THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

TCEB to focus on domestic MICE business this year

TCEB to focus on domestic MICE business this year

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) this year will keep its focus on promoting MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) business domestically |as part of its plan to serve the |government's economic stimulus policy.

The bureau plans to persuade local corporations, especially those in industrial parks, and chambers of commerce to hold MICE events across the country by offering attractive incentives. Subsidising food costs is one example of this strategy.
The government has doubled the budget this year to Bt30 million for such promotion, said Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, director of the TCEB’s domestic MICE department.
Promoting MICE among Thai operators will also help secure business growth here while economies in the United States and Europe are struggling.
 Last year, MICE events organised by local operators attracted 13.2 million visits, for total revenue of Bt12 billion. This year, both the number of travellers and revenue are projected to grow by 10-15 per cent.
Thongchai Sridama, TCEB’s acting president, said 2013 would be a good year for Thailand’s MICE industry if political chaos does not pose a risk. Currently, Thailand is one of the top MICE destinations in the region.
The number of MICE travellers from other countries is projected to grow by at least 7 per cent. Last year, their numbers grew by 19 per cent to 895,224, with total spending of Bt79.8 billion.
This strong growth was driven by the rising number of travellers from Asian countries, who made up of 65 per cent of the total.
The top 10 in Asia were India, mainland China, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
This year, the bureau will keep its focus on existing markets while at the same time expanding into new ones, especially Asean+6 (the main 10-member bloc plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Aus-tralia and New Zealand).
Last year, the MICE industry supplied 9.49 per cent of the Kingdom’s tourism revenue, or 0.58 per cent of gross domestic product. Conventions contributed 33 per cent of that, followed by corporate meetings at 25 per cent and incentive travel at 24 per cent. International exhibitions and trade shows represented 18 per cent of the total MICE revenue.

MORE THAN 7,000 EVENTS IN 2012
Thailand hosted 7,382 MICE events last year, an increase of 6.84 per cent from 2011.
Average stays for foreign MICE travellers was 5.54 days, with average spending of Bt16,084 per person per day.
Regarding another issue, the bid to host Expo 2020, a committee from the Bureau of International Expositions will meet with |Prime Minister Yingluck Shina-watra between January 28 and February 1 to discuss the country’s readiness.
It will also go to Ayutthaya to check the venue for the proposed event.
The final presentation will be held in June and the winner will be announced officially by the end of this year.

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