BANGKOK, 22 June 2007 — Thailand is targeting Saudi and other markets in the Middle East-Gulf region to consolidate its MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and events) industry. “We hope to get a good response from the booming economies of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East,” Vithaya Sintharapantorn, director- exhibition sector, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), told Arab News on the sidelines of a presentation here earlier this week. “In fact, a continual and strong growth in Thailand’s exhibition industry seems certain as the country readies itself to be the exhibition hub of Southeast Asia by 2011,” he said.
Thailand has been marking a 10-15 percent growth in its overall MICE industry in recent years “and the country looks to continue to enjoy success in these areas of business,” he said in his presentation given to a group of visiting Middle East, Far East and other Asian journalists.
From 2003 to the projected totals for 2007, there has been a threefold increase in both revenues from exhibitions and in the number of exhibition-related visitors who have come to Thailand.
“Thailand’s destination combined with its regional importance in terms of business, services, economy, cooperation, art, culture, travel and logistics will enable it to be considered as the premier exhibition hub in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region in 2011,” Sintharapantorn said.
As the forces of globalization intensify, the Asia-Pacific trade exhibition business is poised for a dynamic growth, said Nipat Dithipen, acting director general of TCEB, the government agency for the promotion and marketing of Thailand’s exhibition industry. “This provides Thailand with excellent opportunities to capitalize on its strategic geographical advantage at the heart of a global marketplace of nearly three billion consumers,” he added.
Thailand is a founding and active member of ASEAN, which consists of 10 nations with a combined population of about 567 million people. ASEAN has a gross domestic product (GDP) of $1.1 trillion, or about $1,880 per capital, with a total trade of about $1.4 trillion in 2006.
Thailand’s economy also has continued to grow each year. It’s National Economic and Social Development Board is forecasting the country’s economic growth of 4 to 4.5 percent this year. Also, the GDP in the first quarter this year grew by 4.3 percent compared to 4.2 percent during the same period last year.
Thailand is now home to six world-class exhibition centers offering a combined total of 260,000 square meter gross exhibition space — second only to China in the Asia-Pacific region. The venues include Impact Exhibition and Convention Center, Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center, the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Central World Convention & Exhibition Center, Royal Paragon Hall at Siam Paragon and Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall.
The number of exhibition-related visitors in Thailand grew from 76,000 in 2003 to a projected 250,000 in 2007. Revenues from the exhibition industry during this period are up three times as well, from $190 million to $534 million). Thailand now hosts a variety of major international events covering a wide range of industrial sectors including VIV Asia for the livestock and aquaculture industry, Asia Fruit Logistica, ProPak Asia for processing and packaging, International Fashion Fair and Automechanika.
The government continues to make investments to promote the MICE industry. They have provided further improvements in the state-of-the-art mass transportation system throughout Bangkok. The recent opening of Bangkok’s modern Suvarnabhumi airport is one more new facility, Patrapee, Chinachoti, president of Trade Exhibition Association, a private association of professionals involved in trade exhibitions, said.
