Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference & Awards – The Conference #mitbca2012

I have never been to any bloggers conference and when I got to know about this tourism conference, I jumped at the chance and registered. When I reached the registration area of MITBCA‘s conference at Seri Pacific’s Grand Ballroom, I did not see any familiar faces. Shemah and Bella could not make it the first day but lucky I made friend with Fid Abdullah. Upon entering the the Grand Ballroom, I saw Fariz Luqman, my niece‘s schoolmate. Later I saw David Hogan Jr from Malaysia Asia and Bro Framestone.

The Minister of Tourism, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen came in around 9.40am and greeted everyone in the hall.

The friendly minister welcomes one of the speakers, James Craven. Seen escorting her is Shahul Hameed Shaik Dawood, the President of Malaysia Social Media Chambers.

After taking pictures with speakers and officials, she practically continued making her rounds to ensure she covers almost everyone in the hall. How cool is that? And she said hi to me. 😀

In her keynote speech, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen stressed that the social media is not free. In order to promote the tourism industry in Malaysia, the goverment spent RM1.8 million only for 6 online campaigns/year and this is not much to compare to Australia who spent $140 million, while The  Philippines $40 million for their tourism campaigns. Despite of having criticism about the budget, the ministry aims to harness the power of social media and blogging to attract up to 36 million tourists  to Malaysia by 2020, from the 24.6 million achieved last year. Social media has become a key tool to promote Malaysia globally and this is what the conference is all about; to discuss the importance and how to get the most out of it.

Speakers of the first day includes Sheila Scarborough (USA), Ali Watters (Scotland), Kiruba Shankar (India),  David Hogan Jr. (Malaysia), Shane Dallas (Australia), Joe Lee @ Klubbkidd (Malaysia), Anuradha Goyal (India), James Craven (UK), Iman Brotoseno (Indonesia), Windy Ariestanty (Indonesia), Michael Aquino (Philippines), Anis Nabilah (Malaysia) and Hanie Hidayah (Malaysia). Moderators include Dr Mridula Dwivedi (India), Stephen Doss (Malaysia) and Khairul Anuar bin Shaharudin @ Kruel74 (Malaysia).

All the talks were very inspiring and I had great time listening to all of them. Sheila Scarborough emphasises that travel bloggers connect with other travel bloggers as well as travel operators, tourism agencies, etc via social media ie.e facebook and twitter. The online travel communities are huge and it actually helps boost the tourism industry worldwide.

Below are the topics discussed:

1. TOURISM SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST TALK

• “Outreach Beyond Travel Bloggers” – Where to find them and how to interest them in your destination? – Sheila Scarborough (USA)

2. SESSION ONE – Creating an Engaged Tourism Social Media Community

• How to identify and build ACTIVE communities through travel blogs – Ali Watters (Scotland)
• Tips for tourism social media community build up – Kiruba Shankar (India)
• Community expansion through travel and sharing–the Malaysian experience– David Hogan Jr. (Malaysia)
• Promoting destinations and services through communities and travel blogs – Shane Dallas (Australia)

3. SESSION TWO – Entrepreneurship in Tourism Using Social Media

• Creating leads and generating immediate income – KlubbKid @ Jolly (Malaysia)
• How to create a tourism blog that stirs up interest – Anuradha Goyal (India)
• Improving customer services through social media – feedbacks! – James Craven (UK)
• Driving Engagement and Add Value on Social Media through travel blog – Steve Miller (Thailand)

4. SESSION THREE – Enjoy Your Holiday and Talk About It – The Effective Campaign through New Media

• Lifestyle and travel – go places and blog about it! – Wilson Ng (Malaysia)
• Shoppers paradise – Laurence Norah (Philippines)
• Food Junction – eat, drink and blog – Anis Nabilah (Malaysia)
• Taking a Break – closing in the gap and connecting with YOUR people – Hanie Hidayu (Malaysia)