MICE industry shows 14% quarterly revenue growth

Thongchai Sridama, acting president,B, expected that the Thai MICE industry will grow by 15 per cent in the second quarter of the 2013 fiscal year (during January-March) "which shall be the result of timely rebranding and strategic marketing campaigns initiated from time to time by the bureau".

"TCEB is moving fast to expand in high-potential Asian markets, particularly countries in the ASEAN Plus Six group, enabling the regional MICE markets to continue to dominate as much as 57.68 per cent of overall market or equal to 27.09 per cent growth compared with previous year. Asian MICE travellers accounted for 102,501 persons or equaled to Bt8.71 billion in revenue. Statistics of top 5 MICE travellers entering into Thailand indicated that most travellers were from the ASEAN Plus Six nations. These include India, China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia, respectively. Further, it is foreseen that marketing strategy of TCEB in exploring new markets in Asia will pave the way for the growth of Thailand’s MICE industry in the second quarter responding to our goal. Meanwhile, American market has shown tendency for recovery as the growth rate has surged by 17.15 per cent,” added Thongchai.

During October-December, top five markets with highest growth rate included Australia and America which grew by 3 times; and Hong Kong and Taiwan which showed double growth.

To promote the industry in the first six months of the fiscal year, TCEB provided supports to 223 events - 223 conventions and 23 international exhibitions. It also won the bidding for 6 major events including ITU World Telecom 2013, the 108th Federation Aeronautique Internationale General Conference (Conventions), 35th Asian Medical Students’ Conference (Conventions), Conference of the Electric Power Industry (Conventions), Asia Pacific Conference on Communication (Conventions) and Asian Congress of Pediatric Infectious Disease (Conventions).

“TCEB's operation in the second quarter will concentrate in exploring markets in the Asean+6 nations which are considered major markets with high potential for Thai MICE industry. Our key movements in meeting segment will comprise creating awareness and expanding markets to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Meanwhile, our mission for international exhibition will target Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, India, Vietnam and China, respectively, which are considered top exhibitors in Thailand.” said Thongchai.