KUCHING: The Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) takes the pleasure to announce that it garnered the International Conference Award for Excellence (Below 1,000 Delegates) and Purpose Built Convention & Exhibition Centre Award for Excellence (Below Gross 15,000 sqm of total saleable space) at the Recognising Award Winning Results (rAWr Awards) 2017 – Malaysia Business Events Awards of Excellence in Kuala Lumpur on 9 November.
Datuk Hajjah Raziah Mahmud- Geneid, Chairman of Borneo Isthmus Development Sdn Bhd (BID), the management company appointed to oversee the management of the BCCK, said, “On behalf of the Board of BID, I congratulate the BCCK team on the rAWr Awards. We are delighted with these latest achievements.
Winning the Purpose Built Convention & Exhibition Centre Award for Excellence for the second time testifies to the immense efforts put in by the team to continually deliver successful events through consistent professionalism, best practices and innovation.
The International Conference Award for Excellence is a testament that Kuching can indeed rise to become the destination for business events as deduced from the organiser and delegates’ feedback on the 55th International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Annual Congress. The Board of BID would like to express our appreciation to MyCEB and MACEOS for duly considering BCCK for the two awards.”
BCCK Chief Executive Officer, Eric van Piggelen said, “The BCCK is honoured to be part of the national effort to spur the growth of the business events industry in Malaysia. We are grateful to MyCEB and MACEOS for recognising BCCK’s endeavours.
These awards are a timely measure of how far our Centre has come since 2009. I would like to pay tribute to our team for their steadfast dedication in meeting the numerous benchmarks set to achieve the desired results.
They have truly lived up to the pledge made by Team Malaysia to the ICCA Board, and have represented BCCK and Sarawak with pride. Our Sarawakian hospitality proves Kuching worthy as a model second-tier destination by achieving success with international events. “With these being nationallevel awards, the International Conference Award for Excellence is also an achievement for Team Malaysia.
I wish to express, on behalf of the Board of BID and BCCK management, our appreciation and gratitude to our other Team Malaysia members namely MyCEB, SCB, KLCC, UCSI Communications and AOS Conventions & Events.
“Their role and commi tment to make Kuching the centre stage for the most coveted event in the business events community and for their support of the BCCK as the host venue for the 55th ICCA Annual Congress were invaluable. “We would also like to record our appreciation to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia as well as the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak including all the local authorities and relevant parties for their unconditional support of our endeavour to deliver the congress.”
The BCCK first scored the Purpose Built Convention and Exhibition Centre Award for Excellence in 2015. Among the criteria which qualify the BCCK for the award were certifications of management systems, HACCP and halal certifications, value-added innovations, consistent high client and guest satisfaction ratings for each and every event, etc.
The International Conference Award for Excellence recognises BCCK’s highly successful hosting of the 55th ICCA Annual Congress (2016 ICCA Congress) from 13 to 16 November, 2016.
The convention centre was hailed by the ICCA Secretariat for its impeccable planning and execution of the congress making it one of the best annual congresses in 29 years that the latter has organised and delivered to its members. Attended by 834 ICCA members from 61 countries for four days of educational sessions, regional chapter meetings and business exchange opportunities as well as leisure pursuits, the local hosts (BCCK and the Sarawak Convention Bureau) fulfilled the promise to the ICCA Board in the 2013 winning bid, that is, to make the 2016 ICCA Congress an exemplar for other second-tier city ICCA members to emulate.
Sarawak’s famed hospitality was attested by the levels of service and ready smiles experienced by the delegates at the BCCK. A post-congress survey conducted by ICCA favourably indicates the level of success Kuching achieved as the host city for the 2016 ICCA Congress.
89% of the attending ICCA members viewed their experience at the BCCK as being either excellent or very good in terms of quality of venue service. 87% found BCCK’s meeting space either excellent or very good. The survey also shows that 97% of the delegates were highly impressed with the general warmth of welcome they experienced in Kuching. 52% rated Kuching as an excellent or very good international meetings destination.
In the words of Martin Sirk, the Chief Executive Officer of ICCA, “ICCA aims to break down barriers and facilitate business and knowledge exchanges and cultural understanding between our delegates, so the atmosphere and mood created by our local hosts are critical components in achieving a relaxed, open environment. This year [2016] this objective was particularly important, since we were welcoming international association executives as host delegates for the first time.
I’m delighted to say that the local hosts handled this aspect of the Congress in a perfect way.” rAWr Awards (Recognising Award Winning Results) is a joint initiative between the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers (MACEOS) and is held bi-annually since 2013.
Created to recognise the professional standards, innovation and best practices achieved within Malaysia’s business events industry, this bi-annual award presentation is judged by a panel of independent industry experts within the Asian region and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia as well as Tourism Malaysia.
