The fourth Penang International Halal
Expo and Conference (PIHEC) 2013 will be held at the two venues, Penang
International Sports Arena (PISA) and Eastin Hotel Penang.
The Halal Expo will kick off from 10am to 8pm on January 18-20 at PISA, which is currently undergoing upgrading.
PISA is undergoing upgrading works to become Subterranean Penang
International Convention and Exhibition Centre (sPICE)
Penang’s state exco for Religious
Affairs, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Datuk Abdul Malik Abdul Kassim (pic)
said at a press conference at the state assembly building recently that the expo
would comprised some 200 booths promoting Halal Malaysian products.
It will also feature international
exhibitors from Belgium (1 Pavilion), Iran (three booths), New Zealand (two
booths) and Australia (one booth). Other participating countries include
Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
Abdul Malik said the state’s halal facilitation agency, Penang International Halal Hub (PIHH) Development Sdn Bhd, also known as Halal Penang, was also working towards organising the Chief Ministers and Governors Forum during the expo, which is expected to attract over 30,000 participants, including visitors.
Besides the opening ceremony, several
programmes have been drawn up at PISA.
They include Islamic fashion shows,
celebrity chefs’ cooking demonstrations, exhibitors’ product demos, beauty
demos, game shows, lucky draws and quizzes, Islamic performances and forum,
Islamic Khat (calligraphy) competition as well as appearances by local
artistes.
The expo is the second international
halal event in the country after the Malaysia International Halal Showcase,
which is organised by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation.
In line with the thrust of the PIHEC
2013, which is to project Penang as a global halal tourism hub, the conference component, which will be held on 19 January, carries the theme “Halal Tourism and Hospitality – Travel the World Muslim Style”.
The full-day conference is expected to draw some 200 participants, including hoteliers, travel agents, academicians, hospitals and the business community.
It
aims to provide a platform for the convergence of academic perspectives and
business aspects of tourism for Muslim travellers.
The conference is also expected
to generate creative proposals and ideas for providing halal hospitality
services and niche halal concept hotel chains.
The Venue:
The Venue:
 |
| Eastin Hotel Penang |
How To Get There:
It is timely for Penang to target the
growing Muslim
travellers, which is forecast to outpace the growth of the other travel
segments given the increasing demand for syariah-compliance products and
services.
In last few years, national tourism organisations
(NTOs) such as Hong Kong Tourism Board,
Tourism Authority of Thailand, Macau Government Tourist Office, Korea National
Tourism Organisation and Taiwan Tourism Bureau are non-Muslim countries which
have been coming to Malaysia to encourage Muslims to visit their respective country,
assuring them that they can provide Muslim friendly products and services.
These NTOs have been working closely
with the local travel agents to promote their packages in the MATTA Fairs each
year as they see the potential of this market segment worth US$100 billion a year,
which is expected to grow to US$200 billion by 2020.
Note:
I
would like to thank Mary Ann Harris, Eastin Hotel Penang's
general manager (pic) for bringing to my attention the 4th PIHEC 2013 when we met at the Penang International Convention and
Exhibition Bureau’s (PICEB) official launch.
She was aggressively promoting PIHEC to
the delegates attending the event and even invited me to cover it. She is one of the few people whom I met in Penang who is very committed to the MICE industry and wants to see
the PICEB succeed.
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