Business events a key earnings sector for Sarawak — Bureau

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KUCHING: The impact of the business events segment on the state’s tourism industry has been tremendous, having generated more than RM31.4 million from direct delegates’ expenditure alone last year.

Adding to this, the state also hosted 59 conferences and 15,380 international delegates last year.

“To understand business events in Sarawak is to understand that they have a profound effect on every industry and profession,” said Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) managing director Mike Cannon in a publicity statement on the bureau’s 10th anniversary and this year’s eighth ‘Anak Sarawak Awards’, released yesterday.

According to Cannon, the business events segment has been transcending the borders of tourism since the establishment of SCB in 2006.

“The magnitude of such impact reverberates across the state’s education, export trade and research capacity sectors. Such domino effect is greeted with no surprise, as international professionals and experts from numerous fields flock to beautiful Sarawak. Thus, by providing the platform for the convergence of brilliant minds, Sarawak itself will grow to equal — if not exceed — its own ambitions of development. The impact to our homegrown industries is both diverse and long-lasting,” he said.

This, Cannon underlined, led to the creation of ‘BESarawak’ — a special campaign initiated by SCB as a dedication to all aspects of business events.

“The campaign aims to empower industry players to reach new heights in professionalism and excellence through its three-prong programme — communicating, educating and awarding for associations, corporate organisations, government agencies, media and industry partners.”

Meanwhile, Sarawak Tourism Board’s Mary Wan Mering said the board had always been emphasising on the overall marketing of tourism, given its multi-faceted aspect.

“We have variations of tourism, such as medical and education tourism. However, business events (segment) is the strongest delivery funnel to date as it has helped raise the profile of the destination and reinforce our brand. For instance, we have long since advocated the generic branding of ‘Culture, Adventure and Nature’ in Sarawak, but the business events initiative has really helped to push the envelope.”

For Imperial Hotel Kuching MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) manager Nora Wee, the business events segment is perceived to be a dynamic segment of arrivals.

“Business event delegates contribute more hotel revenue than the leisure travellers — up to three times more. Gone are the days when hoteliers solely depended on FITs (free independent travellers) or even GITs (group inclusive tours) as their main sources of revenue.”

SCB’s 10th anniversary will see a celebration spanning three days, beginning this Aug 5. It will kick off with the eighth ‘Anak Sarawak Awards’ at Imperial Hotel Kuching.

The overall celebration is also set to unite industry partners in a sharing and education forum at Grand Margherita Hotel, followed by a series of site inspections, workshops and an excursion into the state’s greatest tourism asset — the annual Rainforest World Music Festival.

For more information on SCB’s 10th anniversary or the BESarawak partnership programme, visit http://besarawak.com/home, or contact Jemima Joseph via 082-242516 or [email protected].