he City of Kuala Lumpur has climbed up fivenotches, from 27th place in 2008 to itscurrent 22nd position in the InternationalCongress and Convention Association

(ICCA) city rankings in 2009, making the cityamong the top five meetings destination in AsiaPacific, which includes Singapore, Beijing, Seouland Bangkok.

Statistics released by ICCA shows that the numberof meetings held in Kuala Lumpur in 2009 hasincreased to 72, compared to 61 in the previousyear. These meetings attract a minimum of 50attendees and rotate between a minimum of threecountries, and are held on a regular basis.

As a country, Malaysia has also moved up one spotin the ICCA country rankings, from 32nd in 2008(with 87 meetings) to 31st position in 2009, with atotal of 96 meetings. Within that same year, thecountry recorded over 1.18 million internationalbusiness event visitors. This is against a backdropof a total of 23.5 million tourist arrivals in 2009,compared to 22 million in the previous year, makingMalaysia one of the seven countries in the worldwhich continued to see an increase in touristarrivals in 2009, despite tough economicchallenges worldwide.

On average, the estimated average spending foreach international business event visitor is RM 7,418, which is three times more than theaverage leisure visitor spend. In 2009, the businessevents sector had contributed an estimated RM 9.9 billion in economic impact to the localeconomy.

This achievement in 2009, despite the globaleconomic downturn, is, as pointed out by ZulkefliSharif, CEO of the Malaysia Convention &Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), a testimony to thegrowing popularity of the country as aninternational business events destination.

“It is also recognition of Malaysiaʼs unique sellingpoints by associations and meeting plannersglobally, which includes our strong track record forhosting successful meetings, excellent value formoney proposition, world-class infrastructure andour warm Malaysian hospitality,” he said.

As RAM Holdings Bhd chief economist, Dr YeahKim Leng pointed out in an interview with anEnglish daily recently, the Meetings, Incentives,Conventions and Exhibitions (commonly known inAsia Pacific region as the MICE) sector is poised tobe an important growth industry. With accumulatedexperience in hosting major events, more businessevents organisers are looking to Malaysia as thevalue-for-money proposition for their internationalevents.

Some of the association meetings hosted in 2009included the 6th World Chambers Congress (1,056 delegates), 14th International Conferenceon Thinking (1,500 delegates) and the 7th Congress of Asian Pacific Society ofHypertension (1,500 delegates), and in 2010, theMalaysia International Shoe Festival (45,000 delegates), which raked a total of RM5million in sales over three days.

There were also other business related eventswhich were held in 2010. One of the more popularevents is the recent Asian Attractions Expoorganised by US-based International Association ofAmusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) with theMalaysia Association of Amusement Themepark &Family Attractions (MAATFA) and the AustralianAmusement Leisure and Recreation Association(AALARA). The event broke all buyer and visitorrecords.

Table 1: City and Country Ranking by the InternationalCongress and Convention Association (ICCA)

Doing Things Right by Doing the Right ThingsTo develop the business event industry in Malaysia,there is always a two-pronged strategy, whichindustry players and policymakers cannot afford tolose focus.

The first is strategic marketing of existing businessevent venues by individual operators and thecontinuous effort by MyCEB to position Malaysia asan attractive business event destination. Thesecond is the availability of more conventionspaces, especially those that can host largerbusiness events.

Marketing, or the lack of it, is a major reasonbehind the success or the failure of the country tobecome a business events destination. As pointedout by Association of Valuers, Property Managers,Estate Agents and Property Consultants in thePrivate Sector, Malaysia (PEPS) president, JamesWong, there is a need to further strengthen themarketing of existing convention centres which hefeels are largely under-utilised. “The mainchallenge that we face is the lack of marketing,” hesurmised. “We do have good convention centres

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but we are not doing enough to promote Malaysiaas a MICE destination, and we are losing out tocountries like Singapore, Thailand and HongKong.”

Another analyst, Dr Yeah Kim Leng concurs thathaving more space is not necessarily the way to go.“If the new Matrade Centre can create sustainabledemand for niche (large-scale) exhibitions such asaerospace conventions, only then would it beviable,” he told a local English daily. “Places like thePICC is under-utilised. We need to beef uppromotions and encourage regional andinternational conventions if we want to makeMalaysia a business events hub for Asean andeven Asia.”

While some business events organisers like theMalaysian Automotive Association may be satisfiedwith the multiple levels of convention spaceavailable at PWTC, which its President, DatukAishah Ahmad said was sufficient for the KualaLumpur International Motor Show held previously,others like Malaysian International Furniture FairSdn Bhd (MIFF) senior manager, Karen Goiclaimed that Malaysia still lacks exhibition space.The company which organised the MIFF, she said,has been forced to hold its annual MIFF in multiplelocations in recent years. “Thereʼs just not enoughspace,” she said. “Thatʼs why we are organising theMIFF 2010 in three locations simultaneously,namely Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, PutraWorld Trade Centre and at the Matrade Centre.”

An analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity,said some of the iconic heritage buildings like theNational Stadium and the Merdeka Stadium couldwell be refurbished with modern facilities tobecome important business events centres,instead of spending more money on building newconvention and exhibition centres. “It is also animportant effort to preserve a part of the countryʼshistory,” he said. “These buildings bring back thenostalgia of the early years of nationhood fordomestic visitors, while for the internationaldelegates, it is a noble way of promoting thecountryʼs heritage, especially when not many ofthese older buildings are left.” The close promixityof both stadiums should make an ideal venue withperhaps sufficient floor space for majorinternational exhibitions.

For the business events industry to expand, theremust therefore be strong marketing of the existingfacilities and other supporting infrastructure;otherwise, the efforts to build and develop thesebuildings would eventually turn them into whiteelephants. In some ways, the creation of moreconvention spaces may well lead to a healthycompetition, which ultimately helps to generatemore sustainable growth within the sector.

Business events venue operators, which in the pastfaced fewer competitors, may now suddenly haveto re-align their marketing efforts to attract moreevents, conventions and exhibitions.

Their efforts are being complemented by statetourism efforts and nationwide, with the help ofMyCEB.

Table 2: New/Upcoming new meeting facilities/hotels inMalaysia by 2014 (Source: MyCEB)

*Information is subject to change

Tourism Efforts at State LevelAt State level, a number of initiatives have beenintroduced to boost the business events sector.

In the North, when the Penang Times Square, aproject worth RM1.1 billion, is completed by 2015,Penang will have a worldclass business eventscentre, which is capable of offering a completepackage for meetings, conferences and

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exhibitions, apart from shopping andaccommodation. The centre has the potential to befurther expanded from 7,432 square metre (80,000 square feet) to 13,930 square metre(150,000 square feet).

The recent initiative by AirAsia to introduce directflights from Penang to Singapore, Chennai, HongKong and Macau is also targeted at helping to bringin more business events delegates to the Northernregion, including Langkawi. Within the first quarterof 2010, statistics released by the Malaysian HotelAssociation showed the occupancy rate of hotels inPenang hit 56%, compared with 53% in the firstquarter 2009. It is expected to register a higheroccupancy rate of about 70% in the second half of2010, compared with about 65% in thecorresponding period of 2009. With the supportfrom the low cost airline, business eventsorganisers are looking set to use Penang andLangkawi as a platform for more of their events.

In Selangor, tourism, consumer and environmentcommittee chairman, Elizabeth Wong said thatSelangor, being one of the key destinations inMalaysia for local and international conferences,has benefited from an estimated expenditure ofRM5.65 billion by tourists for the first eight monthsin 2009 alone. “One of the Stateʼs focuses in 2010,”she said, “is the niche Meetings, Incentives,Conventions and Exhibition (MICE) activities.”

Wong pointed out that, since December 2009, theState Tourism has carried out the Selangor Shinescampaign, with the theme, “Selangor has More” inorder to attract more tourist arrivals (see Table 3),especially to boost its business events sector,which the State has identified as one of its majorsectors.

In recent years, a private medical centre inSelangor became the first in the country to operateits own convention centre (see accompanyingstory). Once fully operational, the SwanConvention Centre will help position the country asan important medical hub in the region (seeaccompanying story).

Table 3: Tourist Arrival in Selangor (Source: TourismSelangor)

Tourism Selangor has been promoting thebusiness events facilities within its state in anumber of exhibitions including MATTA FairSelangor, ITHF Jakarta, ATM Dubai, FascinatingMalaysia in Singapore, Thailand Discover World,MITT Moscow and Indian Sales Mission. In March2010, Tourism Selangor, led by Wong, was alsoinvolved in the Asia Pacific Incentive and MeetingsExpo (AIME), in Melbourne, Australia, and in laterpart of the year, promoted business events inSelangor at various international exhibitionsincluding JATA (Tokyo), Sanarata (Philippines), ITE (Vietnam) and WTM (London).

Because of its close proximity to Singapore, Johorhas become an important gateway for the countryand accounts for about half the total number oftourist arrivals into the country. Its state tourismchairman, Hoo Seong Chang, who has identifiedbusiness events as one of the nine pillars oftourism, said the State of Johor is capable ofoffering value-for-money accommodation and anumber of other attractions can potentially drawmore business-related events and conferences toJohor. The State, which boasts the largest numberof golf courses in Malaysia, can also attract bothSingaporeans and other foreigners to play at someof the best golf courses in Johor.

Meanwhile, in Sabah, there are also plans topromote the state as a popular destination forcorporate or business event getaways. In 2009alone, there were 410 such events hosted in thestate. Its Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri JosephPairin Kitingan envisages ʻThe Land Beneath theWindsʼ to be developed into an internationallyrecognised destination of choice in Asia forbusiness and leisure by 2025, under the 18-yearsSabah Development Corridor (SDC) Project.

The other Eastern state of Sarawak is alsoexpecting to draw more tourists as it starts toaggressively promote the state as a businessevents destination, after its newly completedBorneo Convention Centre Kuching was launchedin October 2009. One of its record-breaking feats,including serving 4,600 participants in a recentlyconcluded Youth Assembly 2010 in just 35 minutes,or in 13 seconds per participant, is a testimony ofits readiness to cater to big events. Sarawakʼsniche in eco-tourism is another plus point for thebusiness events sector.

The Sarawak Convention Bureau has also beenactively marketing and selling Sarawak as abusiness events destination regionally andinternationally. Their support include providingConvention Bidding Support Package to meetingplanners, which feature among others professionalquality bid documents (official invitations) that areexpertly researched, convincingly written and

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A Convention Centre with aDifference

The Swan ConventionCentre, recently completed, ismore than just a conventioncentre. Located at BandarSunway, just next to SunwayMedical Centre, the first private hospital in Malaysia tohave a Convention Centre aspart of the hospital, the convention centre has anaudiovisual linkage to its operation theatres.

“With this,” said its ChiefExecutive Officer, Dr. ChongSu Lin, “we are able to transmit live surgery from theOperating Theatre to theConvention Centre. “This isvery good for medical conferences, where doctorscan see how the surgery isperformed.”

Despite being a new facility, ithas hosted a number of medical conferences andworkshops, including theCartilage Repair Symposium2009, Malaysian Society forSurgery of the Hand 2010,Minimally InvasiveIntervertebral Disk SurgeryWorkshop 2009. “There areefforts to market our conferences to the medical profession overseas,” Dr.Chong said. “It is part of our commitment to continuouslearning and thus we runmany workshops and training programmes for our own people internally, besidesgoing for the business eventssector. Overall it is a lotcheaper running it in our ownvenue than having to payexternal parties for venue andrefreshments.”

As part of the Jeffrey CheahSchool of Medicine andHealth Sciences, the convention centre has a full-time staff that servicespharmaceutical companies topitch for medical relatedevents.

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custom designed for specific target audience. Oneof the major events held in Sarawak recently wasthe 15th ASEAN Congress of Plastic Surgery & 8thAsia Pacific Craniofacial Association ConferenceAesthetic - ACPS & APCA 2010 Congress.

Back in the Federal Territory, the Kuala LumpurCity Hall (DBKL) is also providing a specialincentive package to international business eventorganisers who bring in 500 or more foreigndelegates to the city. The incentives include feewaivers for 100 units of streetlamp buntings and atemporary outdoor billboard, free cultural troupeperformance for opening ceremony or gala dinnerevent, free promotion on Visit KL website and anofficial invitation letter from the Kuala Lumpurmayor to support the bidding process for theinternational event. This, along with the addition ofnew infrastructure in the city of Kuala Lumpur,along with the upgrading and refurbishmentexercises of hotels, is set to help to grow thebusiness events sector for Malaysia.

An important role by MyCEBMyCEB was established in 2009 by TourismMalaysia to further strengthen Malaysiaʼs businessevents brand and position for the internationalmeetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions(MICE) market. A not-for-profit company, MyCEBserves as a one-stop shop to assist meeting andevent planners to bid for and plan regional andinternational business events and act as a conduitfor national product development.

MyCEB is giving its full commitment to localindustry partners in bid development, siteinspections, joint promotional efforts and continuingeducation for professionals.

MyCEB provides the following support to meetingand event planners, depending on the economicbenefits generated by the event, as well as agreedperformance criteria:• Technical advice on conference venues,

accommodation, transportation, relevant local suppliers

• Provision of ideas on social programmes, accompanying persons programmes and pre/post touring options

• Assistance in promoting and publicity the event through listings in Tourism Malaysiaʼs official website - calendar of conferences and exhibitions in Malaysia;

• Set-up a hyperlink to the conference or exhibition web page;

• Use of MyCEBʼs logo in the organiserʼs conferences and exhibitions publicity materials

• Dissemination of conference and exhibition information to relevant organisations through Tourism Malaysiaʼs overseas offices

• Supply of souvenirs or give aways

• Organising of Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya or Melaka city tour

• Hosting of cultural show or pocket shows at the opening ceremony or social evening

A number of cultural programmes have beendeveloped as value-add packages for conferenceorganisers. For example, the MyCEB offers the“1Malaysia Dance”, which represents dances frommajor races in Malaysia and a drum symphony toconference organisers as part of its efforts toacquaint delegates with local art and culture. A “TehTarik” demonstration, batik and henna paintingsessions can also be arranged through MyCEB.These value-added demonstrations offered aresubject to meeting planners fulfilling the criteria set.

With the active involvement of MyCEB, thecollaboration and commitment between thegovernment and local industry players to marketand secure business events for Malaysia has beengaining momentum.

“Since January 2010, MyCEB has initiated a seriesof seminars to educate local industry professionalsto improve their understanding of associationsʼrequirements and to enhance their industryknowledge and expertise to cater to the growingmeetings market,” Zulkefli said. Seminars (whichincluded topics such as “Selling to Associations”,“How to Work a Tradeshow” and “Industry Trends”have also been conducted to various governmentministries and officials to enhance their awarenessabout MyCEB and to seek their support for eventbids.”

Feedback from the Industry Players With more than 15 years in organising businessevents, Yap Shook Fung, Director of ConsoleCommunications Sdn Bhd, said the company hasbeen involved in organising conferences, targetingat medical and other professional associations.Among the meetings that they have organizedinclude the 20th Video Urology World Congress,11th Asia Pacific Congress of Nephrology, 14th ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies(14th AFES), 23rd Pacific Insurance Conference,28th American Overseas Dietetic Association(AODA) Conference and the recently concludedAsian Breast Aesthetic Symposium. On average,each international delegate spends anything fromUSD 1,500 to USD2,000 per conference,depending on the conference registration fees,hotel they choose and number of days.

Among her favourite venues include the KualaLumpur Convention Centre, Shangri-La HotelKuala Lumpur, Mandarin Oriental Hotel KualaLumpur and Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur.The reason for her preferences: “These venueshave the capacity, variety of meeting rooms, level

of service, knowledge and experience with medicalconferences and most importantly, the flexibility.”

For her, one reason that Malaysia can attract themedical professionals to this part of the world isbecause the country is capable of fulfilling almostall requirements of organising international medicalcongresses. “The more important factor,” sheadded, “is the strengths, experience and the goodstanding of our local professional and medicalassociations internationally.”

Based in Singapore, Manuel Ferrer, RegionalGeneral Manager for Pacific World Malaysiaattributes the companyʼs success to its core values- adherence to high standards of ethics, operatingwith integrity, caring about their clients, and takingpride in delivering operational excellence with apassion for what they do.

The company serves a variety of markets, includingthe UK, Australia / New Zealand, ContinentalEurope, the USA, United Kingdom, Asia Pacific andthe Middle East as well as other emerging markets.“We organise events on behalf of every kind ofindustry, working with event agency intermediaries,corporate end users, government organisationsand association clients,” he said, adding thatMalaysia is one of the top event destinations inAsia, offering world-class MICE facilities at superbvalue.

“In fact, it is one of the most affordable destinationsin the world and in Asia, with five star hotel rates upto 40% less than some of its neighbouringcountries,” he said. “In Kuala Lumpur, high qualitymeeting facilities are abundant and theinfrastructure is highly sophisticated, making KualaLumpur an affordable yet very cosmopolitanmeeting destination.”

His favourite venue is the Kuala LumpurConvention Centre. “It is a multiple award winningconvention centre located right in the heart of thecity, complete with excellent four and five staraccommodation, either attached to it or in closeproximity, making it a truly world class option forlarge events,” he said. “Besides that, it is theShangri-La Hotel and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel,which offer good facilities, service, and are alwaysthere to cater to your meeting, conference andevent needs.”

On why international delegates choose Malaysia,Manuel has this to say: “Malaysia has some of themost stunning island destinations – Borneo,Langkawi and Penang offer beautiful beaches withexcellent resorts for a pure incentive or a relaxedcorporate meeting programme,” he said. “InLangkawi we love the ʻCook with Shukʼ experiencein a traditional Malay teak house. In Penang wehave some wonderful traditional clan houses thatwe can use for special events and imperialbanquets, and in Borneo our favourite activitiesrevolve around adventure and wildlife, fromexploring the local head hunting culture to SepilokOrangutan Sanctuary, which is a must for incentivegroups.”

Upcoming Conventions and ExhibitionsThe following are some conferences that haverecently been secured by Malaysia as a result ofMyCEBʼs collaborative efforts with industrypartners: • 7th Triennial Meeting of the Commonwealth

Dental Association 2012 – 2,000 delegates (Borneo Convention Centre Kuching) (Nov 2012)

• 14th International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Congress & General Assembly 2014 – 3,000 delegates (Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre) (May 2014) (see attached releases)

• A regional congress on medical sciences 2013 – 1,500 delegates (Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre) (Nov 2013)

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Table 4: Upcoming Conventions and Exhibitions

Bringing MICE to Greater Heights Malaysia has a sound track record as a majorevents destination, having hosted events such asthe PETRONAS Malaysian F1 Grand Prix, LIMA(Langkawi International Maritime and AerospaceExhibition), NAM (Non-Aligned Movement),Commonwealth Games, and CommonwealthHeads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)Summit, World Health Organisation (WHO) GlobalConference on the South African Revenue Service(SARS), the 50th Pacific Asia Travel Association(PATA) International Conference, Foodex Asia andeven Bollywood's International Indian FilmAcademy (IIFA).

These events require top-notch state-of-the-artfacilities, services and world-class hotels toaccommodate their needs. It's easy to see whyinternationally-acclaimed corporations and bodiesare making Malaysia their host of choice when itcomes to business events. The country has anincredible diversity; there is something distinct andappealing about the landscape and the people ineach of its state and city.

Realizing the importance of niche business eventssector within the tourism industry, the Malaysiangovernment has been investing in the developmentof new meeting facilities to further enhance thecountryʼs competitiveness in the global meetingsindustry. This includes the development of thepurpose-built Borneo Convention Centre Kuching(opened October 2009), Shah Alam Convention

Centre (opened April 2010) and the proposeddevelopment of MATRADE Centre (93,000 sqm/ 1million sq ft, estimated completion in 2014).

In addition, there has been investment in newinfrastructure around convention precincts such asthe Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, therebybuilding Malaysiaʼs capacity for large-scalemeetings. For example:• Development of new hotels near the

Kuala Lumpur City Centre precinct – DoubleTree by Hilton (540 rooms, 1,823 sqm/19,622sq ft meeting space, August 2010), Grand Hyatt Hotel (2013), The Regent (236 rooms, 2011), The Regent Residences (115 units, 2011)

• Extension of the Impiana Hotel (opposite the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, adding 180 rooms to the existing 335 rooms, 2011)

• A pedestrian linkage and covered walkway in Bukit Bintang connecting Berjaya Hotel & Convention Centre (hotel/meeting facility/shopping centre), Pavilion KL (shopping centre) and the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre will also be constructed (The elevated walkway connecting the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and Impiana Hotel will be completed by February/March 2011).

The development of new hotels/meetings facilitieswill increase Malaysiaʼs capacity to host moreevents in the future, as most new and upcomingvenues/hotels will offer extensive meeting facilities. In addition, investment in new meeting facilities willoffer international and regional associations moreoptions on venues to host their meetings andevents in Malaysia in the future.

There will also possibly be an increase in frequencyfor Malaysia to host Asia Pacific meetings.Regional association meetings can now rotate toother parts of Malaysia e.g. Sarawak, Langkawi, aswell as Kuala Lumpur.

The spillover effects of a developed businessevents industry are hard to quantify. It is not justabout the tourism dollars but the overall positioningstrategy of the country adopted by theGovernment. As Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Dr.Ng Yen Yen pointed out during the launch of theInternational Shoe Festival, most people knowabout the worldʼs most famous and talented shoedesigner, Datuk Jimmy Choo but many areunaware that shoe-making in Malaysia is a century-old industry.

“We have 1,200 factories exporting US$600million(RM1.93billion) worth of products and our localshoe market is worth RM500million. I think ourrecent shoe fest is the first of its kind in the world,”she said. “We plan to make it an annual event andturn Kuala Lumpur into the regional shoe capital.”The words of the Minister of Tourism reflects theaspirations of a nation which seeks to becomeregional hubs for some of its niches – and thepromotion of its business-related conventions andexhibitions is the strategy to reach the goal.

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