Sarawak has gained global awareness from its successful hosting of the ICCA Congress in 2016, and is extending the effects with top-level programmes that make the state friendlier for association meetings
When the Malaysian state of Sarawak hosted the prestigious ICCA Congress back in 2016, it propelled itself onto the world stage for business and association meetings.
Three years on the benefit of the Congress still holds strong.
Dee Dee Quah, director, Medical Conference Partners, shared: “It has made it easier to promote Sarawak to medical conference organisers based in the US and Europe, as there is more awareness about the destination due to the Congress and exposure from media publicity pertaining to the Congress.
“It has also dispelled misconceptions among overseas conference organisers that Sarawak does not have the IT technology and the know-how to successfully execute a congress of that level.”
Lex Lam, director of sales at Discovery Overland Holidays, said: “Hosted the Congress in Kuching (capital of Sarawak) has also proven to local associations that the city has the sophistication and the know-how to cater to business events. It also provided great networking opportunities with association heads.
“For instance, at the congress I connected with a delegate from Prudential Life Insurance Agency Association Malaysia and that was how Discovery Overland Holidays became the destination management company for their event, Quality Leaders Conference, in Kuching this September.”
Part of Sarawak’s appeal as a business events destination lies in its authenticity, opined Quah.
She explained: “Participants who have been to conferences in glitzy cities such as Paris, New York, London, Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney would likely feel, after awhile, that one city looks like the other. In this sense, Sarawak stands out with its rainforest and natural beauty.
“After the conference, participants can visit UNESCO sites, Mulu National Park in Mulu and Mt Kinabalu in Sabah. These attractions are just a flight away from Kuching.”
The destination is affordable too, emphasised Gracie V Geikie, director/ principle consultant of Place Borneo.
She said: “The rate for a five-star hotel in Kuching for conferences is between RM280 (US$69) and RM300 per night, while a four-star hotel rate ranges from RM240 to RM250 per night. Flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching or Singapore and Kuching are also affordable due to low-cost carriers plying these routes. They cost about 40 per cent less than a decade ago.”
Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), the main convention centre in Kuching for international business events, is doing its bit to ensure the destination is friendly on organisers’ pocket. Its CEO, Eric van Piggelen, shared that the centre absorbs the cost of shuttle transfer services between Kuching city centre’s hotels to BCCK in the conference package.
Sarawak benefits from top-level support in its bid to appeal to global associations. In August, the Sarawak Convention Bureau launched the BESarawak Alliance (BESA), a platform dedicated to improving collaboration and ties between the bureau, ministries and their agencies, and the private sector in order to further strengthen Sarawak’s position in bidding for regional and international business events as well as further developing Sarawak’s core industry sectors.
For a start, chief minister of Sarawak, Abang Johari Tun Openg, has appointed three Sarawak ministries and two agencies as BESA ambassadors: Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development; Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth & Sports; Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development; and Sarawak Multimedia Authority and Sarawak Centre for Performance Excellence.
More government ministries and agencies from both the federal and state levels will become members of the alliance in the future.
Abang Johari also stressed the government’s commitment to invest RM1 billion (US$24.44 million) to upgrade digital infrastructure in the state.
As well, he revealed that the government was negotiating with AirAsia to improve frequencies between Kuching and Singapore and to operate new services to Hong Kong. Currently Sarawak’s foreign air connectivity is limited to Pontianak (Indonesia), Singapore and Shenzhen (China).
Sarawak Convention Bureau’s Business Events Tribal Meet (TriBE 2018) in August is another initiative to further grow and emphasise the destination’s business and association meetings potential.
The bureau took the chance to debut at the event its 360 Degree Interactive Virtual Reality Video. The 2.5-minute virtual reality destination video of Kuching, Bintulu, Miri and Sibu also showed off the meeting facilities at BCCK. The software was developed by the bureau’s bid team. It can be tailor-made to support event bids, to give Sarawak a competitive edge against competitors, said Jamie Wang, head of bids at the bureau.
Amelia Roziman, chief operating officer at Sarawak Convention Bureau, stressed that its use was not just limited to bidding, but that it will also be used at trade events where the bureau participates and at roadshows and in marketing campaigns.
Another new initiative by Sarawak Convention Bureau is to assist local and foreign associations with headquarters in Sarawak. The bureau will support associations’ initial operational expenses provided they match the state’s interest, particularly in agriculture, renewable energy, public health, education, security, development of women and children and the digital economy.
Amelia revealed that there are already a few applicants for the initiative.
“The selected associations will have access to the meeting spaces at our bureau as well as complimentary usage of office rental space and utility bills for the first two years,” she said.
Since the establishment of the bureau in 2006 up to June 30, the state has secured 776 business events which resulted in a direct delegate expenditure of RM645.6 million. These were achieved through a joint effort of the bureau and its sector partners. In 2017, the bureau recorded a total of 48 business events, comprising both national and international association meetings.
Amelia said: “Forty-eight meetings may be relatively few in the global meeting space, however the impact of these business events has contributed substantially to their own target, specific sectors.”
Some major conferences and meetings in Sarawak this year include: 5th International Marine Conservation Congress 2018, June, 700 delegates; Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation 2018, July, 1,000 delegates; The 19th Pacific Early Childhood Research Association International Conference, July 2018, 450 delegates; 6th World Spinal Health Association Congress 2018, November, 400 delegates; and 5th Academic Conference for Asian Society of Cryosurgery, December, 400 delegates.
