|
MALAYSIA has come up with fresh funding of RM10 million (US$3.26 million) to support international and homegrown sporting, arts and culture and lifestyle events.
This comes on top of its recent RM25 million funding to support business tourism, which saw 16 international association meetings approved for subsidies in the last five months.
The new directive to attract international events is part of the Prime Minister's Economic Transformation Programme and is under the charge of the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), which has set up an International Events Unit. The division currently has two staff, a general manager and a project manager, reporting to MyCEB's CEO Zulkefli Hj Sharif. Both are "events specialists", MyCEB's general manager-sales & marketing, Ho Yoke Ping, told TTG Asia e-Daily.
Criteria for an event to receive support include the number of international participants it can draw, length of stay, the event's publicity value and opportunities to package and promote extended stays.
MyCEB is targeting to rope in two major events by 2015, and another three by 2020, Ho said.
Peter Brokenshire, general manager of Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, said a firmer events calendar was an added bonus to draw meetings delegates and extend their length of stay. He said giving the charge to MyCEB would not dilute MyCEB's focus to increase business tourism, pointing to the two specialists appointed to identify and support events.
With MyCEB and subvention in place, along with the new bid for international events, Malaysia appears to be gaining traction in business tourism. Last year saw a two per cent increase in tourism business arrivals to 1.28 million.
Capping it all will be the launch of a separate business tourism branding, targeted for July. "Malaysia Truly Asia is well-known as a tourism brand. Business tourism needs to be treated differently. The brand needs to address the high-yield aspects of business tourism, for example," Ho said.
A new website, an association development programme and a CRM system are also being worked on.
|
