Thai Associations Leveraging Professional Power Reach Record High

The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and ICCA Thailand are successful in attracting a record high number of Thai associations to attend the two annual seminars aimed at strengthening association management, enhancing their professional role and enabling them to collaborate with suppliers in organizing successful international conferences.

The first seminar is Tea Talk Association Management, hosted by TCEB for the second year, was a review of association management experiences, delivered by Mr. Chris Champion, Director International of Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) and Secretary General of the International Federation of Municipal Engineering (IFME). Demonstrating the enthusiasm to strengthen their organizations, Thai associations responded keenly with 15 groups, in fields ranging from medicine, to travel, real estate development, agri-business, horticulture, weed sciences and veterinary medicine attending this year’s event, a two-thirds increase over 2016. Mr Champion’s talk touched on lessons learned in the areas of interest among Thai associations: member retention, funding models, online technology employment and the use of incentives to attract new and younger generation to be involved in association work and to retain existing members.

The Tea Talk was followed by ICCA Thailand Seminar 2017 titled “Power of Association”.   Jointly hosted by TCEB, ICCA Thailand and ICCA, the seminar featured presentation on the power of associations and their contribution to the economy and society, how to deal with association conference business, convention bureau’s initiatives to attract association conference and discussion on collaboration between associations, venue operators, professional conference organizers and convention bureau in organizing successful international conferences.

Four overseas experts and one Thai, including Mr Champion, Mr Bobby Ong, Vice President Sales, Distribution, Marketing and Loyalty of Greater China, Accor Hotel, Ms Anna Hayward, Auckland Convention Bureau Manager, Mr Noor Ahmad Hamid, ICCA’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director, and Ms Perapan Angkhasuko, Bangkok-based senior VP at N.C.C Management and Development Co, Ltd, were the featured speakers.

The attendance at ICCA Thailand Seminar 2017 was remarkable, showing Thai associations’ rising keenness to enhance their international role. It was attended by 52 delegates from 33 associations and other professional bodies and 20 supplier delegates, making it the combined largest number and a threefold increase since the first ICCA Thailand Seminar was organized in 2013 when less than 10 associations took part in the event.

To further enhance the role of associations among other key industry players, TCEB also arranged for two of the seminar 2017 speakers to deliver the talks to nearly 100 Thai MICE suppliers at the Thailand Incentive and Convention Association (TICA) luncheon. Mr. Noor talked on Thailand’s recent performance in the global association meeting industry, while Mr. Ong gave a review and practical advice on writing quote to win association conference.