The Pandemic Almost Wiped Out Malaysia's Business Events Sector

In the first few months of 2021, Malaysia has gone through various stages of the Movement Control Order (MCO). This move has cost the local business events industry a lot of money. 

Business Events Council Malaysia (BECM) chairman Alan Pryor said that there is no end in sight as business events are experiencing cancellation and shrinkages due to the MCO again. 

According to him, Kuala Lumpur has lost a considerable amount of business through cancellations or shrinkage, including major events. BECM managed to postpone events, but as MCOs keeps happening, those events are also at risk. 

"The situation is dire. If a lockdown will assist, together with rollout of vaccinations, in reopening borders, then that is what we need," Pryor said.

He affirmed that the industry had been greatly affected since 2020, the industry and the supply chains have lost billions of ringgit, businesses had to close down, and many people have lost their jobs. 

 

Loss in revenue

Based on the Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers' (MACEOS) 2020 survey, business events industry players had undergone revenue losses of RM2.25 billion, a decline of 90% since the MCO first began. 

This survey also revealed that employers had laid off 5,610 workers had since March 2020, involving 17% of the total industry workforce.

Earlier this year, BECM conducted a sentiment sweep to understand the current state of Malaysian venues since the Covid-19 pandemic started. It found that due to the inability to operate, 100% of the venues had seen at least a dramatic 85% decrease in total events. It resulted in at least a 75% drop in overall 2020 revenue compared to 2019. 

Many events were cancelled since the pandemic began.

The venue sector is itself employs thousands of people. As a leading player in its supply chain, its closures heavily affects the rest, including:

• Hotels,
• Destination management companies,
• Tour operators,
• Stand builders,
• Contractors,
• Retailers,
• Local produce suppliers, and
• Part-time employment.

This sector's loss has significantly impacted the overall revenue contribution to the local economy generated through the business events supply chain. 

In 2019, business events contributed RM3.9 billion in direct expenditure to Malaysia and generated RM9.2 billion in economic impact. 

When the economy reopened in early 2020, Pryor said that meetings, events and exhibitions are crucial in attracting world leaders and decision-makers for financial and intellectual capital investments.

 

The effects of the pandemic

The MCO has discouraged efforts to revitalise the industry and attract investments in Malaysia. The Malaysia Budget 2021 did not specify any provisions for the business events industry. 

However, neighbouring countries such as Singapore have taken steps during the pandemic to support the business events industry. 

Singapore planned to host the World Economic Forum in August 2021. However, it was cancelled due to "the tragic circumstances unfolding across geographies, an uncertain travel outlook, differing speeds of vaccination rollout and the uncertainty around new variants".

Scheduled for June 4 and 5 in Singapore, the Shangri-La Dialogue has also been cancelled two weeks before the summit. 

Source: The Malaysian Reserve

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