The press conference was chaired by the Honourable Yeoh Soon Hin, Penang State Exco for Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture & Arts; and Ashwin Gunasekeran, Chief Executive Officer of PCEB.
BE @ Penang 2018 is themed “BE EXCEPTIONAL: Breaking Barriers. Conquering Mountains.” Headlining the conference is the Keynote Speaker Nina Freysen- Pretorius, the current president of the International Congress and Convention Association or ICCA.
Yeoh said that with PCEB’s continuous effort in both developing and educating the Business Events industry, Penang is making headlines in the global Business Events arena and is now known to be an important second-tier destination. Entering its third year, PCEB is pushing forward through this educative and informative conference for Penang as well as Team Penang to step out of their comfort zone and BE EXCEPTIONAL in the eyes of the global Business Events industry.
“BE @ Penang 2018 will host 20 expert international and local speakers from the Business Events and business industry. The conference is expected to welcome 400 delegates from around the world,” said Ashwin.
Among the topics that will be covered at BE @ Penang 2018 are key areas and trends for business opportunity within the global conference, meetings and exhibition sectors; new factors that drive businesses to a destination; challenges faced by second-tier destinations in branding and marketing to the European association market; and key tactics to attract businesses from China and India.
BE @ Penang 2018 is open to meeting planners, destination management companies, professional conference organizers, suppliers, and Business Events owners and buyers from anywhere in the world.
The conference registration fee is affordably priced at RM500 for the first delegate and RM400 for the subsequent delegates for those who are PCEB’s industry partners and members of the Malaysian Association of Hotels. Non-member’s registration fee is RM600 for the first delegate and RM500 for the subsequent delegates.
Business Events is a key driver of Penang’s economy. In 2016, Penang recorded 1251 events with an estimated economic impact of RM808 million or USD 200 million. In 2017, we hosted 2,511 events and 267,518 delegates with an estimated economic impact of RM1,02 billion or USD 250 million.
 today announced that it is organising the third edition of its Business Events industry conference – the BE @ Penang 2018. The conference will be held on 6 & 7 December 2018 at the Setia SPICE Convention Centre, Penang.){kind=link}