Malaysia came in at seventh place for value for money in the latest global study, the Country Brand Index (CBI) 2008.
Conducted by FutureBrand, a global brand consultancy, in conjunction with public relations firm Weber Shandwick’s Global Travel & Lifestyle Practice, the report also cited Malaysia as an example of a country brand that used a regional message to position itself in the global marketplace and set itself apart from other comparable countries in the region.
The CBI study examines how countries are branded and ranked according to key criteria, and identifies emerging global trends in the travel and tourism sector, which accounts for $5.9 trillion of economic activity worldwide this year and more than 238 million jobs.
The study was conducted among approximately 2,700 international business and leisure travellers.
The MICE industry is an important segment for their industry, with MICE arrivals for 2007 reaching 1,013,104 compared to 820,243 foreign delegate arrivals in 2006.
Malaysia was among the participants at EIBTM in Barcelona, Spain last year, where more than 8,000 visitors and 3,700 hosted buyers made EIBTM the ‘biggest ever’ according to Paul Kennedy MBE, group exhibition director Reed Travel Exhibitions Meetings and Incentive Events.
He announced that unaudited figures showed that the event attracted 12 per cent more hosted buyers than in 2007; 51,000 pre-scheduled meetings were organised over the three day event to be up over 11,000; and the total attendance marked a 6 per cent increase on 2007.
EIBTM 2009 takes place again in Barcelona at Fira Gran Via from December 1 to 3.