The 2nd Edition of X- Change Malaysia, a tourism solidarity programme, held recently at The Westin Kuala Lumpur, discovered thought-provoking facts that are vital for Malaysia’s business events industry amidst the fast changing landscapes of the new normal.
The Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), YBhg Dato’ Sri Abdul Khani bin Daud presented his keynote address to more than 100 participants comprising business and tourism professionals and other tourism stakeholders.
Eighteen (18) Malaysian and international guest panelists exchanged ideas and engaged In conversation to help accelerate the tourism recovery for Malaysia. The topics covered were relevant to the business events industry and they included Charting the Outlook & Trends; Orchestrating Business Travels for Malaysia; Rationalising Tech Transformation of Business Travels for Malaysia, Getting Malaysia Back to International BE Map and a special segment with the topic, The Business of Sports Tourism.
Visitors also participated in the online seminars: The Importance for Businesses to Evolve to Survive and Staying Relevant; The Westin Kuala Lumpur: The Leading Business Hotel in The Heart of The City, Digitalisation in Sports Marketing and The Business of Sports Tourism.
Guest panelists included Amelia Roziman, Chief Executive Officer of Business Events Sarawak; Francis Teo, President of MACEOS; Lau Yin May, Group Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer of Malaysia Airlines; Azizah Ali, Chief Marketing & Operations Officer of Microsoft Malaysia; Angelica Chan, Country Market Manager of Traveloka Malaysia; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Hafiz Mohd Hanafiah, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management UTM; Yap Lu Ying, Regional Business Director of TraxAsia; Emily Lim, Executive Vice President of Holiday Tours (affiliate of CWT); Gary Bowerman, Director of Check-in Asia; Maria Taylor, Head of Commercial, Asia Pacific of Amadeus Hospitality; Fabrice Godeau, Senior Advisor AirTransport; Halim Merican, CEO of Uniq Hospitaity; Gregory Gubiani, General Manager of The Westin Kuala Lumpur and Chairman of Marriott Business Council Malaysia, Sanjay Pattis, CEO and Co-Founder of Emtrez; Ernest Rodriguez, Managing Director of Emtrez and CG Lim, Regional Director of Ironman Malaysia.
The key takeaways from the 2nd edition of X-Change Malaysia are:
- Position Malaysia as a brand for sustainable practices and legacy creation for future industry thought leaders.
- Home-grown business events have a high potential to be developed as one of the key market segments
- The need to focus on talent for the tourism industry; training and development needed to fill skill gaps
- Curate customer experience through agility and technology to meet the expectations of the new normal of BE clientele
- Remain united and cohesive, for industry players’ solidarity is integral to the performance of the industry
- Create a single intelligent platform that allows global travellers to access the latest guides, practices and regulations to enhance overall efficiency
- Sports tourism brings strong economic benefits to the state and local communities
- Blockchain technology will enhance the business value of sports tourism
- Leverage data and technology to improve customers’ travel experience across key touch points such as hotels, airports, venues etc
- Continuously anchor alliances and partnerships, collaborations as well as regular communications on positive narratives in an effort to strengthen Malaysia’s market presence
Note:
X-Change Malaysia is curated by Ab & Artho Tourism Marketing & PR as part of the company’s tourism solidarity efforts to bring together key industry players and tourism stakeholders to help revive and relaunch Malaysia, locally and internationally.
The event collaborated with Nazsoft Tech, Traveloka Malaysia, Malaysia Convention Exhibition & Bureau, The Westin Kuala Lumpur, TraxAsia and Emtrez.