The Minister of Tourism, YB Dato’ Sri Azalina Dato’ Othman Said, outlined the details of the establishment of the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) at a press conference held today at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

This followed the announcement made on 3 December by Deputy Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak to strengthen Malaysia’s tourism industry by targeting the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) market.

MyCEB will be a one-stop centre in coordinating MICE activities in the country. Its goals are to secure MICE business for Malaysia and establish Malaysia as the preferred MICE destination worldwide.

MyCEB will have an advisory council made up of experienced individuals and leaders from the private and government sectors.

An initial budget of RM5 million will be channeled to MyCEB to initiate its establishment.

About the Malaysian MICE industry:

A total of 1,013,104 tourists visited Malaysia for MICE purposes in 2007.  It was an improvement of 23.5% compared to 2006 (820,243 tourists).  MICE tourist arrivals contributed 5% of the total 20.7 million tourist arrivals to Malaysia.

These conference delegates collectively contributed a total of RM3.17 billion in revenue for the country in 2007 or 6.9 per cent of the tourist receipts.  The average per capita expenditure of a MICE tourist was RM3,133 compared to an average per capita spending of RMRM2,196 by a leisure tourist.

For more information on MyCEB, contact Mr. Zulkefli or Ms. Nuwal at + 603 2615 8188

For other media releases by Tourism Malaysia, please log on to www.tourism.gov.my.

Issued by: Communications & Publicity Division, Tourism Malaysia
Date: 11 December 2008
Tel: +603 2615 8188; Fax: +603 2615 8299
For more information, e-mail: anisramli@tourism.gov.my or
log on to: www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my