Inbound business events to Thailand are heading into 2027 with order books filling, as incentive demand from India rebuilds following the restoration of visa-free entry, and Chinese corporate groups return to book large programmes.
Prachoom Tantiprasertsuk, president of the Thailand Incentive and Convention Association, noted that leading DMCs are already turning work away.
“I spoke with key players in our association, the big DMCs. Every one of them is fully booked into next year, and requests keep coming,” she said.
The Indian rebound follows a policy reversal. On July 14, the Thai Cabinet restored 30-day visa-free entry for Indian visitors, undoing a May 19 decision that had moved India back to visa-on-arrival status and dented arrivals from Thailand’s third-largest source market, behind China and Malaysia.
Vathanachai Chatrirath, vice president of Association of Thai Travel Agents and managing director of tour operator JIE Center, told TTGmice that the reinstatement quickly reopened postponed Indian corporate business.
Following a two-city sales roadshow in Mumbai and Bengaluru in August – which connected around 80 Thai seller companies with 200 buyers per city – Vathanachai expects the initiative to generate at least 6 billion baht (US$182.3 million).
“Every incentive group is spending more than before,” Vathanachai stated. “They want good accommodation and food for their dealers, and they are spending more on the event itself, especially award functions, which have become very popular in India.”
JIE Center, which services clients primarily from India alongside the Middle East, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, has two to three incentive groups booked every month through March 2027.
Vathanachai added that the visa reset will sustain momentum: “Incentives will be strong through 4Q2026 and 1Q2027 because the visa is free again. Many Indian corporates travelling abroad for the first time are looking to Thailand due to visa-free entry and the ease of connectivity.”
He also noted that Indian incentive groups remain heavily concentrated in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, and Krabi, though Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai could capture market share once direct flights eliminate the need for a domestic connection in Bangkok.
Boontawee Jantasuwan, founder and CEO of Events Travel Asia Group, highlighted a broader structural shift: “Thailand’s inbound MICE market has moved beyond recovery into a growth-and-value phase. It is driven by government-led bids and incentives, large incentive groups and mega-conferences, improved facilitation, and a stronger emphasis on sustainability and experiential programmes.”
Large-scale incentive business is heavily concentrated from 1Q2027, as October 2026 is anchored by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Annual Meetings at Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
“Thailand has already won two major events for 2027, one in January and one in June, showing that the destination continues to attract large-scale business,” Boontawee added.
Meanwhile, recovery in the Chinese market remains uneven. While incentive volumes have not fully returned to historic levels, Prachoom confirmed that major corporate buyers are back: “The big corporations are returning in large numbers, the direct-sales companies in particular. It is the giants that are coming back, not so much the medium and small groups.”
