Blazing a trail in-person at M&C Asia Stella Awards 2021

After switching to a digital format last year, Asia Pacific's leading meetings and event professionals reunited in-person at the M&C Asia Stella Awards 2021 on 8 December, celebrating the industry's tenacity and leadership displayed during these unprecedented times.

A total of 22 awards were presented at the hybrid event, across five categories comprising Convention & Visitors Bureau, Convention Centre, MICE Destination, Meetings Hotel, and Integrated Resort (MICE).

Irene Chua, Vice President and Group Publisher, Asia, for Northstar Travel Group said: “This year’s Stella Awards is especially meaningful in recognising the achievements of the winners. With the pandemic impacting large-scale events, it has been a long road to recovery for many venues.

"But the business events industry is facing steady progress, and the winners have shone the light for others with their resilience and leadership. We are extremely pleased to be able to honour these distinctive organisations with the awards they deserve.”

Reunited and it feels so good

Arriving at the PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore, there was an obvious sense of excitement in the air, as old industry friends fist-bumped and caught up just like before — made possible as Singapore continues to expand on newer Vaccination Differentiated Safe Management Measures (VDS+Test) at business events, marking steps forward in the return of safe meetings.

Dr Edward Koh, Executive Director of Conventions, Meetings & Incentive Travel at the Singapore Tourism Board, who received the award for Best MICE Destination (Asia), said the win was "an important acknowledgement and recognition of Singapore's vision to be a Covid-resilient state.

"It is very important as we can see from the pandemic that we’ve seen some casualties but we’ve seen as well that the industry has come closer together with collaborations and discussions and we ought to celebrate all these achievements in the past year together."

It's a sentiment shared by Ong Wee Min, VP of Conventions & Exhibitions, MICE at Marina Bay Sands, which took home two wins: for Best Convention Centre (Southeast Asia) and Best Meetings Hotel (Singapore).

"It’s very important for the industry to recognise the best in the industry. Not only for suppliers, but to celebrate their success so we can learn from the best and inspire everyone in the industry to aim for greater heights and deliver the best that we can for clients and all our stakeholders."

Hybrid brings the world together

Winners who could not join in person logged into a virtual platform, just as at last year's M&C Asia Stella Awards 2020.

Many have mastered the online meeting routine, presenting their 'live' speeches seamlessly, adding captions, and showcasing background images of individual hotel properties and attractive destination attractions. Some even gathered entire teams to join the Stella awards, complete with banners and happy smiles, like The Howard Plaza Hotel Taipei.

In recognition of the 'new digital normal', a new category was also added this year: the M&C Asia Special Recognition Award, presented to Seoul Tourism Organization, for taking the lead in digital innovation and launching new products to accommodate the hybrid trend.

To select the winners, planners and members of the MICE industry submitted their votes for destinations, hotels and service providers throughout the Asia-Pacific region, based on overall excellence, professionalism of the events team, MICE initiatives, and efforts to lead the industry’s recovery in a post-pandemic era. Winners were determined following a voting period from 8 June to 13 August 2021.

Here is a full list of the M&C Asia Stella Award winners 2021:

Convention & Visitors Bureau

Convention Centre

MICE Destination

Meetings Hotel

Integrated Resort (MICE)

M&C Asia Special Recognition Award