2014

Leading professional conference organisers (PCOs), decision-makers of national associations and industry professionals in Malaysia, were invited to share their knowledge and experience on international best practices in delivering successful meetings during the 9th association seminar organised by the Centre held on March 24.

More than 110 participants from over 42 national associations and meeting industry partners participated in the year’s seminar which included roundtable discussions on topics such as: how to attract sponsorships for your event; the benefits of using a professional conference organiser; and international conference and its impact on local associations.

Speaker Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Yahya, chairman of the organising committee of the 21st FIGO World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2015 highlighted that having local and regional sponsors to boost one’s event budget will determine the desired outcome and overall quality of the event.

While the president of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), Teo Chee Hai mentioned that a compelling proposition and strong programme content are important to attract delegates, especially the generation Y. In the events organised by the federation, attention is also focused on the development of youths.

Once again people and commercial businesses related to the tourism sector, as well as stakeholders in this industry who have actively shown excellence over the past years in promoting Kuala Lumpur as a tourism destination, will be rewarded with the Mayor’s Tourism Awards. This is the second edition of the awards presentation with the inaugural in 2011, and will continue to be held every three years.

Categories of awards of excellence range from accommodation, restaurants, shopping malls, tourist attractions, nightspots, print media, airlines, medical tourism and events and also best international tour operators.

This year the awards committee has introduced the Mayor’s Commendable Awards in recognition of front liners who have made a noteworthy contribution locally and globally in tourism and socially. They will be honoured for their service above and beyond their call of duty.

The awards will be in the form of Platinum and Gold with the judging panels made up of the city’s tourism industry leaders who are experts in their fields. For nominations and more information on the awards, please visit www.klmayortourismawards.com

Press Conference announcing the dates of nomination and catagories of awards.

Panel of judges of the Kuala Lumpur Mayor’s Tourism Awards.

Now there is another reason for you to visit Kuala Lumpur. The City Hall has introduced a novel way to view the historical landmarks, tourist attractions, parks and gardens of the city on a horse-drawn carriage. Sit back, relax and take a leisure ride around the city for 20 minutes. The ride begins at the KL City Gallery and along the main road passing the Queen Victoria Fountain on Merdeka Square; the old colonial buildings that houses the national textile museum; KL City Theatre and the former high court; as well as the city’s famous iconic landmark, Sultan Abdul Samad Building.

Tickets are from RM 50 for a single adult and RM 25 for a child. A carriage is able to take a maximum of four adults for a ride. There will however, be no rides if the weather is too hot or during heavy rain, lightning and thunder.

Mission Hills China (comprising of properties in Haikou, Shenzhen and Dongguan), is already recognised as having the world’s largest golf club by the Guinness World Records, as well as winner of multiple international awards with a total of 22 golf courses. On each property is a five-star resort with luxurious accommodation and dining experience, as well as offering leisure recreation and spa and wellness. The facilities in Mission Hills China also extend to include a host of first-class MICE venues.

All three Mission Hills resorts have a full range of meetings and conventions spaces, with large ballrooms that can hold events, banquets, weddings, exhibitions, conferences and concerts. The resorts have the advantage of the prestigious golf course setting and natural green surroundings. At the same time, to help you plan your events, meetings and conventionst the experienced Mission Hills MICE in-house team is on hand to advise.

The editorial team from MICE in Asia publication was invited to visit the Mission Hills in Haikou, Shenzhen and Dongguan to familiarise themselves with all three resorts and facilities available there.

Golf Course
Altogether there are 22 golf courses stretching across Mission Hills in Haikou, Shenzhen and Dongguan. Each course has been designed by and named after top golfers and PGA tour professionals from Greg Norman, David Leadbetter, David Duval, Annika Sorenstam and Jose Maria Olazabal to name a few including China’s Zhang Lian Wei. While the Ernie Els and Jumbo Ozaki courses in Shenzhen are fitted with floodlights that allow golfers to play until 2.00 am. Among the region’s most important tournament that Mission Hills China has hosted are the World Cup of Golf, Tiger Woods China Challenge and the Asian Amateur Championship.

Resort accommodation
Guests staying at Mission Hills will definitely find the view from their suites and rooms of the golf course breathtaking. The resort in Haikou has about 518 suites and rooms while in Shenzhen and Dongguan totaled 500. Each resort has restaurants, a fully-equipped fitness and recreation centre, and a swimming pool.

MICE facilities
All three properties of Mission Hills, are equipped with first-class MICE facilities ranging from multi-function rooms with flexible set-up options to ballrooms which can fit any kind of events – small meeting to large events and conferences. The grand ballrooms in Haikou, Shenzhen and Dongguan resorts are elegantly decorated with a backstage, dressing room and a pre-function foyer.

Mission Hills Haikou Five-Continent Mineral Spring Villa
Haikou itself is home to several natural mineral spring reserves with water drawn from 800 metres below the ground of volcanic in origin. Only available at the Haikou Mission Hills, the golf resort has created an extensive area of about 950,000 square feet of 21 acres, as a destination for mineral spring and spa. Several spring reserves are found here, and are defined by the features of countries from the five continents – Asia, Oceania, America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East with distinctive themes of Tropical Orient, Native Maori, Ancient Roman Pool, American Wild West, Lost City and Exotic Turkish Bath.

Movie-Themed Town at Haikou Mission Hills
Is a commercial venture between Mission Hills, the Huayi Brothers and Feng Xhio Gang on an area of 1,400 acres have been set for a movie-themed town. It features the setting from some of Feng’s famous movies, and when completed, there will also be dining and entertainment outlets, shopping, cinema and hotels. This will establish Haikou as the leading entertainment, cultural and leisure destination in China.

The publisher of MICE in Asia would like to thank: Mr Yum Siew Wah, General Manager of Mission Hills Haikou; Sundi Shi and Mona Li of Mission Hills Shenzhen; and Manshun Zhu of Mission Hills Dongguan for the familiarisation tour of the resorts. Our special thanks go to Sundi Shi, Mona Li and Kitty Wu for organising and making the trip a memorable one.

Registrations for IT&CM China have risen in recent months leading up to the international MICE event in China. Spurred by growing interest in international buying demand for China and the other destinations in the Greater China region, IT&CM China is experiencing its largest record of buyer registrations in its eight year history.

German buyer Bernd Maesse, Managing Director of Maesse Marketing Consulting Limited estimates that, the total volume of MICE business that he will be buying into China this year alone, will reach some 1 million Euros. “As China is the number one trading partner in Asia for Germany, the destination, will be the most important MICE destination in the region for us and our clients.”

Meanwhile Shital Rajan, president and chief executive officer, Meeting and Incentive Department of Air Safety Equipment Inc. USA, expects an increase of at least 10 to 12 percent for their incentive and meeting programmes in China. “Our experience with incentive programs, meetings and new product launches in China, has been extremely successful and popular. The destination has become very important for my clients in the advanced aircraft industry.”

The region is also on the top of the list for many other end-user clients across diverse industries including automotive, agricultural, computer hardware, construction engineering, fashion and lifestyle, finance and insurance, manufacturing, software technology, steel and production, and pharmaceuticals.

Rachel Dobbs, manager of Global Accounts of Helmsbriscoe, USA, attributes this uptrend in China’s popularity to the growing partnerships between Chinese companies and foreign companies. She elaborates, “Whenever there is an increase in such collaborations, those industries are going to see a growth in the number of foreign companies bringing their meetings, conventions and programs there. As such, I think that China is going to be popular for educational trainings, and for organisations and associations that have growing numbers of members and constituents who are China based.”

Buyers of IT&CM has showed continued interest in popular cities within China and the Greater China region including Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Sanya, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Up and coming destinations such as Dalian, Fujian, Guilin, Guizhow, Hunan, Tianjin, Tibet, Xian and Yunan are already on the radar of attending IT&CM China buyers from Europe and America.

For more information on IT&CM China, visit www.itcmchina.com

International Congress and Convention Association have forecasted that China is likely to become a primary MICE destination in the 21st century. Although China’s MICE industry is in the infancy, it is rapidly growing, and considered the most valuable sector in the tourism industry of the country. The Guangzhou MICE and Leisure Tourism Fair -a thematic show of the China Guangzhou 11th International Leisure & Recreation Expo (GILE) is specifically organised to meet the market demands of Guangzhou’s industrial development

This year, GILE covering 100,000 square metres of planning area with up to 500 booths is estimated to attract over 200 related enterprises to participate in the fair. China Import & Export Fair of the Pazhou Complex shall again be the venue for the Guangzhou MICE and Leisure Tourism Fair which will be from March 1 to 3.

The fair is being sponsored by Guangdong Enterprises Association for Foreign Economic Cooperation, GD-HK Economic & Information Exchange Association, Hong Kong Grandeur International Exhibition Group Limited and Asian Association of Entertainment Venue Owners.

Several exciting events and festivals are lined up in Kuala Lumpur for 2914 combining art, culture sports and shopping. Visitors worldwide are invited to the city to experience the beat and energy of this sprawling metropolis of Malaysia.

To begin with the celebration, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, ushered in the New Year with a live concert at the Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) of performance by Malaysian rock stars and artistes, hosted by the Mayor, Datuk Seri Haji Ahmad Phesal.

The concert to usher in 2014 was backed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall Orchestra.

Malaysian Rock Star Amy of Search urging his fans to join him in a chorus of his hit song ‘Isabella’.

Below are the happenings you can expect throughout the year in the city.

 OCBC Cycle Malaysia from January 17 to 19
 KL Chinese New Year Open House on February 13
 KL Grand Prix City Festival from February 28 to March 20
 Earth Hour on March 29
 Malaysia GP Sales from March 15 to April 6
 KL International Towerthon Challenge on May 17
 KL Bonzai & Orchid Show from May 16 to 18
 Colours of Malaysia on May 24
 KL Fairground from May to June
 Malaysia Mega Sale from Jun 28 to September 11
 KL Hari Raya Open House on August 14
 National Day Celebration on August 31
 KL Samrah Festival from September 4 to 6
 KL Tower International Jump Malaysia from September 26 to 29
 Arts in the Park in October
 KL Standard Chartered Marathon in October
 KL Deepavali Open House on October 23
 Malaysia Year End Sale from November 15 to January 4, 2015
 KL Christmas Day Open House on December 25
 KL Car Free Morning every Sunday of the first week of the month

The rapid expansion of China’s MICE market continues to draw more international companies in this growing industry. According to a 2011 Global Meetings Procurement Agency HelmsBriscoe report, the value of China’s conference and events industry was estimated at USD 150 billion, with tens of millions of conferences held every year. The Chinese MICE industry itself is burgeoning at 20 percent annually – reflecting the endless opportunities for both international and domestic MICE suppliers alike. Meanwhile, a 2012 study by PhoCusWright showed a doubling of China’s travel gross bookings over a span of five years from USD 54.8 billion in 2009 to USD 105.5 billion in 2013.

For many MICE industry suppliers, China’s relentless growth translates to inevitable shifts in customer geographies, where the country is already amongst their top buying markets.

This year the IT&CM China event is set to welcome approximately 3,000 MICE professionals from sectors including DMCs, PCOs, corporate travel and associations. The show will also feature 400 hosted delegates with over 10,000 business appointments scheduled to be conducted.

At the same time, more than 60 business and education and networking sessions are planned for delegates. The organisers of the show expect this year to secure 67 percent new buyers with a targeted ratio of 1.25 buyers to one exhibiting company.

IT&CM China 2014 will also be anchoring the Shanghai Business Events Week (SBEW) featuring eight industry businesses of education and networking events.

More information is available at www.itcmchina.com.