TAKING A NEW LEAD IN KL
John Burke , the new general manager , Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre , shares his view of future development at the venue
Blue in concert
It ’ s all change at the top at KLCC , with you now at the helm , having replaced Alan Pryor , and Robert Hatton-Jones taking over your previous position . How do you hope to lead ?
I am focused on continuing what the Centre has been successful for over the past 18 years . We have a building in the heart of the city , an experienced team and a range of offerings that are great , and they work .
We will continue to refresh our facilities . As event formats change from large auditorium presentations to smaller breakouts and discussion sessions , we see the importance in addressing these needs .
With rising cost around utilities , food , and staff , I am also working on managing our cost containment methods . As part of this , we will be looking at pushing our digital transformation further across different levels of operations to improve efficiencies in offsetting these increasing costs .
What challenges is KLCC facing over the next 12-18 months ? Post-pandemic , we , as the rest of the industry , are faced with multitude of global economic challenges such as continued supply chain disruption , the ripple effects of the war in Europe , fluctuating dollar and pound sterling , rising cost of energy and food prices , among others .
John Burke
One of the biggest challenges we continue to face is the perception that Malaysia is not geared up for large events . However , its venues and event supply chains are well positioned to cater to events of all sizes and profiles . At our venue , we are very proud of having hosted a number of prestigious international events , including the United Nation ’ s ninth World Urban Forum that attracted over 25,000 people to Kuala Lumpur .
There are many venues in Malaysia ready and willing to host international events . Our 33,000sqm purpose-built venue itself comes with layers of supporting facilities that can seamlessly accommodate multiple large and small events . The surrounding hotels offer over 25,000 rooms , so the reality is far from the market perception .
How does the events calendar look for 2023 ? Are things back to normal ? Our events calendar for 2023 is extremely busy and , since January , we have successfully delivered more than 350 events across all segments . Moving forward , we have 16 conventions , 52 exhibitions , 85 corporate meetings and events , and 10 live events confirmed for the next few months .
There is a dramatic increase in our event enquiries with 200 % more than pre-pandemic levels , which signifies that things are certainly back to normal , and with a sense of appreciation for in-person events and physical venues .
Staff shortages has been a key after-effect of Covid-19 . How are you dealing with this ? The global industry continues to face labour shortage and we are no stranger to this postpandemic effect . To manage this , we have put in place several initiatives and programmes .
To attract new , fresh talent and to retain our existing team members , factoring in the rising cost of living , we increased our minimum wage pay to RM2,500 which was 40 % more than the government mandate and the highest at that time across all industry sectors .
There was also a need in the industry for skilled talents and , in an effort to bridge this gap , we created the Ambassador programme to develop a talent pool for the meetings and
36 Issue 2 2023 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk