Press Room

As Malaysia opens up its international borders, the country’s premier business events venue, look forward to hosting events with over 20 high-profile international events scheduled to be held between now till December out of which, 10 are on conventions and 13 exhibitions.

“We have recently hosted a few site-visits for upcoming international conferences and are, currently focused on helping our clients, event organisers, visitors and guests safely and comfortably transition into organising and attending physical meetings and events. While the standard operating procedures are more relaxed now, our priority on safety and hygiene remains,” explained Mr. Alan Pryor, general manager of the Centre.

Mr. Pryor further commented with the shrinking of the overall business pie, competition is stiffer and price wars more aggressive and Malaysia he added, needs to have compelling policies and strategies to capitalise on the destination’s attractive proposition. This he said, is to set itself apart from neighbouring competitors and help entice more international events.

Upcoming international events which the Centre will be hosting are:  International Congress on Infectious Diseases; International Conference on Tropical Agriculture; International Geo Science and Remote Sensing Symposium; Asia Turbo Machinery and Pump Symposium; 3^rd Asia Optometric Congress, International Medical Exhibition and Conference; International Café and Beverage Show; Control World Expo, Oil and Gas Asia; and International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition.

Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, president of TCEB, said the 2022 Thailand MICE familiarisation trip was a clear reflection of Thailand’s readiness to host face-to-face international business events again, following the success in pandemic control and the increased normalisation of international travel.

Participants were MICE agents, event planners, meeting planners, corporate buyers and professional conference organisers  from 15 markets of countries such as Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

“We are expecting a strong rebound in Thailand’s meeting and incentive sectors in the short term, followed by a broader-based recovery in the medium term,” as further mentioned by the president of TCEB.

Scheduled meetings, during the trip between participants and Thai suppliers generated six leads from international convention centres and hotels worth 919 million Thai Baht in revenue, which will comprise of 14,600 travellers.  While the meeting and incentive segment brought in about 51 leads with 15,580 travellers and 981 million Thai Bhat in revenue.

The total potential revenue the familiarisation trip produced through scheduled meetings was at 1,900 million Thai Baht.

Business Events Sarawak will publish an international journal of business events and legacies, with the collaboration of Australia’s Curtin University campus in Malaysia, while the Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak and the Sarawak Research Society are strategic partners in expanding the journal’s reach and visibility across professional networks.

Currently, there are nine journals on business events, but none have been found to review business events as a whole, inclusive of corporate meetings and corporate incentives. Sarawak’s international journal of business events and legacies will be the first research publication in Southeast Asia, to focus on both business events and legacies.

The international journal of business events and legacies, will address pressing contemporary issues within current events, and  related legacies, featuring strategies; case studies, and viewpoints, in which the industry’s capabilities on event planning and delivery are highlighted.

It will be a resource for industry students, practitioners, researchers and policymakers to understand the relationship between hosting business events and correlating activities, such as; economics, entrepreneurship, hospitality, management, marketing and tourism.

Ms. Amelia Roziman added: ‘’BESarawak will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the International Convention and Congress Association at IMEX Frankfurt this year. Global partnerships with ICCA and similar associations, will give the journal further international recognition.

Presently, there are 44 members from 15 countries who will share their resources in the making of the journal. These members are from; Malaysia, Singapore, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, China, USA, Oman, Libya, Serbia, Iran, Greece and Switzerland.

According to BESarawak, international collaboration is expected to increase in the future.

This year will the 9^th edition held in Turkey with the ACE of MICE well positioned as a meeting point between Asia and Europe. The in-person event will take place at the Istanbul Congress Center from May 25 to 27 under the sponsorship of Turkish Airlines.

More than 10,000 visitors are expected over the period of three days with business-to-business meetings scheduled with 160 national and international buyers.  The hosted buyer programme comprises of incentive companies, professional congress and sports organisers, event companies, destination management companies, business and conference travel agencies, public relations and advertising agencies.

This year participants can expect to attend a summit on sustainable development where projects being carried out on sustainability by United Nations and Turkey, are discussed.

While corporate companies will share the projects they have achieved on sustainability and a 40-minute individual sessions with participants.

For more information, please visit: https://www.ameistanbul.com/

Events are designed to bring people together, for the common good. By their very nature, events do not discriminate between race, ethnicity, gender, social class, cultural identity, or borders.

The Events Industry Council strongly denounces the war in Ukraine and condemns the clear violation of international law. We are deeply disturbed by the humanitarian crisis unfolding, which will ultimately impact other countries and regions across Europe and are concerned for the safety and well being of the people of Ukraine.

The military invasion of Ukraine is in direct conflict with the values that all of us who serve the Events Industry Council and our global community passionately believe in, and we strongly oppose any form of violence and oppression that negatively impacts the safety and security of those that work in the events industry across Ukraine, their families, colleagues and indeed all Ukrainians.

All of us at the Events Industry Council, and our global EIC family, have been deeply moved by the bravery, courage and resolve of the Ukrainian people and the incredible show of support from our own community and across the world.

We stand firmly with Ukraine and urge all parties to work towards a peaceful resolution.

Statement released by Davies Tanner PR and Marketing agency.

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.