KUCHING, Dec 11: Sarawak has achieved a new milestone in attracting the most number of business events in a single year.
This figure was revealed by Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) during an appreciation dinner recently.
SCB disclosed that its business events’ arm, Business Events Sarawak (BE Sarawak) which is a non-profit company had secured the highest bid wins as of to date.
In a media statement, SCB revealed Sarawak’s business events industry has secured the highest number of business events in a single year and is estimated to anchor more than RM90 million in direct delegate expenditure (DDE) manifested from the spending of flights, accommodation, meals and entertainment.
Speaking on the achievement of BE Sarawak, its chairman Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Leo Toyad said, “By the end of 2019, we are expecting to rake in 76 events and over RM90 million in DDE alone.
“This indicates the actual strength of Business Events on our economy and going forward, we are confident that the figures will increase exponentially.”
In addition to celebrating the wins, BESarawak observed that the figures associated with bid wins such as delegate attendance, days and expenditure has surpassed the bureau’s expectations and targets.
“According to the survey, 72.4 per cent of delegates extended their stay post-convention with a satisfaction scoring of 98.4 per cent,” it said.
Asides from assessing the economic value to Sarawak, it noted the secured collective of meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions were assessed under the Legacy Impact Assessment which highlighted 965 potential impacts for Sarawak.
The assessment matches the event’s theme and topic components against the Seven Key Focus Areas (7KFA) of urban development/redevelopment, social, environmental, agricultural and industry development (including Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy or SCORE) plus service industry and digital economy.
Meanwhile, BE Sarawak’s head of business development and research Anedia Kahar explained: “Besides the leisure factors of a destination, meeting planners place a high value on knowledge capital, which is what Sarawak’s 7KFAs are.
“Sarawak has provided their meetings and conventions with intangible values that are appealing to delegates from all continents and backgrounds.”
BESarawak’s chief operating officer Amelia Roziman added: “This industry is one of the most effective platforms to drive social and economic transformations.
“We want all business events to be community-conscious that instigates maximum impact. The Legacy Impact Programme will bring this message home.”
On another note, SCB disclosed its newly devised Legacy Impact Programme is made to empower every meeting and convention in Sarawak to drive socio-economic impacts under its Four pillars of Legacy Impacts being Advancing the Field, Community Benefits, Economic Outcomes and Public Policy.
With that, SCB revealed that it is introducing two new reward programmes which are BESLegacy — made to maximise global visibility for conventions and exhibitions (C&E) — and BESTribe — for corporate meetings and incentives (CM&I) with attractive rewards supported by airlines and local Destination Management Companies (DMC).
Besides that, SCB disclosed that another huge milestone is BESarawak’s education arm, TriBE: INNOVATION, with its MACEOS-endorsed Masterclass for the Industry.
It noted 22 industry partners graduated from the course and are currently eligible to sit for the internationally acclaimed Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) certification.
Finally, outlining its marketing efforts, SCB pointed out that BE Sarawak has won two awards namely the BrandLaureate Award for Nation Branding — MICE and the Chief Minister’s Industry Excellence (CMIE) Award, earning the Sarawak Business Federation’s (SBF) Recognition Award. — DayakDaily
