TCEB hosts Thailand Incentive and Meeting Exchange in Bangkok & Phuket to woo the Chinese Market and Create Mutual Understanding

Thailand Incentive and Meeting Exchange (TIME) 2016 organized by Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau or TCEB concluded last week with a success making TIME as an annual platform that consists of 3 components; Knowledge Exchange, Business Exchange and Experience Exchange. The first-ever TIME 2016 event focuses on Chinese market as it is Thailand’s number one source market for MICE which gives a greater opportunity for Thai MICE entrepreneurs who join the event.

TIME 2016: Knowledge Exchange was taken place on 16th August 2016 at Plaza Athenee Bangkok, A Royal Le Meridien Hotel and was well attended by more than 150 Thai MICE industry players which include hotels, venues, related associations, DMCs, event organizers, airlines, academia, destinations and others. Knowledge exchange was a one-day educational forum where TCEB invites industry experts from China to talk about how to succeed in doing MICE business in China. The panelists were from key MICE agencies in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and corporate client who discussed case study in organizing a meeting and incentive events in Thailand.

TIME 2016: Business Exchange was on 17th August 2016 at Plaza Athenee Bangkok, A Royal Le Meridien Hotel. Business matching session was divided into morning and afternoon sessions where 40 Chinese buyers met with more than 80 Thai MICE suppliers. The event was well received and turned out productive full-day business matching session.

TIME 2016: Experience Exchange was taken place from 18th – 21st August 2016 in Phuket. A four day/three night mega familiarization trip, meetings and incentives planners from around 40 MICE agencies in China were given the chance to try some of the many activities that meeting and incentive delegates can take part in when attending business events in the kingdom. So as well as table top exchanges and talks, the delegates were able to join a CSR activity in a local school, enjoy snorkelling, team building and spa activities and walk in the streets of Phuket’s historic quarter and learn about the lives of tin merchants who used to live there. They also got the chance to experience two of Phuket’s best hotels and beaches and sample some of the island’s fine dining.

This was a vital trip for not only is China currently our biggest market for MICE, there is also still a lot of potential there for growth, especially as the Thai MICE sector offers new incentives and initiatives to businesses and meeting planners. The visitors who joined the trip can now act as “Brand Ambassadors” for Thailand’s MICE sector and help Chinese businesses to see that the kingdom should be the choice when it comes to hosting any kind of event. Networking sessions and meetings ensured that everyone had the latest data and contacts and that the visitors went home confident that Thailand is the premiere meetings and incentives destination in Asia.

China is the biggest MICE market for Thailand and 2015 saw 109,987 business people came to Thailand from China to attend MICE events, earning the kingdom over 9.6 billion baht in revenue. There are also direct flights from many Chinese cities to Thai MICE hubs such as Phuket, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai.