Exceptional destinations, outstanding value

The technologically brilliant new East Building at the Adelaide Convention Centre heralds further growth in the events business in South Australia – and the state’s economy, says Alec Gilbert, the centre’s Chief Executive. And it’s generating great excitement among operators and clients alike.

Shortly after taking off from Sydney on Philippine Airlines flight PR 214, I dropped my mobile phone down the side of the business-class seat. Nothing, absolutely nothing, the cabin crew or I did could get it out. It was lost in the works, down there somewhere.

The General Manager of the Crown Towers and Nobu hotels in Manila’s booming City of Dreams gaming, events and leisure complex has an illustrious hotel pedigree. In an interview, he shares insights into his events and leisure businesses and outlines his vision.

It’s a small thing for some people, sure, but it suggests a well-run establishment, whose operators are mindful of the green sensibilities of many of today’s travellers.

On a grey-blue sea, ferries scuttle about in bright sunshine. A cruise liner looms at its mooring, while in the distance a low-cone-shaped sleeping volcano rises from the harbour – an unmistakable clue to the city I’ve recently arrived in.

Just off Saigon’s heaving, teeming Ben Thanh market, up a discreet flights of steps in a pencil-thin precinct reminiscent of apartments in Paris or New York, is a hidden gem: the 21-room Anpha Boutique Hotel.