Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has outlined a three-pronged strategy for 2022, which includes developing more cities and organisations for international business events, upgrading skills and standards, and actively pursuing prominent hosting opportunities.
According to Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, president of Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), one of the first initiatives will be to reinforce the country’s business events industry.
This means upgrading more cities to become business events-ready, create new events, and help event organisers meet international standards to achieve greater economic impact. TCEB will also work with partners from all sectors through projects such as EMTEX, which has enabled more than 10 public- and private-sector organisations to jointly elevate local trade fair standards.
To create new events, TCEB has introduced the concept of “Festival Economy” to cities in various regions. The idea is to create a signature international festival – or “1 City: 1 License Event” – that can translate a region’s unique advantages into an economic driver. A “Festival Economy” will unite the interests of local stakeholders such as service providers and suppliers, venue owners, and organisers towards a new common, self-sustaining goal with tangible economic benefits.
The second initiative would see TCEB partnering with professional associations such as Thailand Incentive and Convention Association, and International Congress and Convention Association to prepare the workforce and venues for the return of international business events.
Lastly, the third initiative is to attract as many international events as possible. Thailand is hosting The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit 2022, and TCEB aims to attract more of such high-profile events in the following years.
Meanwhile, deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), Wirot Nararak, added: “NESDC has a policy to promote MICE aimed at driving the economy, generating income in each region and making Thailand a destination of high-quality travel. In this regard, we have developed strategies to spur our regional economies and MICE cities.
“Each region has been positioned for particular economic (growth) based on its potential and foundation, such as creative economy for the north, bio-farming for the north-east, high-quality global tourism for the south, including the development of smart cities and special economic zones along the border areas.”
