MALAYSIA climbed three places to number 28 in the latest International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) world rankings, while retaining its seventh placing among the top 10 meeting destinations in Asia-Pacific.
The country’s ICCA ranking was boosted by an additional seven international events held in Kuala Lumpur last year, the largest of which was the 18th World Congress of Accountants, with a record attendance of over 6,000 delegates.
Other major meetings included the Asian Pacific Digestive Week (2,661 delegates), 6th World Islamic Economic Forum (2,000 delegates) and the 2nd Global Model United Nations Conference (1,000 delegates).
The number of meetings hosted in the country grew 24 per cent year-on-year, from 96 meetings in 2009 to 119 meetings in 2010. Malaysia welcomed 1.3 million international business event visitors last year, who contributed an estimated US$6 billion in revenue.
Zulkefli Hj Sharif, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) CEO, said: “The growth of meetings hosted in Malaysia and improvements in our ICCA rankings reflect the strength of the collaboration and commitment between the Malaysian Tourism Ministry, MyCEB and our industry partners to bid for, secure and deliver successful international meetings for the country amidst an increasingly competitive market.”
“Within the next five years, the business tourism industry will be further supported by new facilities, offering international and regional associations and meeting planners more venue options to host their meetings and events in Malaysia, and be able to rotate to other parts of the country such as Pahang, Penang and Sarawak, besides Kuala Lumpur,” he added.
Key developments in the pipeline include the expansion of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre by an additional 10,000m2 by end-2013, the launch of Penang International Convention and Exhibition Center by 2014, and the proposed development of MATRADE Centre (93,000m2) by 2014.
By Ellen Chen
