Thailand's MICE Business is Flying High

BEIJING, Sept. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau or TCEB exposes Thailand's latest global attribute for MICE industry, highlighting the country's pursuit of global excellence and compliance with international standards to business travellers worldwide. This attribute is world's first debuted at CIBTM 2013 in Beijing through TCEB's initiative, and Thailand…Connecting High Level of Standard to New Heights of Success at CIBTM 2013, is expected to increase MICE revenue to reach US$ 2.93 billion by 2013.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130910/HK76956 )

Ms. Parichat Svetasreni, Director of Marketing and Corporate Image, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, disclosed that "Thailand's hospitality is world's renowned and become legendary. According to the survey by the Nielsen (Thailand) Company Limited, it is proved that Thai warmth welcome and friendliness is one of the significant factors that drive the decision of business travellers to stage or attend the MICE events in Thailand. Today, Thailand has raised it sophisticated service by equipped with several international certified standards."

The new demands of a global MICE marketplace have sharpened competitive pressures and underscored the need to enhance service standards, enhance professional capacity and strengthen the foundations for long-term cutting-edge competitiveness across Thailand's MICE industry. In response, TCEB has worked over the past 5 years to elevate industry standards in order to benchmark Thailand's MICE industry at the new heights and to label Thailand's latest attribute of service excellence following the proclamation of previous two exemplary attributes; diversity of dynamic destination, and endless business opportunities.

Thailand's new attribute will be unveiled through TCEB's initiative;

THAILAND…Connecting High Level of Standard to New Heights of Success. It will provide assurance to the global marketplace that Thailand is ready to host international standard events and also, offer Thailand's MICE industry the benefits of global market access as compliance becomes an obligatory eligibility requirement for hosting major international events.

THAILAND…Connecting High Level of Standard to New Heights of Success, is all-embracing with

1. A perfect blend of legendary hospitality and service excellence -- Thailand's reputation for hospitality sets to become the world's new signature index. Local MICE professionals and operators are widely adopted with various global standards including; ISO 50001 (Energy Management System), ISO 22000 (Food Safety Management System), TISI 22300 (MICE Security Management System, MSMS), ISO 20121 (Sustainable Event management System). In addition to these four completed standards; TCEB is now working with the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization to develop a Carbon Footprint Assessment Guideline for MICE Business. More MICE standards are also in development, among them a National Skills Standard for the MICE industry, a Domestic MICE Standard, and a MICE Hotel Standard. These standards provide assurance to the global marketplace that Thailand is ready to host international standard events. These also offer Thailand's MICE industry the benefits of global market access as compliance becomes an obligatory eligibility requirement for hosting major MICE events.
2. Record of Excellence: In 2012, Thailand hosted 7,382 MICE events. Thailand will take the best care and inspire success to all kind of business events at any scales and for anyone with excellent track record of host country for various global events. Recent mega-events held and confirm to be held in Thailand include, The 2012 Rotary International Convention, World Stamp 2013, the 65th World Newspaper Congress, ITU World Telecom 2013, World Marketing Forum 2014, and many more.
3. Awards of Excellence: Thailand has received countless accolades from critics and global travel organizations and Thailand's cities continue to be rate highly. These awards of excellence labels both Thailand and its cities to become world's selective destination of 'a-must' visit at least once in a lifetime. The awards including the following;

• World's Best
  • Thailandwon 'World's Best Countries for Food' nominated by TripAdvisor.com in 2012.
  • Bangkok named 'World's Best City 2012' by Travel & Leisure Magazine
  • Bangkok ranked No.3 'Global Destination City Index for 2012" by Forbes Magazine and Master Card (after London & Paris)
  • Chiang Mai ranked No. 8 in 2012 "Travelers' Choice Destination on the Rise", by TripAdvisor
• Asia's Best
  • Thailand won 'Most Popular Travel Destination in Asia' by Go Asia Award 2012 in Berlin.
  • 7 of Asia's Top 10 Beach Destinations are in Thailand, ranked by Tripadvisor.com in 2012.
• ASEAN's Best
  • Thailand ranked No.1for the number of international conventions an exhibition host by ICCA and UFI.
  • Thailand ranked No.3 for "Best Business Events Country in Asia in 2012" by CEI magazine
  • Bangkok ranked No.2 'Best Business Cities in ASEAN" by Business Travellers Asia Pacific Award 2012.

TCEB first launches this new attribute at CIBTM 2013 in Beijing, China with an aim to bridge across buoyant Chinese MICE market. Added to this, the cultural affinities and longstanding trading ties signal a bright future for the MICE industry of both countries. With China projected to become the world's largest economy over the next 6 years, the country's strong economic performance is expected to boost numbers of Chinese MICE travelers to Thailand, based on Thailand's competitiveness and unique attraction as a destination both for business and leisure.

"In 2012, Thailand welcomed 63,955 Chinese MICE travelers to Thailand -- an increase of 31.6% over 2011 figures.  This included 16,000 delegates joining the Amway China mega-event, hosted on the exotic island of Phuket. In addition, China is both Thailand's largest export market and its second-largest source of imports, with trade volume reaching US$69.7 billion in 2012. Thailand is therefore ideally positioned to serve the needs of China's MICE needs, with a vast range of cost-competitive, high quality accommodation, advanced infrastructure and a diversity of dedicated world-class venues to host even the most success MICE event. For all these reasons, and with Thailand's world-renowned standards of service, it's no surprise that in recent years, Thailand has seen strong growth in incentive travel from China," added Parichat.

The Chinese government itself has also been encouraging Chinese businesses to invest in trading or and travel overseas, and last year bilateral ties were upgraded by the establishment of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, and the signing of seven cooperation agreements on issues ranging from trade, agriculture and railways to flood and drought prevention. The two countries plan to expand bilateral trade to US$ 100 billion by 2015.

Overall, 2012 was a buoyant year for Thailand's MICE industry, with 895,224 MICE visitors and 7,382 MICE events, 6.84 percent up from 2011. Conventions contributed 33 percent, followed by corporate meetings and incentive travel, which contributed 25 and 24 percent respectively. International exhibitions and trade shows accounted for 18 percent of total MICE revenues for 2012.

Overall picture of TCEB's performance in the Quarter 1-3 of fiscal year 2013 has shown the total number of foreign MICE travellers of 747,072 or equal to 2.14billion USD in revenue. 

"Outcome of our strategic operation in significant markets in Asia, Europe and America greatly contributed the successive growth of such 3 regions. Asian MICE market has highest market penetration of 72.69 per cent. Triumphantly, European and American markets showed an obvious sign of recovery. Statistics of top MICE travellers entering into Thailand mainly include travellers from ASEAN Plus Six nations, including China, India, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia, respectively.

"China's dynamic MICE industry represents a key future market for Thailand. We are therefore confident that TCEB's participation at CIBTM2013 will help showcase our pursuit of excellence and contribute towards strengthening business alliances between the MICE business of both our countries. In addition, with further enhance standards of service delivery, drive growth, and create new economic value, we can be confident that Thailand's MICE industry is most definitely flying high. In 2013, we anticipate a boost in MICE industry earnings to reach US$ 2.93 billion," added Parichat.

Media Queries:

Division of Corporate Communications / Department of Marketing & Corporate Image
Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB)
Ms. Arisara Thanuplang
Tel: +66-2694-6095
email: [email protected]

Ms. Montakorn Prasarnrajkit
Tel: +66-2694-6000 ext. 6140
email: [email protected]

SOURCE Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau