TCEB UNVEILS 2020 STRATEGY, MAKING HEADWAY TO TURN THAILAND INTO GLOBAL EXHIBITION MECCA

TCEB is delighted as the UFI calls global members for meeting in Thailand and confident that Thailand will step forward as the world’s leader in exhibitions. Highlighting the “Exhibition Redefined; 360^๐Exhibition Success” marketing direction, TCEB firmly believes the revenue target will be directly achieved through exhibitions, which will worth 21 billion baht in 2020. 

          Mr. ChiruitIsarangkun Na Ayuthaya, President, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB, disclosed that the expedition of Thailand’s international exhibition industry in 2020 under the “Exhibition Redefined; 360^๐Exhibition Success”, which was formulated by TCEB, and the hosting of The 86^th UFI Global Congress in Bangkok are two core elements that contribute to the advancement of Thailand’s international exhibition industry in global arena.

“According to the report of Asia’s exhibition industry in 2018 conducted by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry or UFI, the revenue from exhibitions of Thailand was ranked the top of ASEAN or equal to 232.71 million dollars in value from 104 events. Thailand is, therefore, the heart of the international exhibition industry of ASEAN, and we are looking forward to becoming the leader of Asia in the near future,”  

The “Exhibition Redefined; 360^๐Exhibition Success” divides the strategy into five dimensions, which are 1) Bidding for new events intoThailand with concentration in 12 targeted S-curve industries, such as aviation and logistics, digital, medical and wellness tourism, future automobile, etc.; 2) Preparation towards the hosting of international aviation exhibition with concentration in bidding for MICE events involving logistics and aviation into Thailand; 3) Preparation of Thai entrepreneurs in terms of exhibition standards in collaboration with the Thai Exhibition Association (TEA); 4) Integration of co-operation between public and private agencies and establishment of global networks, such as the filtering of target groups through activities in the UFI Asia Pacific Conference Site Trip andASEAN Association Meeting; 5) Provision of complete support for exhibitions to enable Thai events to meet international standards. Boost the number of visitors, particularly those from China, Japan and Taiwan, as well as the ASEAN+6 and CLMV countries.   

According to the statistics of Thailand’s international exhibition industry in the Fiscal Year 2019, exhibition accounts for 20 percent of MICE industry. The number of MICE travellers in international exhibition segment entering into Thailand totalled 264,005 or a 13.20% increase, which generated 20,292 million baht of revenue, or a 5.93% increase into Thai economy. In 2020, it is expected that the number of MICE travellers in international exhibition segment will reach 277,000, which can generate 21,100 million baht of revenue.    

TCEB President further said that the hosting of The 86^th UFI Global Congress in Thailand during 6-9 November in Bangkok is considered the most groundbreaking and most significant meeting of UFI, which gathers high executives from international exhibition industry to meet, exchange knowledge and experience, build network, as well as acknowledge the direction and new trends of international exhibition industry. In hosting the 86^th UFI Global Congress, TCEB has received seamless collaborations from Thai Exhibition Association (TEA), Thailand Incentive and Convention Association (TICA), Thai Hotels Association and the Bangkok River Partners.

Additionally, The 86^th UFI Global Congress also features the Thai Town – an exclusive zone designed to demonstrate the potential of Thailand’s international exhibition industry and MICE City. Further, a business seminar on the “Focus on Thailand” as the world’s emerging destination for exhibitions will be included as the arena that promotes the confidence in Thailand in different dimensions among international organisers to attract exhibitions into Thailand. Besides, business negotiation will be held in the form of speed dating among Thai and foreign entrepreneurs. More than 20 entrepreneurs from Thailand joined the session, which has currently accounted for 400 match-makings. By hosting this UFI Global Congress in Bangkok, it expects that the congress will accumulate around 20 new show leads to Thailand, which is generating approximately 600 million bath.

Mr. Kai Hattendorf,UFI Managing Director and CEO said that according to the Trade Fair Industry in Asia 2018 Report, it states that Thailand is the largest trade fair market by wide margin in Southeast Asia and recorded a robust growth in terms of the number of the trade fairs and net spaces sold annually, as well as being well position for continued growth. Thailand has a world-class portfolio of venues, excellent supporting infrastructure, a dynamic group of eventorganisers and robust and sustained support from the government.  This year, Thailand has proved itself as the most profitable market in ASEAN with the success of the 86^th UFI Global Congress in Bangkok. The highly engaging business-matching session with a good number of participants at the congress this year has proven Thailand has become the destination of trust and home to regional trade shows. Besides, the success of the UFI Global Congress is a testament to Thailand’s exhibition industry’s active private and public cooperation, which contributes to the Thailand 4.0 initiatives. 

“The hosting of The 86^th UFI Global Congress have breaking record of the host of the UFI Global Congress with the highest number of delegates of over 550 from 50 countries across the globe which enhances Thailand’s image and the confidence of doing business in Thailand, declaring the readiness of Bangkok and Thailand as the host country of global events and emphasizing the position of Thailand as the heart of international exhibitions in ASEAN,” Kai said.

MrTalun Theng, President of Thai Exhibition Association (TEA), mentioned that “Representing the private sector, as our Association directly plays a major role in developing and creating new business opportunities for the members, we focus on establishing collaborations and pooling specialised companies. This is because the hosting of each exhibition must depend on professionals from different segments, be it organiser, exhibition centre, transportation, contractors, and many more. The hosting of The 86^th UFI Global Congress 2019 is considered a wonderful opportunity for Thai exhibition industry to demonstrate the potential, readiness and the position as the heart of major exhibitions of ASEAN. Through the congress, international organisers will get to experience the quality of infrastructure, individually conduct business negotiation with professional Thai entrepreneurs and witness the readiness of Thai MICE professionals. Also, this is indeed a golden opportunity for our members and global members of UFI to seek new partners. There will be 200 business-matching from executives who already confirmed their attendance to the meeting. Part of budget contributed by TCEB’s policy to collaboratewith the public and private sector in the promotion of international exhibitions.”

Mr. Pijaya Nagavajra, Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, disclosed that as a way to integrate collaborations between public and private agencies in line with the government’s policy, Bangkok, as the host city is pleased to be a part to host The 86^th UFI Global Congress 2019 and the welcome reception for delegates. The event reflects the co-operation to support, as well as the potential of Bangkok as Thailand’s major MICE City. Bangkok is also prompted to bolster the implementation of international marketing of Thailand to synchronise with the national strategy to make Thailand the ideal destination for business travel by expediting the growth of Thailand as the heart of convention and exhibition of the world, alongside the development plan of Bangkok that aspires to enable Bangkok to soar as ASEAN’s top convention and exhibition city. Therefore, the hosting of this congress will benefit the promotion and development of tourism and MICE for Bangkok in a sustainable way, as well as help to promote Bangkok in a broader scalethrough the collaboration between Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and TCEB.

Moreover, Bangkok is committed to facilitate the holding of The 86^th UFI Global Congress through a wide range of supports, such as security system and public relations, etc. regarding extend and promote the image of Bangkok as the Exhibition City of ASEAN.

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