Kuala Lumpur forms tourism bureau and MICE desk

Dataran Merdeka. photo: PelanconganKini

In line with the city's 10-year master plan for more tourists, Kuala Lumpur will upgrade the City Hall tourism unit to a tourism bureau with a dedicated MICE desk component in 2H2015.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s head of tourism, Noraza Yusof, said the bureau and MICE desk will be headed by a COO who will in turn report to Kuala Lumpur mayor, Ahmad Phesal Talib.

The MICE desk’s tasks will include the development of a MICE strategy such as branding and offering subventions, and fostering industry collaboration between associations with members of MACEOS and the travel trade, event planners, transportation and equipment suppliers, venue providers and restaurant operators in Kuala Lumpur.

So as not to overlap with Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), the MICE desk will be limited to providing on-ground support to MyCEB’s bids for business events to Kuala Lumpur.

Noraza elaborated: “The idea is to bring people together three or four times a year to update all parties on what is happening in the city and to build a closer working relationship so everyone knows what’s happening.”

The 10-year Kuala Lumpur Master Plan was launched early this year, a roadmap towards achieving the city’s ambitious targets of nearly doubling tourist arrivals to 16 million between 2015 and 2025. It also aims to increase average length of stay from 3.1 nights to 5.5 nights, and raise average spend per day from RM682 (US$183.90) to RM900.

-TTG Asia.