Malaysia’s premier purpose-built venue, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre), is delighted to announce a series of promotions and new appointments in its leadership team. John Burke takes over the helm at the world-class venue as General Manager, succeeding Alan Pryor who retires after 40 years in the business events industry.
Having joined the Centre in 2017 as Deputy General Manager, John has been integral in pushing the venue’s digital transformation forward and oversaw the upgrade of the venue’s security infrastructure. He also managed the successful development of hybrid and virtual event spaces and platforms, as well as paved the way for new revenue streams for the venue during COVID-19. In addition, since joining John has driven multiple sustainability projects, initiatives and investments to enhance the Centre as a sustainable venue.
New initiatives are set to enhance the Centre as a sustainable venue
The Centre also recently promoted Layzree bin Bongsu to the Director of Finance and Administration. A chartered accountant with 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, Layzree will oversee the day-to-day finance and procurement, as well as information technology operations at the Centre.
Prior to joining the Centre as Finance Manager in 2021, Layzree was part of two pre-opening teams as Director of Finance for the Hard-Rock Hotel, Desaru in 2018 and the Hyatt Regency, Kota Kinabalu in 2015. Layzree holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting with Honours from the Universiti Utara Malaysia and is a certified CPA Associate Member.
Alan spent the last decade of his career advancing Malaysia’s business events industry. He worked very closely with the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) in developing Malaysia as a preferred business events destination in the region and catering to the professional development of Malaysian event professionals. He was also key in forming the Business Events Council Malaysia, a united voice representing the industry supply chain in the advocacy of the value and impact of business events on the country.
In his time at the Centre, Alan also played a key role in the creation of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Business Events Alliance (KLCCBEA), a destination collective offering a single point of contact for international meetings and events planners and organisers. His most recent undertaking is the development of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Precinct (where the venue is located) as a sustainable meeting destination, bringing together key stakeholders to collaborate on this initiative.
Find out more about KLCC here.
