Purpose-built exhibition space combined with an ideal central location makes the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC or the Centre) a top choice for exhibition organisers.
The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia’s award-winning purpose-built facility and Asia’s only International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) Gold Standard venue, is a perfect place to host your trade show or consumer exhibition.
The Centre’s dedicated exhibition team utilises its 13 years of experience and creativity to produce customised event solutions in order to help exhibition organisers get more value from their event budgets and provide better visitor experiences.
The well-maintained Centre offers 22,659sqm of flexible function space, including two auditoriums; Plenary Hall and Plenary Theatre, which seats 2,991 and 470, respectively; a Grand Ballroom seating 2,100 diners; and a Banquet Hall hosting 760. Furthermore, the Centre offers three conference halls, five exhibition halls (with 12,310sqm of column-free exhibition halls including a 2,600sqm standalone marquee) and 23 meeting rooms.
Overlooking the iconic PETRONAS Twin Towers and the 50-acre KLCC Park, the Centre is strategically located in the heart of the KLCC precinct, a 100-acre ‘city-within-a-city’ development. Delegates and visitors attending events at the Centre are given a varied range of recreational, entertainment, food and beverage and accommodation options, with over 25,000 hotel rooms – ranging from budget to five-star properties – within walking distance.
The precinct infrastructure also provides excellent accessibility and connectivity. Many attractions are within a five to ten minute walk via covered air-conditioned walkways from the Centre.
The Centre’s general manager, Alan Pryor, feels that: “Our location in the KLCC precinct provides an advantage for exhibition organisers due to the superb travel connectivity and the sheer number of people visiting, living and working in the area, all of whom are potential event guests and literally on our doorstep.
“Managing a convention centre in a built up commercial area can be challenging, but we have invested heavily in developing and retaining a dedicated team that understand these issues and ensure that the event logistics run like clockwork,” said Pryor.
Pryor commented: “Our exhibition team sits down with clients to discuss and analyse their event. Then, based on our experience and venue capabilities, we provide in-depth, strategic feedback on the event logistics, operational support and programme content.
“By doing so we help the event organiser to maximise floor space, reduce build up and breakdown time and apply a flexible mind-set to drive cost containment without negatively impacting the content of the event,” added Pryor.
Some venues simply want to sell as much space to their clients as they can, but the Centre have found that adopting a customised partnership approach that results in a successful event, is much more productive as it generates a win-win for everyone involved and more recurring business.
Part of this partnership approach has been a willingness by the Centre to use its floor space unconventionally – providing event organisers with additional options and different experiences for their guests.
An example of this was the ARCHIDEX’16 exhibition. In collaboration with the client, the Centre’s team transformed the concourse parking area into a new exhibition space hosting 65 booths complete with air-conditioning and utility services – providing a fresh space for visitors to this recurrent exhibition to enjoy.
Pryor elaborated: “When it comes to exhibitions, turnaround is a major factor in the overall cost of an event. Fortunately, we benefit from the fact that we are a purpose-built venue, which provides us with many inbuilt advantages, such as a full truss system and underground trunking for utility services (includes water, power and communications).
“We have also developed highly detailed traffic management and loading/unloading schedules based on international best practices, which ensure that the build-up and breakdown of events run smoothly. These features can cut days off the event; save our clients’ money; enable them to focus on the content and provide better visitor experiences,” said Pryor.
Edmund Lee, assistant operations manager, UBM Asia Ltd, said that the Centre’s box truss rigging system made their life easier during set-up.
“[The Centre’s] team is friendly and professional, definitely one of the best venues in Southeast Asia,” added Lee.
The Centre also recently revised its Accredited Suppliers Programme to provide exhibition organisers with more flexibility and the choice to engage their own suppliers. This decision was made to adapt to the changing nature of events, driven particularly by technology and the need for more specialised niche suppliers.
The Centre’s on-going commitment to venue upgrades and maintenance included a recent refurbishment of the exhibition organiser’s office.
KLCC’s expansion continues to progress and is due to be completed in mid-2019. The extension will provide over 11,000sqm of additional flexible and multi-purpose space. This translates to more room to accommodate larger exhibitions and international association meetings, as well as concurrent events, allowing new and current clients to grow their activities and/or events.
“The increase of our event space will not only benefit our current clients but will also enhance Malaysia’s and Kuala Lumpur’s reputation as a premier business events destination and help to build the capabilities of the local supply chain,” noted Pryor.
“Our ultimate aim is to deliver a positive impact and grow future industry leaders in order to ensure the sustainability of the meetings industry nationally and globally,” concluded Pryor.
