THE MEETINGS and incentives market in Brunei is seeing stronger growth this year compared to the last, report some DMCs.
Sunshine Borneo Tours & Travel managing director, Anthony Chieng, attested this growth to rotational regional meetings that have landed in the destination. The company handled the tours for the 19th ASEAN-European Ministerial Meeting in April for more than 300 delegates, as well as the post-show tours for The Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors 16th Annual Congress in July.
Freme Travel Services, which handles mostly meetings and incentives from Malaysia and Vietnam, has registered a year-on-year growth of about five per cent from these markets. The company’s manager, inbound and MICE division, Sugumaran Nair, said groups from Malaysia and Vietnam would usually combine Brunei with Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia, with an average of three days/two nights spent in Brunei.
Meanwhile, the Sultanate has attracted two new international golf events, namely Asia Pacific Golf Summit 2012 from December 11 to 13, and the Royal Trophy-Europe vs Asia Golf Championship from December 14 to 16.
These tournaments enhance Brunei’s status as a popular golf destination that has hosted games such as the Brunei Open and the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters.
Nitaya Pirinyuang, sales manager-travel industry/ MICE of The Empire Hotel & Country Club where the two year-end golf games will be held, expects full occupancy during these events.
