Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Offers a ‘City Within a City’ for Groups

Planners looking to the ASEAN region for their next meeting or event should look to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre offers the complete package for meetings, conventions, and events. Its location within the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) precinct puts attendees in the heart of Malaysia’s capital. And the city itself sits at an appealing crossroads within Southeast Asia, where attendees have access to not one but two major airports that connect to more than 130 cities globally.

In recent years, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre has cemented its place as one of the region’s top facilities for business events from a wide array of industries. In 2022, the center’s calendar included the 2022 World Congress of Nephrology (WCN’22), which drew more than 5,000 attendees, as well as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) annual general meeting for the Asia Pacific region, ICANN75, which brought more than 1,000 attendees together in September.

The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre is making moves to ensure it leaves behind a positive legacy. Last month, the convention center along with local partners unveiled a new initiative to elevate the KLCC precinct’s sustainability efforts to fall in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, including achieving net-zero carbon emissions. In addition, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center now offers a dedicated taskforce that planners can collaborate with to deliver more environmentally conscious events.

It’s fair to think of the KLCC precinct as its own mini city where the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, hotels, restaurants, and attractions like a 50-acre park and a premium shopping mall all sit within a compact footprint under the shadow of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers (the tallest twin buildings in the world). Better yet, the precinct is also completely walkable due to a network of air-conditioned walkways and light rail service. The latter can connect visitors to Kuala Lumpur International Airport in under 45 minutes.

Already, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center has more than 2,000 hotel rooms on site and more than 4,500 rooms within a five to 10-minute walk, but more are in the pipeline. The citizenM Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang hotel is a more recent addition, and others in the works include the 320-room Crowne Plaza Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the 166-room Radisson Red Kuala Lumpur City Centre, and the 226-room So Sofitel Kuala Lumpur, opening in 2023. A 750-room Fairmont property is also in the works along with a Park Hyatt hotel.