February 2022

BESarawak’s chief executive officer Amelia Roziman, who is also the advisor of the Malaysia Association of Tour and Travel Agents’ Sarawak Chapter, expressed that MATTA’s expertise and networks are central to the destination branding and development of BESarawak.

“We are securing more partnerships with relevant travel and event associations to strengthen our destination profile and drive more sustainable, community-based events. Sustainability and community-driven are two areas that organisers are on the lookout for now,” said Ms. Roziman.

As an associate member of MATTA, the partnership is seen as a move to widen BESarawak’s reach and visibility to national inbound and outbound travel associations. Currently Sarawak’s strength lies in conventions with over 80 percent of business generated from this industry.

MATTA according to the Sarawak Chapter’s chairman, Mr. Oscar Choo will provide BESarawak with promotional support and networking to boost Sarawak’s incentive market. The strategic partnership is viewed as important in reviving the tourism sector which is one of the state’s biggest contributors to the economy.

The Malaysia Association of Tour and Travel Agents is Malaysia’s national representative body for the travel industry with a membership of over 3,400 members across the country.

Business Events Perth has announced, the confirmation, of five new business events worth over AUD13.2 million thanks to, a boost in funding it received through the Government of Western Australia’s Reconnect WA package and its Keynote Speaker funding incentive.

The Reconnect WA package of AUD185 million was declared last year December by Western Australia’s Premier Mr. Mark McGowan which included  AUD15 million funding was a boost for BE Perth, to assist the organisation, in attracting lucrative business events to Western Australia – supporting the recovery of the state’s business event, hotel and hospitality industry.

Since being awarded the boost in funding, BE Perth has confirmed four large-scale medical conferences that are set to see over 2,750 medical specialists travel to WA between 2022 and 2025, adding upwards of AUD7.7 million into the local economy.

While BE Perth’s innovative Keynote Speaker Incentive, where the bureau  sponsors attendance of high-profile keynote speakers, has led to the confirmation of a 1,600-delegate education conference for Perth in 2025; which is set to generate upwards of AUD5.5 million in economic returns for the state.

Although the covid-19 has had a significant impact on the business events industry in Western Australia, Business Events Perth managed to secure 108 national and international events which are set to take place from 2022 to 2029 representing AUD107 million in economic impact for the state.

BE Perth has also supported over 350 local events since August 2020 to assist in the recovery of the local industry.

The travel association predicts annual changes in international visitor arrivals across the region, to turn positive versus 2021 IVAs under each of the mild, medium, and severe scenarios in 2021. This in its report recently released, with growth rates ranging between 126 percent and 84 percent.

The increase in the absolute number of international visitor arrivals is predicted therefore to range from 72.5 million to 175.7 million under the severe and mild scenarios – lifting the total volume of visitor arrivals to between 159 million and 315 million.

According to the report, while it is a positive and welcome development after two years of extremely difficult conditions, the international travel and tourism sector of the Asia Pacific region has still much to repair and revitalise.

The forecasted increases in inbound visitor numbers in 2022 for example, will only return from 23 to 45 percent of the level of foreign arrivals received in pre-pandemic 2019.

Destinations across Asia Pacific have been highly focused on implementing health and safety measures.  In parallel, various research studies and early travel patterns indicate a heightened consumer interest in a pivot to the right side of travel – longer journeys, more authentic experiences, and nature-based, wellness-oriented, and socially-conscious travel offerings are amongst the key trends for today’s travellers,” said PATA’s chief executive officer Ms. Liz Ortiguera.

She further added destinations can expedite their recovery by staying top-of-mind with consumers, communicating requirements with clarity and consistency, and offering a sustainable, healthy destination experience.

The PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2022-2024 full report is now available at www.pata.org/research-q1v63g6n2dw/p/asia-pacific-visitor-forecasts-2022-2024-full-rep

The venue which is set to reopen in September after an extensive redevelopment, will host all meetings related to the APEC Framework.

Thailand is chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit 2022 and the host country, has chosen the theme: Open. Connect. Balance. This year, member countries of APEC will focus on charting a post-covid-19 future for the Asia-Pacific region as APEC, moves forward from the crises of the pandemic.

In terms of economic growth, APEC has reported that the region, will continue to grow at a moderate pace in the coming years – expanding to 4.2 percent in 2022 and 3.8 percent in 2023

The first set of meetings to roll out the year’s agenda was held in Phuket with subsequent technical meetings in Pattaya about 150 kilometres southeast of Bangkok.

Countries scheduled next to host the APEC forum are United States of America in 2023 and Peru in 2024.

For over three decades, the QSNCC has been providing a comprehensive international meeting service. It is currently undergoing the redevelopment phase to offer facilities that are five times larger as well as, a variety of spaces for retail.

“On behalf of the management team of the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, we are delighted and honoured to have been entrusted by the APEC organising team of the Thai government that opts for our full range of meetings and events solutions, said Mr. Sakchai Pattarapreechakul, president of QSNCC management company, N.C.C. Management & Development.

The global convention industry consulting firm has published its fourth annual destination competitive index that ranks the world’s top cities in terms of key draw factors for meeting planners.

Main purpose of the Index said the head of GainingEdge Analysis & Research Mr. Milos Milovanovic, is to develop methodologies and quantitative tools for destination comparison which can help users, speed up their post-covid recovery.

This year’s report continues to utilise two powerful benchmarking approaches of fair share analysis of a destination’s business levels and ratio analysis meant to help destinations focus in on their most important competitive issues based on the cities with which, they are most frequently contending for.

Cities to Watch

Paris tops the list as in 2020 with Singapore taking the Asia-Pacific crown and New York leading America.

This year, the report selected six cities that best show what can be achieved by different combinations of product, and a focus on the international meetings market.

Beijing jumped from 7th to 4th place globally and took second position in Asia. Its fast recovery, growing competitiveness and being in the global top five for available intellectual capital indicates great potential for further improvement in future years.

Istanbul after a historical best in 2015, Istanbul’s position declined due
to political instability and related challenges. However, it boasts excellent destination products and jumped to 9th place globally and 4th in Europe in the Index. Since 2017, Istanbul has been on a path to recovery albeit slowed by covid-10 and this is expected to continue.

Moscow – Eastern European cities are relatively less competitive compared to Western European cities but, Moscow is an exception as a global hub with excellent accessibility and infrastructure. Moscow has many local intellectual leaders who can help bring events, however the city has yet to leverage this competitive advantage well.

Budapest is in ICCA’s Top 30 and sits at 61st place overall in the Index, and at 29th in Europe. Although meeting numbers have declined, Budapest still achieved results above its competitiveness score. It has a bright future if it can activate its competitiveness in a strategic way.

Florence best known as a beautiful city, with a strong leisure segment. Florence improved its competitive position to 47th place globally and 21st in Europe. Ranked 88th by ICCA this gap nonetheless indicates solid potential for growth if the city, leverages its key competitive advantages.

Ghent well-known as a European university town. Ghent is relatively less competitive when compared to larger capital cities. However, continuous good results show Ghent has strong collaboration with its local academic community, and is very effective at, harnessing its intellectual capital – the key source of its success.

The Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau support the Malaysian government decision to reopen the borders of the country.  This according to the bureau will rejuvenate Malaysia’s economic activities from businesses, investments, conferences and exhibitions.

This year, MyCEB is expected to organise a total of 81 business events with about 113,700 delegates to Malaysia contributing an estimate of RM834 million to the economy.

While MyCEB backs the government’s decision to reopen the country’s border, the bureau has also urged that the government set a definite timeline for the reopening.

This year, Malaysia will play host to several international and regional business events activities. The government’s earlier initiatives claimed by the chief executive officer of MyCEB, Dato’Sri Abdul Khani Daud such as the Langkawi International Tourism Travel Bubble and the Singapore-Malaysia Vaccinated Travel Lane has proven that the country, can move towards careful reopening. 

Later in February, Malaysia will host the World Congress of Nephrology which in the past has attracted some 5,000 delegates. The annual event features symposia, presentations, training program and courses offering the latest science and state-of-the-art education in nephrology.  It’s reported that the event will continue as planned and, in a hybrid format with a high registration from the local expert community.