Bangkok-based business event specialist Events Travel Asia (ETA) and DMC Phu Bao Destinations & Events in Ho Chi Minh City have joined forces to sharpen their destination offerings for a wider range of clients.
ETA’s group managing director and CEO, Max Jantasuwan, told TTGmice in a phone interview that the partnership was years in the making, after both companies first worked together on a business event in Phuket for an American client in 2014. ETA and Phu Bao went on to co-manage the same client’s events in destinations such as Japan and South Korea.
Although an agreement on the partnership was made in February, the official announcement only came recently, after both companies completed internal preparations like “linking their work systems, staff training and internal communications”.
While ETA has experience in taking business events from both Thai and international companies to various destinations in Thailand and around the world, Phu Bao is an expert in Vietnamese destinations and has an extensive clientele of domestic companies.
“Coming together allows Phu Bao to take its domestic clients beyond Vietnam’s borders, and ETA to retain clients by offering Vietnamese cities and resort areas as fresh destination options. Furthermore, ETA can benefit from Phu Bao’s local expertise and get strong on-the-ground sales and operations support,” said Max.
He added: “Vietnam is a hot destination for many of my longhaul clients from Europe and Russia. For many of them, it is also a fresh option. Those who have not been to Vietnam in the past five years will be surprised to see how much it has changed, especially in the resort areas where infrastructure is a lot more modern and there are more five-star resorts.”
“ETA is wholly committed to this partnership, our sister brand. We have invested financially and time-wise to dedicate an ETA director, Lawan Malapet, to support Phu Bao’s office in Ho Chi Minh City. She has vast experience in event management and hospitality, and goes up every once or two months to train Phu Bao’s staff and meet with the management team. We are also actively promoting Phu Bao and Vietnam in our communications programmes,” shared Max, who is also personally involved in regular team training and education.
