Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre celebrates success in 2023, having hosted 1,724 events

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) in Malaysia reports concluding 2023 on a high note, having hosted 1,724 events over the course of the year. This is the highest number since 2014 and a major bounce back for the venue which hosted just 300 events in 2021, at the height of the pandemic. In addition to hosting these 1,724 events, the Centre, also welcomed 1,342,295 delegates to the venue throughout 2023. These visitors, both international and Malaysian, helped the Centre generate an estimated RM656m (US140.1m) in economic impact for Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia – well over double the figure generated in 2022. This economic impact is calculated based upon the contributions of these visitors and events to local retailers, F&B outlets, hotels, airlines, and the wider business events supply chain. John Burke, the Centre’s general manager said the Centre had achieved one of its best years yet. “We set ambitious targets at the start of 2023 yet, through the hard work and tireless efforts of our team, we surpassed these by over 30%. Our achievements in 2023 are a shared success for the entire Malaysian business events supply chain.” He continued, “Since the Centre opened in 2005, the venue has hosted more than 20,000 events, welcomed more than 28m guests, and generated more than RM11bn in economic impact to the Malaysian economy – and we are just one of many business events venues in the country. This clearly demonstrates the important contribution of this sector to the ongoing prosperity of Malaysia – without even considering the value created for Malaysian businesses including SMEs and individuals through knowledge exchange, best practices and learnings that are shared when we host major international conventions and exhibitions.” Ravindran Sathiamoorthy, the Centre’s director of sales, elaborated on the Centre’s 2023 results, “In terms of our 2023 revenues, Conventions contributed 26%, Exhibitions 28% while the Corporate segment (which includes banquets and functions; meetings and events) generated 46%… We are looking forward to a very positive 2024, having already secured 65% of our targeted revenue for the year through advance bookings.” He continued: “We have 47 exhibitions and 32 conventions (26 of which are international) confirmed over the next 12 months and expect to add more over the course of the year. These include the International Surgical Week 2024; the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) meets Asia 2024, the 12^th World Federation of Chiropractic Global Education Conference 2024 and the International Union of Architects (UIA) International Forum 2024.”