TAKE5 gives you an update on the latest Meetings, Incentives and Business Travel related news. It contains short and to the point information on venues, people, happenings, lifestyle and general news that cannot wait to be told! BBT Online guarantees you 15 new ideas in just 3 minutes. Enjoy our 47th edition. All of our take5 articles are advertorial free.
| The Private Loft |
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Benelux first: Icehotel Lumen | |||
 In the heart of Ghent Seaport organizers find the The venue offers plenty of parking facilities and has a unique and classy feel about it… the perfect place to wow the clients!
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 The only and very first Ice Hotel in the Benelux can be found in Zwolle, the Netherlands. The entire hotel is made of snow and ice and has 3 rooms. The room temperature is -8° but the management assures its guests they will have a comfortable night but do not forget your thermal underwear, a good woolly hat and warm mittens… www.hotellumen.nl
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| BTExpo is really for Travel Agents, not MICE | |||
There was indeed a small MICE area at BTExpo. But it was never going to provide the former EMIF with any serious competition and attract specialist buyers from the MICE industry. There was some business there from Belgian agents, especially for the active DMCs with representatives in the market. But it was mainly for special groups and special interest travel, not MICE. However some people we spoke to commented very positively on the networking brunches. Bruce Taylor reports … Click here.
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| Meeting & Motivation Industry Cocktail – what happened? | ||
Only 75 people were registered…a bit of a letdown, to say the least! Was it because the invitations were sent out late and only in Flemish? – an English version followed later. Was it because not all members of all associations were invited? Click here to read more. |
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It was the first time in history that | To MICE or not to MICE |
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Belgium in force at EIBTM |
| To MICE or not to MICE. The eternal argument will never go away and there’s never likely to be agreement. Are we a separate Meetings (No MICE please, we’re British & American) industry as Hugo Slimbrouck claims? Or is Marc Dans right when he says we are part of the travel industry?
Like in everything in life, there has to be Belgian compromise. Bruce Taylor gives his view. Click here to read more. |
 It was great to see Belgium working together as a team with a real Belgian sense of humour and a modern efficient stand. The cooking knives were out between Flanders & Wallonia……but only in fun! |
| BBT Online goes global!!! | ||||
Ten leading meeting and business events industry publishers announced at EIBTM that they will collaborate alongside event and association partners (AIPC, EFAPCO, IAPCO, ICCA, PCMA and Site) to deliver the industry’s first online supersite. International Meetings Review (IMR) will provide a global news hub with up to 20 separate satellite editions showcasing countries or regions, each delivered by the leading local publisher.
The members of the network have been selected by IMR executive producer and Meetings review founder James Latham, and his industry association and event partners. Click here to read more ….. |
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| BBT Online - It’s Party Time on Monday January, 9!!! |
And there is plenty to celebrate!
This party is first and foremost to thank, for the 2nd year in a row, all the Club 100 members who are the staunch supporters of BBT Online. The event is for Club 100 members only! Not a member yet, but you want to join the party? Join the club on http://www.bbtonline.eu/club100.php Click here for all all the details on the party and for registration. BBT Online Club 100: the place where you meet more planners than suppliers. |
| MICE & Event – 16th February Brussels Kart |
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Korean Food is hot! |
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 Let’s be clear: the Belgian MICE market needs its own platform and, although an honest ‘try’, let’s face it, BTExpo cannot be called a dedicated MICE trade fair. MICE & Event offers: a no-nonsense, 1-day networking event (Feb 16) for professionals. No frills, no gadgets, just plain selling and establishing of contacts to follow- Simple but efficient and budget friendly. Do not miss out on a day of good contacts and even better results! Visitors registration is now open: http://www.miceevent.com?a_aid=belgium |
Korean food is rapidly gaining popularity across the globe, probably because of its well-orchestrated bursts of flavors and health-enhancing effects. Korean-Belgian celebrity chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre of l’Air du Temps** and Jean-Pierre Gabriel, program director at the Seoul Gourmet Congres organised a 2 days Korean Culinary Food Lab in Hotel BLOOM! Brussels. European top chefs were invited to attend masterclasses and jamsessions on Korean cuisine. Belgian chefs David Martin from La Paix, Filip Claeys from De Jonkman and Alain Coumont from Pain Quotidien assisted the event.
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If you are looking for a | Freeloaders, who needs them?... |
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| iPad fun during your exclusive dinner |
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Dining with the Stars |
 At the very exclusive Restaurant La Terrasse of the Bellevue Palace (Bern, Switzerland) guests get to |
 After the resounding success this year, Dining City has decided to organize the 2nd edition of the Dining with the Stars week. Over 40 restaurants in the whole of Belgium with minimum 1 Michelin star, offer a special menu at a very interesting price from March 23 until April 1st 2012 included. An original way of discovering a new restaurant! www.diningcity.com |
interact with the chef in an original way. After the starter they are given an | Sparkz Conceptz – No more boring meetings | ||||||||||
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| The Tram Experience by Brussellicious 2012 |
In February 2012 VISITBRUSSELS and its partners will launch the ‘Tram Experience’ as a part of Brusselicious 2012. As its name suggests, ‘Tram Experience’ aims to offer a gastronomic and touristic experience. Guests will be able to enjoy several classic dishes of Belgian gastronomy, all modified for the occasion by top chefs. At the same time, they will be travelling along some of the Region’s most attractive roads, seated inside a vehicle with a white, sleek and modern decor. |
| A great welcome |
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New Hotel concept: The Exchange |
 We have all had on occasion wished we had a nice banner to welcome friends, family or one’s favourite sports team at the airport. Schiphol Airport installed the very first ‘banner machine‘ in arrivals Hall 2, the BannerXpress. In an easy to follow 5 steps process, banners up to 3m long can be produced in a matter of minutes, now that we call a great idea and with largest format at € 14.95, not even all that expensive! Let’s hope the idea will quickly find its way to other places! www.schiphol.be. |
 Hotel The Exchange in Amsteram is a hotel with a special love of fashion. Students of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute dressed the rooms like models on the catwalk. The result: a hotel where architecture meets fashion. Hotel The Exchange has 61 rooms, ranging from 1 to 5 stars. Each room has been designed and dressed by graduates and alumni of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI). www.exchangeamsterdam.com |
| Yes, bidding has changed! |
But perhaps less obvious was a fundamental principal of selection. The mind-set has changed and selections are made on the basis of looking at the Association’s point of view, rather than just a destination. The selection is political and strategic and objective assessments are made. It’s a fact of life that some Associations will only go to cities where there are financial incentives, CSR on the other hand was not felt to influence the process. Yes, Bidding has changed. Nothing is taken lightly, associations have to be seen to be objective and they need to make the right decision.” |
All parties at the recent| Real Short !! |
AGENDA |
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| • | It’s party time! We celebrate our 10th Anniversary! Join BBT Online on January, 9. More details and registration, http://www.bbtonline.eu/newsletter/party/index.html |
| • | Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board presents
I AMsterdam MICExperience 2012 -Thursday 19 January and Friday 20 January 2012. Register via http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/meeting/iamsterdammicexperience |
| • | Tuesday February, 7 - 2012 BBT Online’s next 4-Destations workshop. For professional Event & Incentive organisers only. Watch your inbox for the official invitation. London, Poland and Wallonia will be present. |
| • | South Africa and surrounding safari countries remain a great destination. Meetings Africa, from 28 Feb till March, 1 – 2012, with interesting post tours. www.meetingsafrica.co.za |
| • | 20 & 21 March: Brussels is the venue for the Bocuse d’Or Europe – the most prestigious cooking competition in Europe comes to Brussels during Horeca Life. |
| • | IT&CM China 12-17 April – Shanghai - Registration is now open! Want to be a hosted buyer, register on www.itcmchina.com/ |
| • | Consult BBT Online’s MICE agenda, and don’t miss any event. www.bbtonline.eu/agenda.php |
MISCELLANEOUS |
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| • | Get submerged in real Christmas party spirit, plan a visit to Chateau de Modave open until January 8th. www.modave-castle.be. |
| • | BCD Travel has compiled a checklist for business travellers, what to pack: go to http://www.bcdtraveldirect.be/nl-nl/reisplanner/ |
| • | Destination Ardennes is proud to present their latest production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5aVP8b1Tc. check it out and enjoy! |
| • | An original way to motivate staff: a fresh fruit basket every week! Free delivery anywhere in Belgium by Fruitsnacks! |
| • | UNESCO has recognized the Portuguese Fado as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. http://www.visitlisboa.com/Home_UK.aspx?lang=en-GB |
| • | The National Park Komodo in Indonesia has been selected as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. http://www.komodonationalpark.org |
| • | EIBTM announces record turnout and record business for 2011 edition, the sun did shine in any case!! |
| • | The publishers of Grande launch a new lifestyle magazine Ultimo. |
| • | If you haven't already, do hook up with us if you're on Facebook so you can be kept in the loop of the latest news. http://www.facebook.com/pages/BBT-Online/342354577225 |
| • | You have a colleague who wants to be kept up to date on the latest business travel and MICE news and doesn’t receive our newsletter? You can subscribe free of charge on our homepage, www.bbtonline.eu |
HOTELS & RESTAURANTS |
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| • | Hard Rock Cafe comes to Brussels; opening planned for March/April 2012. |
| • | Belvilla launches bookings on the farm. <http://nl.belvilla.be/vakantie-boerderij> . |
| • | Rezidor announces opening of new 150-bedroom Park Inn by Radisson at Amsterdam Schiphol; opening fall 2012. |
| • | South Tirol has once again underlined its position as a region where the living is good by adding 3 new Michelin star restaurants to its already well filled listing of good addresses. |
| • | Hotels.com has calculated that Budapest is the best value for money citytrip in Europe as far as hotels are concerned. |
AVIATION |
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| • | After a successful try-out, Ryanair has announced that it will introduce seat reservation on all flights as per January 10 2012. The supplement is € 10 per flight… or did you think Ryanair was giving something away? |
| • | As from April 2012, Brussels Airlines will considerably increase flight frequencies to five African destinations. Travel possibilities and seat capacity to/from Yaounde and Douala (Cameroon), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Nairobi (Kenya) and Bujumbura (Burundi) will be enhanced, while Kinshasa will be served four times a week non-stop. The frequency increase is made possible thanks to the introduction of an additional long haul aircraft. |
PEOPLE |
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| • | It came to our attention that Kathleen Bertier has been let go quite abruptly from Meeting Brugge. Kathleen, Past MPI Belgium President, can be reached via Kathleen.bertier@callective.com |
| • | Elly Nijs, MICE Manager at CSM Benelux left the company due to financial restrictions and is looking for a new challenge. She can be reached on nijs.elly@telenet.be |
| • | Also Petra De Zutter, after many years lost her position of PR at Rezidor and can be reached on fam.dupont@skynet.be |
| • | After 9 years Anne-Françoise Piette has decided to look for a new challenge and has left Eurostar. She can be reached on afpe@skynet.be |
| • | Alain Brosse is the new Manager in charge of all sales channels for Thomas Cook in Belgium. |
| • | The Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) announces that Philippe Fournier, President of the International Association of PCO's (IAPCO) and Managing Director for France, MCI Group, has assumed the Presidency of the Joint Meetings Industry Council. Fournier replaces Leigh Harry. |
| • | Garry White signs up as the new CEO of European Cities Marketing. |
| • | On January 2012 the MICE department will be closed in the Brussels office of NBTC due to savings of the Dutch Government. Gemmeke de Jongh found a new job as Sales Manager at the Conference Center De Ruwenberg at Den Bosch; she can be reached on gemdejongh@hotmail.com. All queries for NBTC can be addressed to ebakermans@holland.com or mice@holland.com |
TESTIMONIALS |
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| • | I always read your newsletter with pleasure and seeing the comments on your event at Breckpot I can only confirm it all: original location, professional service and an organization that is ‘always reaching for the extra mile’… Leentje Van Nuffel – MICE Project Leader - BCD Travel |
| • | Thank you again for organizing the BBT Workshop in Mechelen! The location was great and the catering was perfect. The workshops were interesting as was the networking afterwards. Martine de Ceuleneer l Travel Advisor - Carlson Wagonlit Travel |
NEW BBT ONLINE CLUB 100 MEMBERS |
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BBT Online Club 100 welcomed the following new members during December:
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SOMETHING FUNNY |
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| • | Laughing is good for you! You know how sometimes things are so embarrassing that you yourself get embarrassed? Yeah well, this is it. Click here. |
Karin de Graauw – Editor-in-chief BBT
Online Rue de Toulouse 49 – 1040 Brussels – Belgium info@bbtonline.eu – www.bbtonline.eu |
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