Europe crisis, floods hurting MICE industry

Akapol Sorasuchart, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said yesterday that the fiscal crisis in Europe had not yet deflected business away from the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry in Thailand.
However, if European countries issue outbound tax measures, that would definitely hurt the MICE business here.
“The tax measures would result in higher costs for tourists and businesspeople when they go overseas. This will reduce travel,” he said.
Since last year the TCEB has been preparing special measures to deal with the economic meltdown in Europe.
The bureau will approach the high-end market from Asia, particularly India, China and Indonesia, to fill up the vacancies left by Europe as well as Japan.
Western businesspeople usually spend more than Bt100,000 per trip per head, while Asians pay about Bt55,000. The TCEB hopes to increase the spending per head from Asia to Bt85,000. The domestic MICE business has also been hit by the current flooding, as locals cannot reach inundated provinces, mostly in the Central region.
The flood waters in Chiang Mai have been receding while those in Ayutthaya and other Central provinces are still at a precarious level.
Taking the train or bus upcountry is very difficult, though air travellers have no problem.
The TCEB is standing by its MICE target for this year, saying it’s too early to evaluate the overall impact and damage caused by the external and internal factors.
The bureau is still pursuing its “Believe in Thailand” campaign by presenting “Thailand: Destination of Choice” at Incentive Travel and Conventions, Meeting Asia & Corporate Travel World Asia-Pacific taking place in Bangkok this week.
The TCEB assures the nearly 3,000 delegates from 60 countries that Thailand stands ready to serve the next business event.
It is selling the country’s strong points to the event planners and business organisations – world-class MICE venues, variety of tailor-made business events, accessibility to 12 MICE cities throughout the Kingdom and the proposed high-speed railway linking southern China and Thailand.
The TCEB provides financial and non-financial assistance to operators for market promotion and bid preparation as well as strategic advice.
To date, the top five business sources from the Asia-Pacific region are India with 47,447 arrivals, China with 41,809, Singapore with 39,545, Japan with 36,284 and Malaysia with 25,198.
The fast-growing business events in Thailand are mainly driven by medical meetings and conferences, innovations and technology, and education.