Sarawak strengthens grounds in global MICE industry

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MODERN FACILITIES: Photo shows the entrance to the Borneo Convention Centre which offers state-of-the-art facilities for guests arriving at the city either as leisure tourists or business visitors.

KUCHING: More than RM57 million is expected to be spent by attendees of business meetings here between 2011 and 2016 based on confirmed international association meetings, scheduled so far, to be held in this city during the period.

The Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB), the driving force behind Meetings Incentives Conventions and Exhibition (MICE) industry development in Sarawak, however did not expect to rest on these figures — it was aiming for a larger slice of the industry worth RM11 billion, globally.

Malaysia currently had a 1.1 per cent share of the cake.

The first of such a bureau in the country formed solely to promote the MICE industry in the state, SCB expected to further raise Sarawak’s share of the RM11 billion global industry and was confident the state had what it takes to achieve the objective.

It recently clinched two association meetings in Kuching, namely the 1st Regional Conference on Solar and Hybrid Energy and the World Clown Association Annual Convention 2013 and had bid for another 45 events, SCB chief executive officer Jill Henry said during a briefing here for journalists from Peninsular Malaysia.

She said the conventions were expected to position Sarawak as a competitive new destination and boost Malaysia’s growing reputation as a MICE destination. A recent report released by the International Convention and Congress Association had also placed the city of Kuching, which had seen tremendous development in recent years, among the world’s leading destination for MICE.

Among the recent developments here included the five star Pullman Hotel, the world class Borneo Convention Centre, both of which offer state-of-the art facilities for guests arriving at the city either as leisure tourists or a business visitors.

“In promoting Kuching or Sarawak, we are not competing with Kuala Lumpur or other cities. It is about what is different in Kuching and what it has to offer that cannot be found elsewhere. This is where the focus is. “If it is about a river cruise package, we have it. If it is about a visit to a rainforest, we have it,” said SCB Chairman Datuk Seri Dr Muhamad Leo Michael Toyad Abdullah on Thursday at the launch of latest Sarawak river cruise packages. At the discussion yesterday, he said with the joint effort of the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), meeting planners were enjoying both Federal and state government support to bid for international conventions to be held in Sarawak.

“We are particularly pleased that our state government has now extended its own subvention fund for the next five years to 2016 giving us access to a further RM25 million,” he added. — Bernama