Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Eyeing China Market
27 September 2012
As Malaysia’s leading convention facility offering world-class services to an international clientele, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) is always looking for ways to remain ahead of the curve. With this in mind, the Centre is increasing its engagement with a large populated emerging market in Asia namely China.
The recent successful hosting of another convention for 2,200 distributors; the first was last year (2011) for 3,200 delegates, for Perfect China Co Ltd (Perfect China), a China-based health and wellness company ranked 10th direct sales company globally, bodes well for recurrent and new business as more and more China-based companies look at off-site locations for their meetings.
Towards this end, the three-city China road show to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou organised by the Centre’s Team Malaysia partner, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), provides an ideal platform for the Centre to further increase awareness of its facility and services to a big potential clientele.
To facilitate better networking with the target market, the Centre has ensured that all relevant corporate materials, including its corporate video and business presentation, are in Mandarin as well as the presence of Mandarin-speaking marketing staff.
Albeit China and Malaysia enjoy an established and cordial relationship; be it government-to-government, business-to-business or people-to-people, Malaysia remains a relatively new destination for China’s business tourism organisers.
According to Ms Monica Lim, Sales Manager – Meetings & Events, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, besides a safe and stable political climate, world-class infrastructure and well-established service and hospitality industry, Malaysia, being a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual melting pot of Malays, Chinese, Indians and indigenous peoples such as the Orang Asli (aborigines), Dayaks, Ibans and Muruts, offers a kaleidoscope of unique experiences.
“Included in this exciting mix are a myriad of choices for pre- or post-conference tours; from exploring 130-million year old rainforests and climbing the 13,435-ft Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia, to heritage and shopping tours whilst enjoying a multi-ethnic cultural and culinary feast in-country.
“And of course, as one of the most value-for-money destinations in the Asian region, the lower cost of doing business makes it a well worth investment without having to cut costs or compromise on the delegate experience.”
According to the International Convention & Conference Association’s (ICCA) Country and City Rankings Report 2011, Kuala Lumpur has leapfrogged Asian counterparts Hong Kong and Shanghai to improve on her global city ranking by two places, to 21st most popular city for international meetings, and by three positions to fifth in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region.
In addition, Malaysia continues to see strong exhibition growth. The UFI Trade Fair in Asia 2011 reported the country recorded the third highest growth in the region for exhibition space sold.
Since opening in June 2005, China companies that have held events at the Centre include China International Travel Service (CITS), Perfect China and the China-based operations of Novartis, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca which together attracted over 12,300 delegates and garnered a total economic impact of approximately RM24.40 million.
Between November 2012 and March 2013, the Centre has three more confirmed China-based client events which are expected to see a total delegate turnout of 7,800 with an estimated 27,600 delegate days and an economic impact of RM24.86 million.
- end -
