TCEB launches plan for more foreign participants

TCEB president Akapol Sorasuchart said the campaign was part of the bureau's five-year strategic plan to boost international business travellers to the country. The campaign started last month and will run until September 2014. Akapol said TCEB's five-year plan would help prepare the domestic trade-show industry to fully integrate with the Asean Economic Community in 2015.

The three-year campaign is expected to use Bt85 million, mainly to subsidise trade fairs. TCEB will support fairs with five criteria:

lThe event must have been held three times consecutively in Thailand and is committed for the next three years.

lAt least 10 per cent of exhibitors at the event must be foreigners.

lA minimum of five per cent of the visitors to the event must be foreigners.

lThe event must |occupy more than 4,000 square metres space.

lThe event must implement an international registration system.

There will be 20 trade fairs participating in the campaign, including InCosmetics, Intermold, Interplas and Nepcon, Intermach, TFBO & TRAFS and Food and Hotel Thailand.

According to the Global Association of Exhibition Industry, Thailand hosted 71 international trade fairs in 2010. Revenue from net space sold in Thailand is Bt3.99 billion, which is the highest in Asean and ranks seventh in Asia. Thailand's exhibition industry is also ranked first in Asean in terms of estimated annual size of 432,500 square metres.

There are eight exhibition centres in Thailand, with gross indoor size of 212,405 square metres. The Chiang Mai International Convention and Exhibition Centre is under construction, scheduled for completion in July 2012. Venues in Singapore have a total of 250,000 square metres and hosted 80 shows. Malaysia has total space of 265,000 square metres and hosted 49 events.