Taiwan Exhibition & Convention Industry Show

24^th September 2012, Three Students of KDU University College (KDU UC) accompanied by their lecturer Ms. Chris Ong Siew Har, Senior Lecturer of the School of Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary Arts (SHTCA) left for Taipei to attend the 2012 Taiwan Exhibition and Convention Industry Show under the sponsorship of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

 The Taiwan Exhibition & Convention Industry Show exhibition was first held in 2009 with the intention to help promote each participant’s chosen city as a destination for business events such as exhibitions and conventions instead of moving toward attracting individual tourist. Since then, the TAITRA has garnered international support and publicity which has attracted thousands of participants from various regions of the world.

Asian Colleges and Universities invited were to submit their exhibition proposals showcasing their city’s convention center as well as how they can promote their MICE (meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition) centers to tourist. KDU UC was privileged to be invited for the second time to participate in the exhibition which offered them an opportunity to promote Malaysia to be part of the main MICE center at the same time attract businesses to head over to Malaysia to have their exhibitions and conventions here.

This year’s exhibition theme “Go Green and Recycle”, focused on reinforcing the society’s awareness on critical issues surrounding the environment as well as to promote the use of eco-friendly building materials, open-space designs, the re-use of building materials and environmental technologies to advocate conservation practices.

To tie-up with the theme, exhibitors were only allowed to use recyclable and reusable materials for their exhibits. As such, the KDU SHTCA team which consisted of Ms Chong WeiMenn, Tracy, Ms Lee Pei Chee and Ms. Wong Sook Fong, Yvonne adorned their exhibition booth with the Malaysian flag and exhibited the floor plan of the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) which was made out of recycled materials such as clothes hangers, recycled papers, cotton buds and for color, dried flowers, grass and various poster colors to reflect the floor area and services that offer audience’s unimpeded view of concerts, conventions and other shows symbolizing the diversity of Putrajaya.  With such creativity, it was not long before the KDU SHTCA team’s exhibition booth was flocked with people who never ceased to give good reviews.

 The KDU SHTCA team also expressed their gratitude to the two generous organizations who supported them; The Marketing Support Division of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) which provided them with giveaway gifts for visitors such as lapel pins, post cards and brochures; as well as Expat Experts Company whom provided authentic Sarong Batiks as a gift to all organizers.

After nearly a week in Taipei, Taiwan, the team headed back to Malaysia bringing home with them a wider understanding on how other countries handle their MICE, stronger ties with other colleges and universities, and an unforgettable experience from Taiwan.