Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
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Supawan Teerarat
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Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) that had recently organised its roadshow in Mumbai and Bengaluru, and a corporate networking event in New Delhi, saw the largest number of suppliers this year, almost double than those attending in 2013. For India market specifically, TCEB has launched the Meeting Bonus package for MICE planners and corporate clients. “India has always been among the top three countries for MICE travel to Thailand. Last year the number of MICE travellers from India had increased to 100,000, which is about 10 per cent of our total arrivals. The group sizes from India ranges from medium to large – that is 100 to 4000 delegates across all industries – insurance, finance, manufacturing, direct marketing sectors,” stated Supawan Teerarat, VP, strategic and business development, TCEB.
Pointing out that the political unrest in Thailand has not affected the MICE market, Teerarat stated, “When the military coup and curfew was announced there were some cancellations, but everything is picking up and is back to normal now. The events that were cancelled in the first half of the year, were postponed and are now being organised.” TCEB expects over a million MICE travellers from around the world this year, the majority being from Asia.
TCEB would like to tap the Tier II cities in India and attract clientele. “We have been doing sales missions in Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune, Kochi and plan to explore Gujarat,” said Nitin Sachdeva, marketing manager, India representative office, TCEB.
The MICE cities in Thailand are – Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chaing Mai and Khon Kaen. These five MICE cities have facilities, diverse range of hotels and professional services. TCEB has three key strategies for the MICE industry – to attract mega events and increase number of business travellers, to promote image of Thailand in the world as a destination of choice for business meetings, and to develop standards of HR in MICE, facilities in MICE and global standards ISO programme. “We also do lot of projects on green meeting and reducing carbon footprint,” informed Teerarat.
