As part of its continued efforts to mitigate the challenges posed by the whirlwind evolution of the Covid-19 spread, Malaysia’s meetings industry introduces a certification program for event venues.
Business Events Council Malaysia (BECM), in collaboration with the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and overseen by the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Organisers (MACEOS), is driving an initiative to encourage venues to opt-in to a Safe Business Events (BE) Venue Certification to create an end-to-end safe and secure event journey for event organisers and participants alike.
The Chairman of BECM, Alan Pryor, said, “The certification program will assess venues adaption to the government endorsed new norm Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the team’s knowledge in areas such as overall operations, food service, hospitality and operational standards. We urge all venues to consider obtaining this certification as it will reflect on the premise’s reliability, credibility and expertise in delivering a safe and controlled event environment, thus increasing public and business confidence in the international standard of venue operations in Malaysia.”
“We have been very encouraged by the steps taken by our BECM Alliance Partners to secure additional safety certification that elevates Malaysia’s profile as a Safe destination for business events, and these enhanced measures demonstrates the commitment of the industry supply chain to collaborate to strengthen our value proposition as a safe destination.”
Endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Malaysian Association of Hotel (MAH) and Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), two of the nine industry bodies of the business events supply chain that make up BECM, in 2020 initiated a similar safety certification standard, the “Clean and Safe Malaysia” and “Travel Safe Malaysia: Hygiene Excellence and Safety Label” respectively, and now, with the venues sector embarking on this journey, making the three largest sectors of the tourism and hospitality industry well-positioned and prepared with enhanced certification that demonstrated their commitment to conduct business safely in the present marketplace.
“This could not be more timely and appropriate as more and more venues are assigned by national Government as Vaccination Centres (VCs). We have the opportunity to demonstrate our expertise and knowledge in planning, managing and executing events that require a highly regulated and controlled environment with all the right infrastructure that is both flexible and purpose-built. And, when national, regional and global travel resumes, there will be pent up demand and we will be ready to compete actively, and confidently welcome international business events,” Pryor concluded.
The industry remains steadfast in ensuring the resumption of safe and secure events with joint collaboration of the whole supply chain, so each step of the Event Organiser and Visitor journey instills confidence and assurance in the destination. This is part of a broader strategy to ensure business recovery and continuity, and to instill trust in the industry’s commitment to its clients, stakeholders and the community.
An internationally-recognised certification body has been approached to undertake the venue auditing and assessment and the implementation of the safety certification process.
