Partner sought for centre management

However, local firms are preferable, as they are deemed more professional and qualified.
The details are unclear, especially how much each party will hold in the joint venture, TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said yesterday.
TAT will play a key role in operating the centre, not the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB). The law allows TAT to get involved with doing business, not the TCEB. However, the pair can work together to increase their efficiency in this field.
The project is being developed by the Tourism Ministry, while TAT, which is part of the ministry, is responsible for its management. TAT will use Bt200 million from its marketing budget to promote it via communication campaigns.
Recently, the ministry sent an official letter to TAT’s board assigning the agency to operate the centre. TAT will maximise its office network both locally and internationally to raise its profile in the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) market.
After more than two years of construction, the centre will be completed this September. Once it opens, it will be given a trial run to make sure that its facilities will be perfect enough to serve big-scale events.
During the test run, the centre will allow the public to use its space to hold smaller events such as weddings and marketing activities.
The addition of the Chiang Mai Convention Centre will help strengthen Thailand’s claim as the MICE hub in the region. It can accommodate more than 10,000 people and offers 8,000 square metres of exhibition space. It will give event organisers more choices of venues, not only those in Bangkok.
The northern city is considered a good location for MICE activities, offering a variety of attractions, culture, convenience and beautiful tourism spots. MICE attendees from other countries also spend four or five times as much as general travellers.