Sarawak outbid tough international competitors from Australia and India and won hosting rights to the ICCA Asia Pacific Client/ Supplier Business Workshop and the Asia Pacific Educational Seminar from 4-6 July, 2012.

This 3-day event will welcome 15 ICCA members and their association clients to converge for a strictly B2B session.

This workshop, although small in size, will provide the key decision-makers of international associations to meet and sample Sarawak’s expertise in organising international meetings and to showcase tourism products. Sarawak’s home-ground advantage is that Malaysian ICCA members get the rare chance to impress a targeted group of audience who may decide to hold their next meeting here, bringing in millions of ringgit in direct delegate expenditure.

Meanwhile, a one-day ICCA Asia Pacific Educational Seminar will follow the workshop and offer a great learning opportunity to the entire Malaysian meetings industry, supply chain and the local community about the importance of this market segment and perhaps how to win even more business in the future.

The winning bid was a collaborative effort of ‘Team Malaysia’ consisting of Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, AOS Conventions & Events, Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau and Sarawak Convention Bureau. The Malaysian team raced against the clock to plan an exciting event program and submit a bid proposal within just one month. 

Noor Ahmad Hamid, ICCA Regional Director Asia Pacific says, “The bid was open to all ICCA Asia Pacific members, and we received a total of 4 bids. Sarawak’s bid came out the best in all aspects and hosting of key decision makers is important as the destination would have the privilege to showcase its product and services at its best.”

He adds, “Sarawak Convention Bureau is an active ICCA member. In fact, they have won the Best Marketing Award in 2008. This win reflects that SCB is one of the top convention bureaus and they truly understand the nature of this business.”

Jamie Wang, Convention Bid & Brand Manager of SCB and bid leader said, “This ICCA workshop will help raise standards by educating newcomers in Sarawak’s MICE industry, as we can gain insight from the experience of the participants who are seasoned ICCA members and clients, while having potential business leads delivered practically to our doorstep.”

“Our local industry members (BCCK, AOSCE and MyCEB) have provided tremendous support for our winning bid. It is a fabulous networking opportunity for participants and the host country,” she adds.

Jill Henry, CEO of SCB reveals, “Hosting of this workshop is strategically important as Sarawak would be able to impress key decision makers on the quality of services we are able to provide. Clients attending this workshop have been stringently screened by ICCA to fit its criteria for qualification.”

“For a developing MICE destination like Sarawak, we are really thrilled and honoured to have the opportunity to showcase our products and offer true Sarawakian hospitality to the participants. Having just secured a place in ICCA’s country and city ranking, we are definitely heading in the right direction in pushing Sarawak as an up-and-coming MICE destination globally,” she adds.

ICCA AP have been organising similar workshops which are open to all its regional members since 2005, previously known as the Asia Pacific Association Meetings Mart (2005 & 2008), Northeast Asia Association Meetings Mart (2006) and took up the current name in 2011. For more information regarding the ICCA APC CSBW & APES and future ICCA AP events, log on to http://www.iccaworld.com/dbs/asiapacific.