Putting Sarawak on the map

Despite having been only in existence since 2006, the Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) has been tirelessly promoting the state as a viable destination for conferences. But, Mike Cannon, SCB’s new managing director, says this does not mean simply bidding for every convention or conference willy-nilly.

To date, SCB has supported 206 convention bids, which has resulted in estimated direct delegate expenditure of RM215mil in Sarawak. This is just the amount spent by convention delegates on their hotel rooms, transport, meals and other miscellaneousexpenditures.

Borneo Convention Centre

In 2011, SCB supported 56 convention bids. Cannon said SCB aims beyond just direct expenditures and immediate tourism benefits.

“Whenever we bid for businesses and associations to hold their conferences in Sarawak, the criteria we look out for is that the convention should bring added value in some way to the people and communities in Sarawak. “For example, if we manage to land a dental conference in Sarawak, it also means that we are bringing in outside knowledge, added value in terms of education to our own dental professionals when the latter attend.”

Once, we decided to use postcards from Sarawak, and we slipped the postcards under the doors of over 250 delegates. — MIKE CANNON

“More than that, it also means trade opportunities coming because when you have these sort of professional conferences and trade shows, equipment and other manufacturers or importers come in as well,” Cannon said.

He added that there is a corporate-social-responsibility aspect to the “added value” segment.

Often, such conferences, especially those for medical fields, also organise trips for their delegates into Sarawak’s interior to help the indigenous peoples in any way possible.

“Sometimes the delegates spend maybe the night or even the whole day at the villages, before riding back via boat and four-wheel-drive vehicles to the conference location, and that is the adventure part we sell,” said Cannon.

Indeed, “Where Business And Adventure Meet” is the tagline SCB is marketing to potential clients, leveraging on the East Malaysian state’s “freshness”, given that SCB has only been in existence for six years.

Mutual benefit: Cannon says conventions can bring added value in various ways to the people and communities in Sarawak.

Cannon explains that the freshness factor for conference locations dip after about a decade. “But by then, we will also have established our core values, or principles as a conference destination. Which is what we’re offering now, business and adventure in one location.”

“You can be in a workshop in the morning, then helping to clean out the orang utan habitats in the afternoon, or helping out with longhouse construction after the conference sessions. “That is the beauty of Sarawak as a conventions destination,” said Cannon.

While the main cities of Sibu, Miri and Kuching play host to many of the conference bids won by SCB, there have also been out of the way places such as the Mulu Caves, which Cannon said was the location for an archeological conference and perfectly suited its subject matter.

Of course, clever marketing plays a huge role in presenting Sarawak as a convention centre, and Cannon and his team are always looking for new ways to beat international competition, especially with rivals in both South-East Asia and China, nevermind worldwide.

Taking a breather: A group of conference participants on a trekking expedition.

“Once, we decided to use postcards from Sarawak, and we slipped the postcards under the doors of over 250 delegates. “Throughout the event, we had about 50 delegates come and thank us for the postcards, especially in this day and age of email.” “Sure, not all of the 50 delegates are going to turn into clients either, but they will talk about it, things get spread through word of mouth, and our recognition increases.

“Basically, our competitors, from the US, Australia and Europe wanted to beat me up for the rest of the event,” Cannon joked. The competition is huge though, Cannon admits, as countries such as China and Australia, not to mention the more established places such as the US, have much deeper pockets.

Extra funds translate into better marketing material, not to mention a better ability to sponsor conventions to be held in their countries or cities. “This means that we have to pick our battles carefully, bid on the business where we already have a high possibility of winning coupled with a high return on investment,” said Cannon.

Having to choose their battles means that rather than trying to bid on as many conferences to fill up a year, Cannon and SCB have opted to bid for a rolling number of events in three year blocs. This, he explained, helps make the conferences that the SCB manages to land more manageable. “What a lot of people do not realise is that bids to land conferences are won a few years in advance. So the medical conference you are going for later this year? That was landed by the winning bidder back in 2009 or 2010,” said Cannon.

It also means that rather than feasting one year on several conferences in the state, then starving the next, there is a consistent number of events being held in the state which makes for more predictable performance and bottom-line.

“It is also seasonal. For 2010 we had more international conventions and seminars, while last year there were more national conferences. “What we are also doing is creating our own national-level events, which may come bi- or triannually, but it’s Sarawak’s,” said Cannon. However, this does not mean that SCB’s objectives conflict with the newly-established Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau and both the state and federal bodies work together to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.

-thestar online.

www.sarawakcb.com

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