With quality tourism services, dedicated service providers and abundance of tourist attractions, Sarawak is poised to position itself as a meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) destination. This was noted by Dato' Sri Dr. Muhammad Leo Michael Toyad Abdullah, Chairman of the Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB), recently at an event at Carcosa Seri Negara to recognize the support of their partners and clients.

In his speech, Dato' Sri Dr Muhammad mentioned that with the opening of two new hotels in Kuching next year, there will be an addition of 800 rooms in the city. The Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, the first international purpose built convention centre on the island of Borneo, is also scheduled for opening in mid-2009. He also highlighted the key services that the Sarawak Convention Bureau provided for organizations who are keen to host their events in the state.

The event provided recognition to associations that had supported the East Malaysia State by hosting their events in Sarawak. Dato' Sri Dr Muhammad also presented the special Anak Sarawak awards to Mr Zenorai Rambli, Secretary General of Malaysia Gas Association and also to Dato' ( Dr ) Hj Mustapha Ma, Secretary General of IOGT- PEMADAM.

Some 45 guests, who represented leaders from various key associations, attended the event. Among them were many distinguished medical specialists from various disciplines of medicine, key industry leaders, and key personnel from government bodies.

SCB has received international recognition for their efforts in promoting Sarawak as a meeting destination for tourism and business with a recent win at the Das Goldene Stadttor, (the Golden City Gate) Film Competition held in conjunction with ITB Berlin in March this year. SCB's four-minute commercial video "Recharge in a New World" took home the Diamond Award, competing against 32 other countries.

The same video also won a second international award, receiving the first prize Gold Camera Award in the corporate travel and tourism category at the US International Film and Video Festival held in Los Angeles in September.

Recently, at Victoria, Canada, during the International Congress and Convention Association's conference, SCB won the ICCA Best Marketing Award.

SCB was formed in late 2006 with the aim to inform both international and local planners about the abundant tourism and MICE opportunities in Sarawak. It connects with key organizations and updates them on the latest progress, offering independent information and assistance. SCB maintains a head office in Kuching and a sales office in Kuala Lumpur. It also operates with key representative offices in Sydney and London.

For more information on SCB, contact Mrs. Jill Henry, CEO, Sarawak Convention Bureau at +60 82 242 516 or email at jillhenry@sarawakcb.com. Log on to the Sarawak Convention Bureau website at www.sarawakcb.com.

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

 

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Issued by: Communications & Publicity Division, Tourism Malaysia

Date: 10 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