KUCHING: The Chief Minister wants tourism players to emulate the marketing prowess of the Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) in order to turn the state into a top tourist destination.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said SCB’s aggressive promotional efforts had resulted in securing 48 conference bids this year.
These conferences, he pointed out, were top-notch because it would bring in over 20,000 delegates and generate over RM45 million in direct delegate expenditure.
“We cannot deny that it might be a little difficult to promote Sarawak internationally, but I believe that through wise decisions by industry players in the state, Sarawak can be a premier MICE (meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition) destination.
“They (tourism players) need to be aggressive in promoting the state and organise themselves to cater to these developments,” Taib said at the 5th Anak Sarawak Appreciation Award Ceremony on Saturday.
Among those present were his wife Puan Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib, SCB chairman Dato Sri Dr Muhd Leo Michael Toyad Abdullah and SCB chief executive officer Jill Henry.
Among the significant conferences which SCB had secured are ‘9th World Congress of Chinese Medicine (WCCM) 2012’. It will bring in more than 1,000 specialists and RM7.7 million in delegate expenditure.
The ‘International Hydropower Association Congress’ (IHAC), which will be held here in 2013, is set to attract over 600 delegates and RM2.1 million in delegate expenditure.
Since its inception in 2006, SCB had secured 180 bids which are expected to bring in RM189 million in direct delegate expenditure.
Over the years, its world-class act had bagged them nine international destination marketing and promotion awards in Los Angeles, Berlin, Macau, Cannes, and Vienna.