/// Hot Topic
MICE
The tourism industry would not be
complete without hosting some
major international conferences
and exhibitions to attract high
level delegates and personalities
to woo the crowd over to the
state.
Sarawak Convention Bureau
(SCB), the tourism marketing
arm of Sarawak has been actively
promoting Sarawak to various
delegates and meeting planners
around the world using the
meetings, incentives, conferences
and exhibitions (MICE) approach.
SCB chief executive officer Mike
Cannon said, “SCB organises
familiarisation trips for the media
and to prospective clients to
Sarawak. This is to showcase
the destination and the type of
activities they can expect to see
when they bring their event here.
Those trips really provide an indepth look on the destination and
its offerings. At the same time, it
enables the opportunity to meet
the local suppliers, check out the
venues and familiarise themselves
with other industry members that
will assist them throughout their
stay here.”
He said, “We also work closely
with the Sarawak Tourism
Board (STB) and the Malaysia
Convention and Exhibition Bureau
(MyCEB) to promote Sarawak as
a business events destination,”
adding that other promotional
events SCB is conducting include
attending international business
events, trade shows in Frankfurt,
Germany; Barcelona; Spain, the US
and Australia.
“By leveraging on the Borneo
Brand, Sarawak represents the
land of charm and romance, of
history and culture, unsullied by
modern trappings yet able to
marry the best of technology with
its wild soul. Here, in Sarawak, the
Old World charm is complemented
by modern technology and
corporate culture. Nowhere else
on earth offers such extraordinary
and efficient business capabilities
coupled with the natural wonder
of orang utans and 130 millionyear old rainforests,” Cannon said.
He added: “The state government
has a special 10-year RM42.5
million convention sponsorship
fund from 2006 to 2016 from
which meeting hosts can apply
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for additional funding support.
Where the event is international,
this support is in addition to
the Federal support provided
by MyCEB.Our focus is yield
beyond the economics and we
are very interested in supporting
events that will bring in greater
opportunities for additional
research, education and trade
opportunities.”
“We want to win more convention
bids and further promote
Sarawak as a globally competitive
destination for business events.
Currently, we have yet to really
crack the national market that
traditionally accounts for the
majority o