City Chase-ing in Singapore soon

Singapore - The Pan Pacific Singapore will sponsor the world's largest ‘Urban Adventure' race, City Chase, which comes to Singapore on 14 July, leveraging on the event to create awareness and positioning for its brand.

The race which was formed in 2004 in Vancouver is a part obstacle course and part scavenger hunt requiring participants to search for ChasePoints scattered in unknown locations throughout the host city. This year's race will be held in global cities such as Singapore, Sydney, Lisbon, Paris, Madrid, London and Chicago - Singapore is the fifth leg of the race and marks the first time the event comes to Asia. Nat Geo Adventure is the official broadcaster for Singapore.

"This event helps the hotel to create awareness and positioning through the participants as well as the viewers who are the target audiences and will also heighten brand exposure while signalling the hotel's support of the core values promoted by the event. As a hospitality provider, we hope that this event will promote a sense of sportsmanship while showcasing the many facets of Singapore to the participants and audience," Michael Schmitt, director of marketing for Pan Pacific Singapore said.

Although Schmitt admitted that the hotel had not "committed to sponsorships of this nature" before, as a hospitality provider, "participation in an event promoting adventure and discovery is a natural and holistic extension" and is already proving to be an opportunity for corporate team-building as well.

"The hotel associates have expressed interest in participating in this event and the experience fosters bonding and promotes rapport between departments and across levels," he said.

Regional event management company, Sporting Spectrum has been awarded the Asia rights for City Chase, and its MD, Chris Robb told Marketing that its objective is to "showcase the changing landscape Singapore, tasking teams with challenges and activities at various ChasePoints throughout the island".

"The event is unique that it not only targets the hard core regular adventure racer, but also presents a fun platform for social 'beginner' participants to learn more about themselves, their team mate and Singapore and encourages them to think 'on-the-fly'," he said.

Robb did also mention that the "recent surge" in adventure races not only showed market demand but also pose a challenge in "getting the numbers in".

Sporting Spectrum expects to grow the event around the region with a Hong Kong City Chase being planned for later in the year as well as confirming a Kuala Lumpur event around that time frame as well.

In other news, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts have tied up with online travel search engine Bezurk.com to enable online hotel bookings. The collaboration will feature real-time room availability, rates and packages for Pan Pacific hotels and resorts on Bezurk.com, with the initiative aiming to promote awareness of the Pan Pacific brand and drive online traffic to the hotel website.

The partnership with Bezerk.com is part of Pan Pacific's 12 month long initiative for a technologically advanced and efficient online booking platform.