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The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre), attracted over 20,000, or 46 per cent, of the 43,432 delegates who attended events held in Kuala Lumpur last year (2010), according to the International Convention & Conference Association’s (ICCA) Statistics Report.
“That the 20,000 plus delegates came from 14 meetings, of the 79 held in the city, demonstrates the Centre’s capability to successfully host large-scale events,” said Datuk Peter Brokenshire, General Manager, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. “And with the anticipated completion of Lot 91 adjacent to the Centre in end-2013/early-2014, our function space will be boosted by 10,000 sq m to enable the hosting of events with over 6,000 delegates. This in turn, will grow our conference business from the current 25 per cent to a 30 to 40 per cent share of all events in the city.”
Brokenshire also applauded Malaysia’s improved ranking in the ICCA Global Ranking for the second year running.
“We are pleased that Malaysia’s hard work in attracting high-level international meetings has been recognised on a global level. With some of the best convention and meeting facilities right here in Kuala Lumpur, it is gratifying to see the country now attracting a global audience.”
Brokenshire said the Centre looks forward to continuing its collaboration and cooperation with Tourism Malaysia and the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) to aggressively market Malaysia to international organisers and to further develop the country’s business tourism industry to ultimately make Malaysia a premier business tourism destination in the region.
Malaysia improved on its global ranking by three rungs to 28th place. She also reaffirmed her credentials in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region with a seventh placing, unchanged from the previous year.
In the global city ranking, Kuala Lumpur was the 23rd most popular city for international meetings and eighth in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region.
In 2010, Malaysia attracted 119 association meetings, a 19.3 per cent increase from the previous year’s (2009) 96. Of this, Kuala Lumpur took the lion’s share with 79 meetings, up from 72.
Since opening in June 2005, the Centre has hosted 4,164 events with over 10.6 million delegates and visitors and in turn, has contributed approximately RM3.1 billion in economic impact to Kuala Lumpur city and Malaysia.
With members in 86 countries, ICCA is one of the most prominent organisations keeping track of the global meetings industry.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
