Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) has officially launched its “Redefining Global Tribes” campaign, described as the Malaysian state’s most ambitious destination campaign to date.
Supported by the Sarawak government and industry partners, the campaign aims to expand the contribution of the business events sector to Malaysia’s economy along with promoting a global business events community. The campaign was launched at the Global Tribes: Redefined Business Forum on August 19, attended by industry professionals and global media.
“Whenever we organise a conference or an event, people have always thought: ‘our success lies in the figure’ – how many delegates, how many people showed up, what was the direct associated expenditure,” said Amelia Roziman, SCB’s chief operating officer.
“But business events has also enabled the imparting of the latest findings, passing on of skills from our current generation to the next via our programmes and experts, job creation, and much more. By redefining our perspective of what business events are, we can go beyond just a figure.”
According to the bureau, the campaign takes inspiration from Sarawak’s traditional tribal heritage, as well as the idea that each individual business event is a “global tribe” where people come together.
The hosting of the 55th International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Congress in the capital Kuching last November was a key motivator for the campaign, which ICCA is also actively supporting.
Since 2006, conferences have injected some RM504 million (US$117.5 million) into the Sarawak economy. “This tremendous economic contribution of over half a billion ringgit to Sarawak is due to the work of SCB and its sector partners who have won 697 international, regional and national meetings, translating to almost 254,000 delegates equivalent to 847,000 delegate days in Sarawak,” said Sarawak’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
The launch of the campaign also coincided with the Tribal Warrior Challenge – a series of obstacle courses at Stadium Negeri Sarawak, in which attendees of the Forum were invited to participate. The Tribal Warrior Challenge has a specific “Bizst Mode” designed specifically for business events delegates.
