The bureau says the events will bring a total of 7,775 delegates to the East Malaysian state, who will book an estimated 2,000 hotel room nights that are expected to generate US$5.1 million in direct delegate expenditure.
The bureau submitted more than 40 bids last year, of which it won 24, lost 17 and is still waiting for the outcome of ten. Sarawak Convention Bureau’s CEO, Jill Henry, said: “We are
very pleased to have achieved a 58% strike rate in our first year of bidding.
“We were pleasantly surprised at our success in converting international and regional events, which actually outnumbered the national wins five to one.”
Henry added greater emphasis would be placed this year on enticing national meeting planners to consider Sarawak.
“Last year we had challenges getting them to consider moving their events around the country rather than regularly staging them in the capital Kuala Lumpur.”
It is an exciting time for us with the US$63 million Borneo Convention Centre Kuching due to open in mid-2009 and a doubling of Kuching’s three-, four- and five-star room stock by 2010 with construction of five new hotels.”
Sarawak Convention Bureau wins 24 new events worth US$5.1 million
SARAWAK The Sarawak Convention Bureau has confirmed 24 new meetings with an average size of 320 delegates over the next two years.
