THE PENANG INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL EXCHANGE (PITE) PRESS CONFERENCE

SPEECH BY CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
AT THE PENANG INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL EXCHANGE (PITE) PRESS CONFERENCE

26th July 2018

Mr Ashwin Gunasekeran
CEO of Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB)

Member of the media

Distinguished guest

Ladies and gentlemen

Good afternoon.

I am proud to announce that the Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) will be organising the inaugural Penang International Travel Exchange (PITE), a premier travel exchange that will be held in September 2018.

The PITE is a homegrown travel exchange created by PCEB to further position Penang as the leading Business Events and leisure destination in Asia Pacific. Selected buyers from around the world will be brought to Penang each year to experience Penang’s many experiences unfiltered. PITE will also include B2B sessions, site inspections, education workshops and networking events.

For the first edition of PITE, Penang will be hosting buyers from the Global Panoramic Showcase (GPS), which is a business meeting point for tourism professionals from the leading Tourism Service providers from India. This is a continuation of the highly successful India Roadshow that PCEB and Team Penang embarked on to India in January 2018. The Penang Sales Mission to India covered four cities which include Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

In each city, PCEB held a B2B Session and a networking dinner for the buyers, and Penang partners sponsored a total of RM 100,000 worth of lucky draw prizes.

About 1,000 interested buyers, as well as media, association chairs and members of the Indian tourism and trade boards attended the roadshow. From the four press conferences held during the Sales mission, Penang received approximately RM 1.03 million in media exposure.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Business Events industry in Penang has been showing steady and positive growth. In 2016, the Estimated Economy Impact (EEI) for Business Events in Penang was recorded at RM808 million whereas last year, the EEI has surpassed the RM 1 billion target with a total of RM 1.002 billion. I am positive that with this travel exchange, Penang shall continue to position itself as a potential Business Events destination and convince more organisers to hold their events here.

In future, PITE will be opened up to other interested buyers and meeting planners around the globe to encourage exposure and instil more knowledge on organising Business Events in Penang.

In line with this, I would also like to introduce Penang’s first Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) – Apollo Conferences, which will also be the co-organiser for PITE. I believe to support Penang’s mission to be a leading destination for Business Events, we must have a PCO of our own, and this is one of the great initiatives of PCEB in developing the industry to move forward.

The increase of Business Events held in Penang will positively impact the growth of not only the EEI, but also the growth of the industry for Penang. Let us continue to strive in making Penang the preferred world-class Business Events destination for various congresses, conventions, meetings and other large-scaled events.

I wish PCEB and Apollo Conferences a successful event and we look forward to welcoming 150 Business Events and leisure buyers from the Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) for the Penang International Travel Exchange (PITE).

Thank you.