Suzhou opens
Kempinski Hotel Suzhou has welcomed its first guests. It is set amidst a large estate which encompasses the 27-hole Jinji Lake International Golf Course and a state guesthouse of five villas. The hotel is .......more
Aston hotel opens between Sheffield and Rotherham
The £5.7m Aston Hotel Sheffield/Rotherham is now open. It is just a few minutes from the M1 at junction 33, and one junction south of Meadowhall. The hotel compromises 78 state of the art bedrooms and 7 meeting / dining rooms, as well as Aston's Brasserie and bar 59 .......more
The Edinburgh Convention Bureau increases tourism
The Edinburgh Convention Bureau (ECB) helped attract business tourism worth £72.8m to the economy of Scotland's capital city last year. Edinburgh which is Scotland's top conference and convention destination hosted .......more
Abu Dhabi ups its targets
Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), the largest of seven emirates within the United Arab Emirates and home to the country's capital city, has raised its hotel guest projections for the coming five years from the original targets set in 2004. The upgrade, revealed in the authority's 5-Year.......more
Le Meridien Barcelona unveils 30m-euro facelift
After a long period of renovation which has involved an investment of 30m euros, Le Meridien Barcelona is unveiling its new main entrance. The reception and lobby area have been redesigned in a modern style.......more
InterContinental 70m-dollar resort for Jordan's Dead Sea
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement with Sun Days International for Tourism Investment to develop a US$70m luxury resort on the shores of the Jordanian Dead Sea.   Set to open in late 2012, InterContinental Resort Dead Sea will offer an unrivalled view across the spectacular.......more
New post created at Vinopolis
Events Director is a new post created at Vinopolis by merging the responsibilities of Event Operations Manager and Event Sales Manager. Gemma Brown has been appointed to this role and she will be taking it on in May, when she will head a team of eight people. Their target is .......more
Breath of fresh air from De Vere's new venue
De Vere Venues is opening new premises at Canary Wharf, London, on 2 June 2008. However, Tony Dangerfield, Chief Operating Officer of De Vere Venues, suggests that 'sadly the outside air in big cities simply isn't good enough quality, especially in the summer. For business people to perform at their best they need good quality air. We provide clean air.......more
Launch of the 'New Look' Hilton Portsmouth
At a cost of £1.5m the Hilton Portsmouth hotel and conference venue has been refurbished to set a new standard for accommodation and events in the city. It now boasts a new restaurant, bar and lounge as well as 119 guestrooms with plasma screen TVs. The existing meetings and function suites have been restyled and are.......more
New Royal Caribbean for European cruises
Royal Caribbean International has taken delivery in Finland of Independence of the Seas. It is to sail from Southampton during its inaugural season and will be the largest cruise ship ever to be.......more
'Dublin is inexpensive and good value for money', reports Dublin Convention Bureau
Hotels.com annual Hotel Price Index survey of capital cities places Dublin as 34th in the world in terms of what customers actually paid for their hotel room in 2007. 'This', says Jean Evans, CEO of Dublin Convention Bureau, 'puts Dublin way below competitor conference cities in Europe, including.......more
Stephen Dodman, DoSM for St David's Hotel & Spa, Cardiff
The 5-star St David's Hotel and Spa in Cardiff, part of the Principal Hayley Hotels and Conference Venues Group, has appointed Stephen Dodman as .......more
Sarah to push MICE business towards Flanders
Sarah Mathews is the new MICE Manager at Tourism Flanders-Brussels in the UK. She was previously with HK Tourism Board in London. Her main focus will be increasing business .......more
Crowne Plaza Birmingham City Centre to get makeover
Hotel operator Centre Island, which took over the Crowne Plaza Birmingham in 2005, is investing £16m in a complete refurbishment of the city centre hotel. The project is due for completion in September 2008 and includes the redesign of all 312 bedrooms, plus the addition of a new front-facing 'destination' restaurant .......more
Principal Hayley venue to open near Barcelona
La Mola is a new 186-room, 4-star venue to be opened by Principal Hayley in September 2008, just 25 minutes outside Barcelona. It is situated on the edge of the St Llorenc de Munt national .......more
Raffles builds a luxury hotel and golf resort in Bali
Raffles Hotels & Resorts together with PT Asia Pasifik Properti, a subsidiary of Rekso Group, has held a Project Commencement Ceremony at the site of Raffles Jimbaran, Bali. This new hotel, only .......more
Private Cabin cable car service to Nong Ping, Lantau
Ngong Ping is a fairy-tale location in the hills of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. A memorable ingredient for an incentive programme is a ride on the Ngong Ping 360 cable car that carries passengers across the .......more
Summer opening for Istanbul's Park Hyatt
More details have been released on Park Hyatt Istanbul-Maçka Palas. The hotel uniquely combines the historic architecture of an Art Deco building with innovative interior design. Housing the existing Emporio .......more
New hospitality suites at Wimbledon's Centre Court - with all the extras
For the first time in The All England Lawn Tennis Club's history, clients will be able to wine, dine and entertain their guests exclusively in the newly built and highly coveted Skyview Suites, located inside the club's Centre Court complex at Wimbledon. They can be booked only via .......more
Yorkshire offers ideas and adventures
An abseil off the stands of York Racecourse has launched a campaign to increase business tourism in Yorkshire. Yorkshire Tourist Board (YTB) is spearheading a drive to increase awareness of the region as a world-class meetings and incentives destination. It aimed to highlight .......more
Emirate Palace opens lounge for arriving passengers
We are accustomed to airport lounges for use before departure, but Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi's iconic hotel managed by Kempinski, has opened a lounge at Abu Dhabi International Airport for .......more