TCEB Posts Strong Q1 2014 Performance Highlights TCEB’s full support to boost confidence of international community

Melbourne / 19 February 2014 – The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization), or TCEB, has today announced the strong performance of Thailand’s MICE industry in the first quarter of the 2014 fiscal year. The bureau reported that between October and December 2013, Thailand welcomed 186,864 MICE travellers, contributing more than AUD $534.4 million into the country’s economy. Compared to the same period in 2013, visitor numbers and revenue grew a healthy 5.16 per cent and 6.16 per cent respectively.   

The performance of the Oceania market was a particular highlight with a 13.25 per cent increase in visitor numbers and 14.31 per cent growth in revenue. These figures build on the upward trend established during the 2013 fiscal year, when 1,013,502 MICE visitors experienced Thailand’s diverse business destinations, high quality professionals and international standards, while taking advantage of significant business opportunities.

Making the announcement during the Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo 2014 (AIME) held in Melbourne, Mr Nopparat Maythaveekulchai, president of TCEB, remarked that, “TCEB’s presence at AIME 2014 demonstrates the importance we place on the region as part of our international outreach program. Thailand and Australia have enjoyed a long, collaborative relationship in promoting MICE excellence and opportunities. In 2013 we welcomed more than one million MICE travellers from all over the world, including 26,173 from Oceania, a number we expect to grow by 10 per cent in 2014.”

In the first quarter of 2014, Thailand recorded 7,819 Oceania MICE visitors, generating more than AUD $22.35 million. Demonstrating Australia’s continued importance to Thailand’s MICE industry, the country was in the Top 10 in terms of MICE visitors from October to December 2013.

“Close connections are built on mutual trust and open dialogue, so in this spirit, it is important to note that while the on-going anti-government protests in Bangkok have been overwhelmingly peaceful, we fully understand any hesitations that visitors may have. As always, the professional and experienced TCEB team will continue to do our utmost to offer assistance to MICE delegates, and we are confident that with our full support, business travellers will find comfort in our genuine Thai hospitality and world-class facilities,” Mr Nopparat added.

To reinforce TCEB’s confidence in the industry during this challenging time, the bureau has introduced a very special rewards package with promotions including ‘Meetings Bonus’, which offers organisers generous financial subsidies for groups of 200 or more delegates who visit Thailand for three nights or longer to attend corporate meetings or incentive travel; and the ‘Conventions Bonus’, which offers associations, PCOs, governments and educational institutions significant financial subsidies for groups of 300 or more delegates to international conventions held in Thailand. Complementing these are TCEB’s ‘Business Up 2 U’ initiative, a fixed subsidy programme for exhibitions based on their previous years’ performance which offers them TCEB’s guaranteed support; and ‘Be My Guest’, which aims to attract high-quality, international exhibition buyers and visitors with financial support for room night allocation, up to a maximum of two room nights per person per exhibition.

Further demonstrating the strong position of the industry during this time, TCEB also shared the diverse line-up of confirmed major MICE activities in Thailand in 2014, including incentive travel events such as the Unicity Global Convention, international conventions such as the 3rd Global Congress for Consensus in Paediatrics and Child Health, The 10th International Mycological Congress (IMC) and the FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2014. Confirmed international exhibitions and trade fairs this year include INTERMACH 2014, ProPak Asia 2014 and Food & Hotel Thailand 2014, among others.

In addition to these rewards promotions, TCEB has also instigated ‘Thailand CONNECT’, an exciting global marketing campaign focusing on three of Thailand’s key strengths: diverse destinations right at the heart of the fast-growing AEC region; unrivalled business opportunities; and high-quality MICE professionals and standards. Incorporated into this campaign is a number of exciting market promotion packages to support the success of MICE businesses through the ‘Thailand CONNECT Exclusive’ scheme. These include: 1) CONNECT Destinations – exclusively for meetings and incentive travel groups in multiple cities; 2) CONNECT People – exclusively for expanding market connections, especially for international conventions; 3) CONNECT Business – exclusively for ‘match-making’ at exhibitions in Thailand.

“The MICE industry has always played a key role in driving the broader economy. I am confident that the Thailand MICE Rewards effort and the Thailand CONNECT campaign, as well as our many other market promotions, will help drive further MICE sector growth. In 2014, TCEB forecasts growth in MICE visitor numbers of five per cent to a total of 987,000 visitors by year-end, with revenue up 10 per cent to AUD $3.23 billion,” Mr Nopparat concluded.

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For further information, please contact:

Corporate Communications Division, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization)  

Ms Arisara Thanuplang

Tel:  +66 2 694 6095

Email: arisara_t@tceb.or.th

Mr Pishnu Plaikaew                        

Tel:  +66 2 694 6000                        

Email: pishnu_p@tceb.or.th