Venue making the MICE agenda happen
Paul D’Arcy
One ‘place’ in Sarawak where the impact of business events is highly visible is the ‘state-of-the-art’ Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), the fi rst international purpose-build convention centre on the island of Borneo inspired by the shape of the ‘Ririk’ leaf.
With an impressive total built up space of 37,958 square metre, BCCK’s innovative design is capable of hosting conventions for up to 5,000 delegates at a time.
According to BCCK chief executive offi cer Paul D’Arcy, since 2009, the convention centre has hosted more than 290 events with a grand total attendance of more than 300,000.
International delegates represented 13,022, while regional and national amounted to 97,832, and the remaining 203,199 were from other social events.
“For the years ahead, we have managed to secure around 18 to 20 events up to 2020, with an average of 800 delegates per conference,” he told BizHive Weekly in an exclusive interview.
He further pointed out four international events that have and would be held at BCCK this year were the 13th Global Reunion of Nanyang Uni- Venue making the MICE agenda happen versity Alumni, 14th Asia Pacific Congress of Pediatrics 2012, International Energy Week(IEW) 2012 and 9th World Chinese Medicine Congress.
“ Our direction is to be a world leading convention centre where the Borneo adventure begins. It’s not an overnight process, we did our share of strategic planning and had to get the approval of the board,” he shared.
One of the plans on the cards was to offer additional facilities by resurfacing its ground parking area to cater for larger crowds.
“It’s a four stage plan which will take five years to complete, upon approval,” he revealed.
Commenting on the visibility of the location, D’Arcy said it was the best possible ‘grid’ on earth where a convention centre overlooked historic rainforests with a commanding view of the riverfront.
“Things are happening here such as the development of Isthmus and jetty for the water taxi project as well as additional infrastructure development which is expected to include various offi ce towers, a shopping mall and restaurant complex,” he said.
“Anything that can offer delegates extra options on things to do and how to get here is a seller as far as BCCK is concerned,” he added.
In terms of the venue distance, he begged to differ, saying that 15 minutes of drive from the city centre was considered short if compared with other convention centres around the world.
“This perception of ‘too far’ will slowly diminish as we grow more mature and people get used to the location.
“We are working closely with the all the transport operators to ensure visitors and delegates have no problems getting here and back.
By what means, is not an issue, even ‘sampan’ or water taxis are an adventure that cannot be forgotten,” he said.
STB’s tagline ‘Sarawak, Where Adventure Lives’ together with SCB’s ‘Sarawak, Where Business & Adventure Meets’ and BCCK’s ‘Your Events, the Borneo Way’ make a undeniably strong trinity that is destined to propel Sarawak into the next level of the MICE arena.