Malayia looks to help event organisers navigate safety measures. Photo Credit: tampatra/Gettyimages
Upon reaching vaccination targets, domestic travel in Malaysia
resumed in October 2021, swiftly followed by the return of business
events in November 2021.
“The surge in domestic travel is a positive sign in this sector,”
said Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) Chief Operating
Officer, Noor Ahmad Hamid. “The spill over from the [domestic] tourism
sector will be felt by the business events segment.”
So much so that MyCEB has decided to extend its ‘Meet in Malaysia’ campaign until December 2022.
Comprising the “Let’s Meet Tomorrow”, “Let’s Meet Locally”, and
“Let’s Meet Now” programmes, the campaign was launched in 2020 to
kickstart local meetings and, according to Noor, “encourage equal spread
of wealth by engaging non-central venues in the country”.
“We have been upskilling, reskilling and multiskilling for a long
time,” he added. This includes the recent launch of the MySafe Business
Events Planner, a joint initiative by MyCEB and the Business Events
Council Malaysia to guide local and international event planners through
safety measures. It is also hoped the guide will help rebuild public
confidence in meetings and events industry as Noor insists international
destination marketing hasn’t stopped just because borders are closed.
“MyCEB has carved out a 10-year plan, the Malaysia Business Events
Strategic Marketing Plan 2021 – 2030, which includes reinventing
corporate hospitality programmes, forming more global alliances and
investing in much-needed digital transformation,” he said.
Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) appointed industry veteran, Noor Ahmad Hamid, as its chief operating officer in 2021.Malaysia’s event pipeline is also looking healthy, with MyCEB winning
81 event bids for 2022 until 2030. “These bids will bring in more than
152,000 delegates with an estimated economic impact of RM1.2 billion
(US$290 million),” Noor said. These include the World Congress of
Nephrology 2022, the World Autism Congress 2022 and Congress of the Asia
Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) 2023.
Moving forward, however, Noor believes regional collaboration will be
vital in resuscitating meetings and events on a broader scale. “This
industry is the first to be hit and the last to recover. Everyone needs
to work together to re-strategise and adapt with the situation,” he
said.
MyCEB is also part of the Asia Convention Alliance and, like CVBs in
the region, is a member of the Hybrid City Alliance. In an effort to
promote multi-hub meetings across the country, state bureaus in Penang,
Sarawak and Sabah have also joined the Alliance, which currently
consists of 24 members from 16 countries worldwide.
“The objective is to create a value proposition that supports clients
in the delivery of hybrid events regionally and internationally,” Noor
said.