The capital, soon to welcome a tourism bureau with dedicated support for business events, can expect to host more international meetings
The Kuala Lumpur Master Plan (2015 to 2025), aimed at turning the capital city into a top-of-mind destination for exciting and diverse urban experiences, was launched early this year.
It is a roadmap towards achieving the city’s ambitious targets of nearly doubling the number of tourist arrivals to 16 million, increasing average length of stay from 3.1 to 5.5 nights, and increasing average spend per day from RM682 (US$189) to RM900 by 2025.
In line with the plan, City Hall’s tourism unit will be upgraded to a tourism bureau with a dedicated meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) desk in 2H2015. The desk will report to the bureau’s COO, who will in turn report directly to Kuala Lumpur mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib, revealed Noraza Yusof, head of tourism, Kuala Lumpur City Hall. It will provide ground support to Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau’s (MyCEB) bid initiatives to attract business events to Kuala Lumpur without duplicating the role of MyCEB i.e. by not directly bidding for international business events.
Among the many initiatives of the new desk include developing a strategy for business events through branding and a subvention to attract more associations to hold their meetings and events in the city; as well as fostering collaboration between associations and members of The Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers, the travel trade, event planners, transportation and equipment suppliers, venue providers as well as restaurant operators in the city.
Noraza elaborated: “The idea is to bring people together three or four times a year to update all parties on what is happening in the city, and to build a closer working relationship so everyone knows what’s happening.”
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre general manager, Alan Pryor, said: “The establishment of the MICE desk is a welcome development for the meetings industry. Having a dedicated authority to provide ground support and attract business events to the city bodes well for the sector’s further growth and development. We look forward to working closely with the desk, as well as all industry players, to bring more international events to Kuala Lumpur.”
Anthony Wong, The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers ambassador for South-east Asia, added: “The MICE desk with a dedicated team is much needed because there is no clear vision or strategy for the development of the MICE industry in Kuala Lumpur. MyCEB is a national body but it is not able to focus its efforts entirely on the city.”
Asia Pacific Network on Accessible Tourism president, Sia Siew Chin, opined: “The MICE desk should also engage associations for the disabled to ensure future projects, services and tourist attractions are disabled friendly, as this would ensure greater participation of international delegates with disabilities in international conferences held in Malaysia. Accessible tourism must be part of the development agenda.”
Currently, City Hall’s tourism unit supports MyCEB’s bidding initiatives to attract more meetings to the city by, for instance, preparing a support letter from the mayor stating that Kuala Lumpur is ready to welcome delegates should the city win the bid to host the event.
Noraza explained: “The support letter from the mayor is an important bid document for conference organisers to evaluate our commitment and overall readiness.”
Meanwhile, the tourism unit has introduced more products for business events and leisure tourists alike over the past one year. One such offering is the one-hour English musical called Mud: Our Story of Kuala Lumpur, performed at the iconic city theatre, Panggung Bandaraya, through to 2017. It tells a fictitious tale of the harmonious friendship of the early settlers in Kuala Lumpur, based on historical events that took place in the 1800s. Performances are staged at 15.00 and 20.30 daily, except on the second and fourth Mondays of the month.
Arokia Das, senior manager at Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “The musical makes a great introduction of the city and gives a succinct account to tourists about its early beginnings. Being only an hour long, it can be easily incorporated into the programme as a post-lunch or post-dinner activity.”
Two free guided walking tours in the city were also introduced. One takes visitors into the heritage areas of the city and the other to Kampong Bharu to see important historical landmarks as well as traditional Malay wooden houses and the lifestyle of the inhabitants.
Wong, who is also group managing director for Asian Overland Services tourism and hospitality group in Malaysia, said: “International delegates look for authentic experiences in the city, thus the tours are perfect for them who want to see the ‘real’ Kuala Lumpur.”
Other new attractions in the city include carriage rides drawn by Friesian horses that take visitors past the old parts of the city, where buildings date back to the 1800s and early 1900s; as well as helicopter city tours introduced in March.
Nadzariah Cheng Abdullah, president of the Malaysian Small Animal Veterinary Association, concurred that the new product offerings will provide international delegates with more things to do and see, but she pointed out they are not the main reason for delegates visiting a city, nor are they compelling enough to bring about stay extensions.
She opined: “When time is so valuable to every delegate of professional background, conference content plays an important role, along with quality technical tours where delegates can benefit by learning something new.”
