The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre’s (the Centre) 10th anniversary year (2015) turned out to be a banner one for international high-profile events. These included; the Global Food Safety Conference 2015; 18th Human Genome Meeting 2015; 26th and 27th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits; and the 128th International Olympic Committee Session, to name a few. These contributed to the Centre’s 2015 total of 1,230 events which attracted close to 1.8 million delegates. Since her opening to 31 December 2015, the Centre has hosted 11,199 events, welcomed close to 19.4 million delegates and contributed over RM6.1 billion in economic impact to the Malaysian economy.
The year in review also saw the Centre achieve a record-breaking occupancy rate of 98% in August, which is the highest monthly total ever, as well as her best annual revenue total. According to the Centre’s General Manager, Alan Pryor, aside from her excellent location, world-class facilities, gastronomic excellence with a 51-strong award-winning culinary brigade and established industry relationships, the Centre’s continuing success could be attributed to her highly knowledgeable and professional team.
“Without doubt, our team’s commitment to consistently delivering flexible, innovative and value-add solutions though our unique partnership approach and tailor-made offerings to clients have been integral to our success and development as one of the leading meetings destinations in the Asia-Pacific region in just over a decade of operation.”
This commitment also resulted in the Centre receiving her highest-ever number of awards in a calendar year, says Pryor. “Besides scooping our second consecutive ‘Purpose Built Convention & Exhibition Centre Award For Excellence’ in the Business Events category at the rAWr (Recognising Award Winning Results) Awards 2015, we received Expatriate Lifestyle Malaysia’s Best of Malaysia Awards 2015 for ‘Best MICE Experience’ (for the second year running), Best Conference Venue in the inaugural Asia Pacific MICE Awards 2015, and our first International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) Innovation Award 2015 for TenOnCall, as well as various industry recognitions.”
They joined culinary accolades, including the Centre’s second Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Malaysia Chapter’s (the Chaîne) ‘Dato Lau Foo Sun Excellence in Dining Award’ 2015 and the Confrerie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs’ Bailliage de Malasie Fine Dining Award (Confederation of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Malaysia Chapter Fine Dining Award) which was received in April (2015) at the Chaîne’s 7th Diner Amical Chaîne des Rôtisseurs.
Moving forward, 2016 will be an important year for the Centre, Kuala Lumpur and Malaysian business tourism industry. “We are delighted that the annual ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) Congress is being held in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia this year as it offers a fantastic opportunity to showcase the country’s improving business tourism offering to thousands of industry professionals from around the world. The recently launched Kuala Lumpur Tourism Bureau is also planning a series of initiatives throughout 2016 which should enhance Kuala Lumpur’s reputation as a premier destination for business events,” explains Pryor.
These include positioning Kuala Lumpur as Malaysia’s cuisine haven; introducing weekly cooking classes for international tourists and spouses of business tourism delegates; launching two new heritage walking trails; creating culture hubs in the city including Central Market and Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre; publishing a luxury tourism product directory; forming a business events desk within the bureau to coordinate business events in the city; and offering short courses for front-liners in the hospitality industry, including taxi drivers, aimed at improving service quality.
Also on the horizon is the Centre’s exciting expansion. Groundwork has started on the adjacent Lot 91 development with completion scheduled for 2018. The extension will provide an additional 10,000 sqm of flexible and multi-purpose space, which means more room to comfortably accommodate larger international association meetings and concurrent events, and the opportunity for many current clients to grow their activities and/or events significantly.
