BANGKOK, 29 June 2007 — Thailand takes pride in having a dozen state-of-the-art exhibition venues across the country, especially in Bangkok and Pattaya. In fact, it is the growing number of such venues that has contributed significantly to the exponential growth of the country’s MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) industry in the last decade. All the venues are packed with events related to the MICE industry throughout the year.
IMPACT Exhibition & Convention Center is one of Asia’s biggest and most modern venues with a floor space of over 140,000 sq m.
“However, size is not everything. Yes, we do have the necessary hardware in place but it is the software, our people, that differentiates us from others in Thailand,” IMPACT General Manager Loy Joon How told a visiting group of Asian journalists at the venue.
“At IMPACT, we design our business around our customers’ needs. Our ‘Partnership for Success’ vision is based on delivering high value to our partners and customers though mutual trust, cooperation, strategic partnerships, customized and turnkey solutions. We participate actively in delivering total solutions to our customers by offering an array of professional and valued-added services ranging from floor space consultations, event management and operation, F&B catering, travel and ticketing, logistic, sales and marketing and even joint venture partnerships,” its managing director Paul Kanjanapas said. On joint venture partnerships, he added, it has an inhouse professional event organizing arm that is open to risk sharing partnerships with both foreign and local organizers, and they jointly organize international events at the venue.
Although located in the suburbs of Bangkok, it hosted over 300 events — big and small — and welcomed over 15 million visitors through its doors in 2006.
To cater to the growing numbers of visitors to the venue, it recently launched a new bus transportation shuttle service between Bangkok city and IMPACT called the “Impact Link.”
“Impact Link is part of our ongoing commitments to increase our range of transportation solutions to meet increasing demands. This new service will complement our array of existing transportation services such as limousines, on-call taxis, on call minibuses, public buses, inter-fairground shuttle buses, etc,” its director of sales Acharawan Suparngkarat said.
Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC) is another major facility built to the highest engineering standards.
Since its opening in 1997, this attractively designed facility has played host to numerous international events, exhibitors and visitors, gaining acclaim and awards. The 15th international processing, filling, packaging technology and conference for the Asian region has its latest show on June 16. More than two dozen events are lined up here until the yearend.
The Central World Bangkok Convention Centre is yet another world- class standard hotel convention center and meeting room located in the central business district of Bangkok that can accommodate 6,000 delegates in a single pillar-less environment.
Its main hall located on top of the Central World parking structure accommodates up to 8,000 delegates, said Nisara Kumphong, its PR manager.
Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC), named after the queen of Thailand, opened in 1991. It celebrates the uniqueness of Thai architecture and internally displays a number of visually stunning pieces of traditional Thai art. The center has been the recipient of industry performance awards and achieving international recognition for Thailand as a meetings destination. Located in the heart of Bangkok, it was recently linked by a dedicated subway station and connected to the Sky Train system. It is located in the heart of Bangkok’s vibrant business district situated beside Benjakiti Park and lake, and surrounded by luxurious five-star hotels providing 9,000 rooms and adjacent to a row of embassies.
Pattaya, one of Asia’s premier beach destinations and a 90-minute drive from Bangkok, is gaining international recognition as a venue for corporate meetings and conventions. The resort has been the permanent home since 2000 for AdFest, the annual conference of the world’s advertising talent, and has played host to the World Youth and Student Travel Conference.
The opening of the Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall (PEACH) within the grounds of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, a world-class convention hotel, has helped generate interest in Pattaya as an exciting conference city, said Panga Vathanakul, managing director of Royal Cliff Beach Resort. “A world-class MICE venue and a five-star resort comprising four hotels with 1,100 rooms have made PEACH, a popular venue,” she said.
Centara Hotels & Resorts is opening its new Central World Bangkok Convention Center in July. “This is one of the largest world-class convention sites,” Kumphong said.
In fact, over the years, the Thai Hotels Association coordinates the accommodation needs of large international MICE events, said Chanin Donavanik, president of the Thai Hotels Association.
The surge of the MICE industry over the past years has ensured the positive growth of businesses for Thai travel agents, said Apichart Sankary, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents.