TCEB UNVEILS FIVE-YEAR PLAN PROPELLING THAILAND'S MICE INDUSTRY ON GLOBAL STAGE

15 February 2023: Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) is unveiling the five-year action plan (2023-2027) under the TCEB Go strategy and Thailand MICE to Meet You Year 2023 campaign in a bid to revitalise the economy and promote Thailand as a premier MICE destination on the global stage. The strategic approach leverages innovation and mutual development of sustainability in response to travel recovery.

Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, President, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB, said that “The MICE industry is poised for a positive recovery with the lifting of domestic and international travel restrictions worldwide. TCEB is executing a five-year action plan (2023 – 2027) to support and advance the MICE industry under its TCEB Go strategy. The goal is to serve as a partner in driving business success, elevate Thailand as a premier MICE destination through innovative approaches and foster mutual development of sustainability for the industry. As part of the plan, TCEB is also launching a campaign named Thailand MICE to Meet You Year 2023 to promote organisation of MICE events and, thus, distribute revenue to grow local economies across the country.”

The TCEB Go strategy, which is aimed at driving the growth of the MICE industry and establishing Thailand as a leading MICE destination globally, is executed through five strategic approaches:

T: Thailand as Global MICE Leader – TCEB is committed to positioning Thailand as a premier destination for world-class MICE events to generate income, boost the country's economy, form partnerships, and create business opportunities. The strategy is carried out by attracting international events to Thailand, such as the International Horticultural Expo 2026 in Udon Thani, and collaborating with government agencies to bid for events under the One Ministry, One Convention project. For instance, TCEB is working with the Ministry of Finance to bid for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group 2026. In addition, bids for the International Horticultural Exposition 2029 in Nakhon Ratchasima and the Expo 2028 Phuket Thailand are currently underway. As for marketing strategy, TCEB aims to tap into new markets, such as Israel and countries in the Middle East, such as the UAE, as well as Central Asian markets like Kazakhstan, while still maintaining its focus on core Asia-Pacific markets like CLMV, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, and China, followed by North American and European markets.

C: Create Destination Competitiveness Through Diverse Local Identity – TCEB collaborates with local communities and network to improve MICE capabilities in various regions by promoting their diverse local identities and memorable localised experiences for MICE groups. The initiative includes the development of MICE routes in each province and the development of the Product MICE Premium program that transforms local products and services into souvenirs, snacks, or gifts.  Furthermore, TCEB is involved in area marketing to identify the unique character of each city or the City's DNA and craft it into a compelling selling point. Other initiatives include promoting local festivals, such as the Phuket Vegetarian Festival and the Khon Kaen International Silk Festival, to become festivals of national and international status. It is part of TCEB's efforts to grow and diversify MICE destinations across the country.

E: Execute Innovative MICE Solution – TCEB is dedicated to enhancing the competitiveness of Thailand's MICE industry on a global scale by fostering digital skills and innovation in MICE services. To this end, TCEB is continuing the development of MICE Intelligence Center as a resource that can help enhance the efficiency of MICE entrepreneurs and stakeholders, while Thailand MICE One Stop Service, a digital platform, has been developed to help facilitate MICE logistics. Furthermore, TCEB is implementing the MICE Winnovation project for the third consecutive year which will be held on 31 March to support MICE entrepreneurs in applying innovation and technology to event planning and crafting problem solutions that meet the needs of organisers, participants and venue operators.

B: Build Agile and High Performance Organization – TCEB has set its sights on transforming itself into an agile and high-performing organisation through the implementation of the AAA strategy, which includes alignment of work processes, agile work practices, and agenda-based project orientation across departments. Additionally, TCEB emphasises the development of its personnel's competencies to foster their professional and mental development as well as ethic-based corporate culture. The mission is to be an organisation that can strike a balance between working environment and personnel development on a sustainable basis.

Go: Go for MICE Sustainability – TCEB is committed to transforming Thailand's MICE industry through sustainability and environmental responsibility. The initiative aims to support MICE destinations to obtain international sustainability certification from the Global Destination Sustainability Index and to support MICE organisers to obtain the ISO 20121 certification. Additionally, TCEB is working to advance sustainable event management practices, create a more efficient carbon footprint calculation for MICE events, support for carbon-neutral events, and support over 450 MICE organisers and entrepreneurs across the country to be Thailand Sustainable Event Management Standard (TSEMS) certified. With a recognition as a certifying organisation for professionals in five segments of the meeting and exhibition industry – incentive travel organisation, meeting organisation, exhibition organisation, event organisation and venue management – TCEB projects to evaluate and certify the standards of 500 MICE professionals over the next five years which will result in a sustainable development of MICE industry personnel.

Mr. Chiruit said that during the fiscal year 2023 (October 2022-September 2023), TCEB is focusing on elevating Thailand's position as a hub for global meetings and exhibitions by bidding for high-potential international events. This year, Thailand has been chosen as the host for major events, including the World Congress of Nephrology (30 March-2 April), the 29th International Montessori Congress (2-5 August), the AFECA Annual General Meeting 2023 in October, the 62nd ICCA Congress 2023 (12-15 November), and the World Allergy Congress (WAC) 2023 (1-3 December). At the same time, TCEB continues to support exhibitions in the 12 targeted S-Curve industries. For example, the VIV Asia 2023 & Meat Pro Asia 2023 (8-10 March) which belong to food processing and robotics industries. Another is ASEAN Sustainable Energy Week (ASEW) 2023 (30 August-1 September), belonging to future automotive industry. As for the incentive travel sector, over 80,000 travellers will be visiting Thailand during March and November. The figure consists of 50,000 MICE travellers from Asia-Pacific countries, while another 30,000 travellers are from China. 

Apart from TCEB Go strategy, TCEB is actively promoting the Thailand MICE to Meet You Year 2023 campaign to stimulate the economy through MICE events like conferences, training programs, professional meetings, exhibitions, corporate events, and festivals. The campaign will help generate revenue and create job opportunities in different regions across the country.

In addition, TCEB will be organising MICE DAY or National MICE Day on 26 April, highlighting the MICE industry's significance for the nation's development from the past to the present. This event will bring together experts in technology and sustainability to share valuable insights and experiences beneficial to the MICE industry. Over 400 representatives from the MICE sector are anticipated to attend the event this year.

In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023 (October to December 2022), Thailand welcomed 7.93 million MICE travellers, resulting in 28.53 billion baht in revenue. Of that figure, 183,618 were international MICE travellers, bringing in 12.03 billion baht in revenue, while domestic travellers numbered 7.75 million, generating 16.50 billion baht in revenue. 

Of all international MICE travellers, 97,015 attended exhibitions and generated the highest revenue of 6.88 billion baht, followed by corporate meeting sector which brought in 55,687 travellers, generating 3.24 billion baht in revenue. International conventions attracted 17,653 travellers, generating 1.06 billion baht in revenue. The incentive sector brought in 13,263 travellers and a revenue of 851 million baht.

Likewise, exhibition was the sector bringing in the highest number of domestic MICE travellers, 7.31 million, and generating 14.82 billion baht in revenue. This was followed by convention which attracted 304,826 domestic travellers and generated 1.11 billion baht in revenue. The corporate meeting sector welcomed 129,054 domestic travellers and generating 537 million baht in revenue, while the domestic incentive sector generated 39 million baht with a total of 8,076 travellers.

 “For the fiscal year 2023, Thailand targets to welcome a total of 18.55 million MICE travellers, generating 109.00 billion baht in revenue for the country. This includes 760,000 international MICE travellers, contributing 50 billion baht, and 17.79 million domestic MICE travellers, generating 59.00 billion baht in revenue. As for the 5-year action plan under the TCEB Go strategy during the fiscal year 2023-2027, it is estimated that over 160 million MICE travellers will visit Thailand, generating total revenue of over 945.00 billion baht.”, said Mr. Chiruit.