TCEB’s Unveils Operational Plan FY2021: Four Strategies for Business Recovery and Sustainable Growth

15.10.2020

Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has unveiled its Operational Plan for fiscal year 2021 (FY2021) aimed at lifting Thailand’s meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry out of crisis and strengthening the industry’s fundamentals for sustainability.

Guided by the concept “New Normal MICE – Sustainable Growth”, the plan comprises four strategies – promoting domestic MICE, attracting international events, implementing innovation, and developing a robust MICE ecosystem. For FY2021, TCEB is targetting 10.4 million MICE travellers and 64 billion baht in revenue for Thailand which represents 3.5% growth for both sectors. Unveiling the plan at a press conference at VIE Hotel Bangkok on October 7, 2020, TCEB president, Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, said “During the third quarter, as Thailand started to ease Covid-19 restrictions, domestic MICE began to rebound as a result of a series of promotional campaigns and the readiness of local MICE operators. The uptick highlighted the potential of our domestic market. Recent data showed that 55.4% or 375,094 delegates participated in local MICE events via online platforms, while 44.6% or 302,312 attended on-site. These numbers underscore TCEB’s success in helping organisers implement new technologies that attract more participants to their events."
 
To stimulate the domestic MICE market, Mr. Chiruit noted that TCEB will support the organisation of MICE events in all regions across the country. By working with government agencies, private-sector organisations, and local communities, TCEB is also seeking to upgrade local or regional MICE events to the national level by promoting the unique identity and advantages of each destination. With that in mind, TCEB has allocated an additional 10-million baht in its budget for the first quarter of the FY2021 (October – December) towards the promotional campaign “Thailand: A Safer Place for Meetings”. The campaign is designed to encourage the public and private sectors to use MICE activities as a means to distribute income to local communities. It offers a range of incentives to organisers of meetings, incentives, seminars, training activities, CSR activities, or corporate outings scheduled to be held up till December 2020.

Meanwhile, TCEB will also be promoting domestic exhibitions through a cooperation network called Empower Thailand Exhibition (EMTEX) throughout FY2021. To attract international MICE events, TCEB is focusing on a new master plan for tradeshows called “Thailand LOG-IN Events” which is in line with Thailand’s national development policies. The bureau will encourage tradeshow organisers to expand into the logistics and infrastructure sectors. It will provide incentives to organisers who include logistics or infrastructure in their show profiles or those who bid for new international shows and have them located in different regions of Thailand. TCEB will be promoting the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) as a new location for tradeshows in view of its fast-improving connectivity and proximity to some of Thailand’s largest and most established industrial zones. In addition, TCEB will introduce “Festival Economy” where mega events and festivals will be considered a vehicle to generate economic value as well as to promote cultural, social and environmental development in the provinces.
 
The third strategy of the Operational Plan is to promote meeting technologies and help meeting organisers develop online and hybrid event formats. In the first quarter of FY2021, TCEB will continue to urge entrepreneurs to venture online by participating in TCEB’s technology support project called Virtual Meeting Space (VMS). Eight events will benefit from VMS in its next cycle – Thailand Dive Expo (TDEX), INTERCARE Asia 2020, Coffee and Bakery Fair 2020, Khon Kaen International Motor Expo, Chiang Mai Design Week, Global Running Summit, ISURA 2020 Bangkok, and AHC 2020. For the fourth strategy – developing a robust MICE ecosystem – TCEB will establish a One-Stop Service Centre to provide information and facilitate MICE events in Thailand. This centre will use digital technologies to integrate services, facilitate regulatory compliance, provide MICE event services to government agencies, and assist MICE visitors with services such as MICE Lane, Fast Track, Visa-on-Arrival, and related healthcare procedures.
 
In FY2020, Thailand welcomed a total of 10,456,899 MICE travellers, generating 61.3 billion baht in revenue. Of these, 500,090 were international MICE travellers, who generated a revenue of 29.8 billion baht. Corporate Meetings generated the highest revenue at 9.4 billion baht with 149,638 travellers, followed by conventions (8.3 billion baht, 139,639 travellers), exhibitions (6.4 billion baht, 88,711 travellers), and incentives (5.6 billion baht, 122,102 travellers). In the same period, there were 9,956,809 domestic MICE travellers who generated 31.4 billion baht in revenue.