The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) lure European lucrative MICE market with its new initiatives. TCEB will showcase Thailand as a gateway for European MICE professionals to extend their reach and penetrate the Asian market. New destination´s image will be unleashed under country´s new unique attribute, Thailand: Connecting Oppurtunities for Business Events in Asia.

Speaking at the IMEX 2013, Ms. Vichaya Soonthornsaratoon, Director of Meetings, said:” Europe is a vital source for Thailand´s MICE industry. In 2012, over 77.308 European MICE delegates visitedThailand, with UK, Germany, France, Netherland and Spain ranking the highest. In all, the EU accounts for almost 11 per cent of Thailand´s total MICE market, with accumulated to 7 billion baht revenues in 2013″
Overall the MICE industry was responsible for 9,49 per cent of all tourism earnings in 2012, accounting for 0,58 per cent of total GDP. Conventions contributed 33 per cent, followed by corporate meetings and incentive travel, which contributed 25 and 24 per cent,respectively. International exhibitions and trade shows accounted for 18 per cent of total MICE revenues for 2012. In this year, Thailand hosted a total of 7.382 MICE Events,6,84 percent up from 2011. However, the number of visitors grew by 19 percent, reflecting TCEB´s success in attracting mega-events to Thailand. Last year, the average stay for overseas MICE visitors was 5,54 days.

Thailand is currently in the process of reconfiguring and rebranding the TCEB organization in order to drive new business growth, focusing on the Asia and ASEAN+6 markets. The strategy is based on five key drivers of growth: first, as a Strategic Business Partner; as a Thought Leader and Solution Provider to stimulate creative leadership; as a Business Connector, facilitating new partnerships, and lastly, as a MICE Capabilities Developer, to strengthen human resource capacity and raise the calibre of MICE professionals in line with global expectations.
“Thailand is attracting more and more events organised specifically for the region, and beyond and as such is already emerging as a regional hub for business events of all kinds. Business travellers from across the globe, but partticularly from Europe, come to Thailand to take advantage of world class facilities set amidst stunning landscapes. With modern infrastructure, superb hotels and a wide choice of dedicated event venues, Thailand´s MICE industry has an impressive record of growth. The Thai government therefore plans to extend support for all categories and scales of business events as well as further utilize the business event as a vital platform to extend more opportunities in terms of business and trade value to the companies ans delegates”, revealed Vichaya.

Thailand: Connecting Oppurtunities for Business Events in Asia, the country´s new unique attribute has been announced the world premiere in London prior to launch in European market at IMEX 2013 in Frankfurt.The business travellers and MICE professionals will enhance their prospect in Thailand´s business events through 5 dimensions:
1) Strategic Location to Asian MICE Market- Thailand is a natural springboard to Southeast Asia, where newly emerging markets offer unprecedented business potential. The formation of AEC in 2015 will take this positioning to a whole new dimension, when the 10 member states of ASEAN will become a single market with free flow of goods, services, skilled labour and investment. And of course this carries tremendous implications, and overall we expect a major boost to regional trade across all economic sectors. Apart from the 10 ASEAN countries and its 600 million people, Thailand is also a perfect base of trade with the fast-growing markets of India, China and Australia, with which Thailand enjoys strong cultural and economic ties.

2) Free Trade Agreement Policy – Thailand is party to 11 bilateral free trade agreements with countries both in Asia and around the world. This helps to explain why Thailand is emerging as a unique trade hub in one of the fastet, most stable-growing parts of the global economy, attracting unprecedented levels of foreign investment.

3) World Class Industries and Market Recognition – Last year Thailand was ranked as the world´s largest producer of natural rubber and cassava, and one of the top 10 global manufacturers of vehicles and parts. In addition, Thailand is ASEAN´s second largest economy with key exports include vehicle parts and accessories, computers, refined fuel, rubber and plastics.

4) Home of World Business Events – To ensure Thailand´s positioning as home to world´s business events, in 2013, Thailand will host a series of mega events, including the ITU Telecom World 2013 with approximately 20.000 delegates, the Herbalife Extravaganza with 18.000 attendees.

5) Government Collaborations and Supports for Business Events Success – As part of TCEB´s role in attracting, supporting and facilitating international events held in Thailand, we provide services such as bidding and marketing support , B2B business matching platforms, government and private sector connectors, and event planing and consultancy. At TCEB, we can also help enrich your event with cultural performances, team building activities, as well as specialist themed meeting packages, fam trips and promotional materials to directly target your markets. And all this is supported by TCEB´s extensive database, business events intelligence, online library, market reports and of course, for your convenience, fast track clearance for delegates at Suvarrnabhumi International Airport.

” Business opportunities in Thailand and Asia are made available through Thailands´s vibrant business events platform. We also want to use the growing trade and tourism link to convince European MICE professionals to hold business event on Thai soil. With Thailand´s new attribute , we hope that European MICE professionals will link up and connect with our Thai counterparts and promote further trade and business events activities between our two countries,” left Vichaya.

In 2013, Thailand is expected to welcome approximately 940.000 MICE visitors to the country, generating expected revenues of 88 Billion Bath and expected to maintain the European market at approximately 80.000 MICE visitors as well as the Germany market at around 8.000 visitors.