MyCEB’s participation in US trade show proves fruitful

The business end: The exposure to 2,000 hosted buyers and 1,700 attendees who did business and enjoyed the free networking and education programme at the award-winning IMEX America 2012 show was invaluable for MyCEB.

A Delegation from the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) recently took Las Vegas by storm at IMEX America 2012.

MyCEB and its delegation of six industry partners from Malaysia, which included the Sarawak Convention Bureau, Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Putrajaya Convention Centre, Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur and M-Vision Travel Sdn Bhd joined the IMEX America show at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, which took place from Oct 9 to 11.

IMEX America is a worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events and is already the largest trade show for the industry in the United States.

This year, more than 2,000 exhibiting companies, destinations and services from the US and around the world arrived to do business and develop relationships with nearly 4,000 hosted buyers and buyer attendees.

As part of the buzz, MyCEB launched a new corporate and incentive campaign named “Malaysia — Asia like never before” targeting the global corporate and incentive market. The campaign launch saw the unveiling of its new Corporate and Incentive Guide which is part of its integrated digital and print campaign focusing on theme events and experiences, team building, corporate social responsibility and unique venues.

This provides creative ideas on each product which is essential for corporate and incentive planners. The campaign will also introduce a wide range of unique and exciting new experiences in Malaysia.

“We received a tremendous number of positive responses from our participation in the inaugural IMEX Las Vegas last year which encouraged us to perform better this year. “Launching this new campaign here is part of our strategic move to capture the North American market which rarely has the opportunity to experience Malaysia as a business events destination and what we have to offer.

“Clearly, what makes Malaysia unique is definitely its diversity of cultures where one can get a taste of all of Asia and all its other unique sides, in a single destination.

“At MyCEB, we constantly try to promote this idea to our clients and think of innovative ways on how to bring this cultural experience to life,” said MyCEB sales and marketing general manager Ho Yoke Ping. “The campaign reflects the spirit and essence of Malaysia as a whole — a true microcosm of Asia. “If you are looking to ‘wow’ your clients with a refreshing Asian experience, look no further than Malaysia” she added.

Besides the launch of the corporate and incentive campaign, MyCEB also organised a “Spice Market” cocktail reception on Oct 10 to elevate the interest of trade attendees, taking the experience to a whole new level. The “Spice Market” was first introduced during the launch of MyCEB’s business events tagline “Malaysia — Asia’s Business Events Hub” last year and received countless positive feedback from local and international industry partners.

The concept took visitors on a trip back 600 years ago to the era of the Malacca Sultanate where a thriving mock spice market was recreated complete with Arab, Chinese and Indian traders — capturing the essence and vibrancy of Malaysia.

Only three years after it was established by Tourism Ministry in 2009, MyCEB has gone from strength to strength in establishing its global presence with the appointment of Moulden Marketing, Marketing Challenges International and Gaining Edge as sales representatives in Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand respectively.

These appointments signals MyCEB’s strategic approach in securing more business events for the country and expand its global market share to further reinforce Malaysia’s positioning as Asia’s business events hub.

-thestar online.

www.myceb.com.my