Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau's annual review event was held at The Wembley hotel.
At the Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau's (PCEB) first event for the year, guests celebrated the destination's success in hosting 156 events in 2020. These events welcomed 19,283 participants and accounted for 48,963 room nights.
Hosted at The Wembley hotel, the 2020 Business Events Penang Annual Review event was attended by industry stakeholders and with guests of honour including the chief minister of Penang, Chow Kon Yeow, and Penang state exco for tourism and creative economy, Yeoh Soon Hin.
“We have to keep in mind that the business events industry is built on the principle of collaboration and now more than ever, we have to cleverly harness its power, exhausting every potential avenue so that we can find opportunities for business together,” said PCEB CEO, Ashwin Gunasekeran.
Yeow indicated his confidence that "the business events industry will continue to play an important role in Penang’s economic growth, and our resilience will continue to become an empowering force for the state in the pursuit of the Penang2030 vision," which includes initiatives such as climate change adaption plans, and building an ecosystem towards nurturing creative industries.
He added: “Events that take place can potentially leave legacies to enhance our destination, and this can be done as Penang’s brand is constantly made present through the efforts of PCEB and Business Events Penang."
However, Penang's good news faces a temporary roadblock.
Malaysia issued a month-long blanket ban on interstate and inter-district travel this week (10 May to 6 June) across all states, regardless if they are under the movement control order (MCO), or recovery, conditional or enhanced MCO.
And from today, 12 May, a new MCO came into effect again amid a third wave of Covid-19 in the country. All forms of social gatherings are prohibited, including restaurant dine-ins, and Hari Raya open house events.