TCEB Unveils Development Strategies and Action Plans for 2017

Bangkok, 22 December 2016 - TCEB today announced its 2017 MICE Development Plan, reflecting the Government's vision to drive the country towards stability, prosperity and sustainability. Aimed at positioning the MICE industry as a key sector driving economic growth by sustainably dispersing revenue to local communities, the bureau reiterated that the latest MICE industry strategic plan is also in line with Thailand's 20-year National MICE Strategy, which prioritises three key directions including to generate revenue, to drive the country with innovation, and to drive mutual growth for all sectors.

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB disclosed that the MICE Development Plan 2017 has been developed based on five key studies on Thailand's 20-year National Strategy and the Twelfth National Economic and Social Development Plan, including the Thailand 4.0 and Pracha Rath Policy, the late King Bhumibol's holistic guidelines – from the Sufficient Economy Philosophy to Sustainable Development Goals – and global MICE industry trends. The plan emphasises the integration of public and private partnerships at the national and international level to help create new MICE events, while attracting high quality MICE events to be held in Thailand.

Strategy 1: 'To generate revenue' towards prosperity by targeting international MICE markets in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, respectively; promoting extended length of stay in Thailand and distributing income to other regions; supporting the standardisation and sustainable development of MICE venues across the country by leveraging Thailand's leadership position as a premiere destination for mega-sized MICE events through marketing campaigns including Meet Double Cities, Meet Sustainably, Convene in Paradise and ASEAN Rising Trade Show (ART) and' reinforcing Thailand's image as a preferred country or area destination through strategic content marketing showcasing MICE venues, highlighted MICE events, and unrivalled products and services under the Thailand CONNECT brand.

The focus industries for Thailand's MICE sector to 'win and promote' comprises of;

Group 1 – the existing major industries supported by the Government including 1) food and agriculture; 2) automotive; 3) health and wellness; 4) energy; and 5) infrastructure.

Group 2 – the emerging future industries that the Government aims to promote in which Thailand has significant potential to succeed including 1) food, agriculture and biotechnology; 2) healthcare, wellness and medical; 3) robotics; 4) digital; and 5) creative industries.

By mapping the strategy with the MICE Economic Model for Thailand 4.0, TCEB strives to work closely with public and private sector organisations by taking the leadership role in the development of the country's first MICE Activity Calendar, identifying supporting criteria for MICE events in targeted industries defined

by the Thailand 4.0 policy. Additionally, the bureau will also forge partnerships with strategic allies as a role model to drive the implementation of winning and promoting MICE events in each of the respective industries.

Strategy 2: 'To drive the country with innovation' towards stability. TCEB outlined an action plan to help elevate MICE travellers' experiences through innovative Digital MICE Marketing. Encompassing the 'Thailand SMART MICE' initiative, the use of digital and social media platforms as a MICE market development and communications tool allows target audiences to gain access to the required information to help plan business events in Thailand effectively, as well as MICE activity management and engaging technologies such as voting systems, virtual reality, or beacon technology that can help support exhibitions through participant listing, authentication, and showcasing relevant product information in the booth, in addition to registration via mobile applications and wearables.

Strategy 3: 'To drive growth for the mutual benefit of all parts of society', towards sustainability. By emphasising the Domestic MICE industry through the development of domestic destinations and venues, the creation of new events, and the upgrade of existing events, the promotion of products and services with a Thai identity, and by building the capabilities of Thai MICE professionals, this initiative aims to raise domestic MICE opportunities for local communities across Thailand. Highlights of the Domestic MICE promotion plans also include the development of MICE Cities, the MICE and Public Sector Cooperation under the 'Meet in Thailand' Domestic MICE brand. Furthermore, the promotion of domestic MICE activities at the Royal Initiative Projects can also help provide an opportunity for domestic MICE travellers to gain first-hand experience and to learn more about the philosophy of Sufficient Economy in many areas throughout the country, while the Meet in the Village online promotion campaign will serve as a mechanism to generate and drive MICE revenue for local communities.

TCEB also underscored its MICE Capabilities plans for 2017, which highlights key initiatives such as the development of Thai MICE professionals through the MICE Academy, the development of the Event 101 Curriculum, the promotion of the Academic Exchange Programme with network institutes in Australia and the US, and the organisation of the MICE Academy & Career Day, which provides a platform for MICE education and professional development. MICE professional certificate programmes, including the CEM – Certified Exhibition Management, and the CMP – Certified Meeting Professional programmes help uplift Thai MICE professional capabilities to meet international standards. The bureau also emphasises enhanced connections with the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) for future collaboration.

To drive MICE Sustainability in the national and international arenas, TCEB highlighted the 'Farm to Functions' initiative, connecting Thai organic farmers with Thai MICE operators. Moving forward, Thailand will further drive the Thailand MICE Venue Standard (TMVS) to be recognised at a regional level as a part of the ASEAN MICE Venue Standard (AMVS), while working closely with MICE operators to develop the Food

Waste Prevention standard in addition to encouraging Thai MICE operators to adopt the ISOs and TMVS, as well as to provide certificates for certified operators on MICE Standards Day.

For 2017, TCEB has expanded its mission in three additional directions, which include 1) To promote TCEB's role as a facilitator fostering partnerships among government, public and private sector organisations, to enhance competitiveness and reduce obstacles and challenges facing the industry such as policy recommendations for legislation development through the Subcommittee for MICE and Public Sector Cooperation and the MICE Industry Strategic Committee; 2) the development of the TCEB SMART BUREAU to help promote environmental approaches and reduce carbon footprints by adopting e-meetings and e-documents (paperless) in addition to implementation of the ISO 22301 Business Continuity Standard; and 3) To promote good governance by targeting the Top 20 positions in the Integrity and Transparency Assessment (ITA) among all government agencies in Thailand.

By adapting to global MICE industry trends through the bureau's strategy, action plans and campaigns in 2017, TCEB foresees the creative use of technology and digital disruption in the planning and development of MICE activities to enhance experiences among MICE travellers. In terms of corporate meetings and incentive travels, there will a rise of business travels that also include leisure time – incorporating the Bleisure Travels & Sustainable Practice. For conventions, events will become bigger, and there will be more regional activities and higher frequency. Lastly, international exhibitions will take on an integrated approach combining conferences, exhibitions and trade shows in one major activity, and the topics will be in line with economic and industry growth.

In this fiscal year 2017, highlighted MICE activities in Thailand will comprise those in two categories including 1) major MICE events supported by TCEB; and 2) TCEB's own events.

Major MICE events supported by TCEB:

• Nan-shan Life Insurance with an expected 2,000 delegates

     o 9-26 February 2017; Bangkok-Hua Hin and Bangkok-Chiang Mai

     o 4-9 March 2017; Bangkok and one-day trip to Ayutthaya

• Manulife MDRT PEAK Convention 2017 / 3-7 March 2017 in Pattaya; with an expected 2,000 delegates
• Organo Unite Asia Convention / 22-26 March 2017 in Bangkok; with an expected 2,000 delegates
• Herbalife Southeast Extravaganza /18-21 May 2017 in Bangkok; with an expected 10,000 delegates
• Infinitus Overseas Training / May 2017; with an expected 10,000 delegates
• Asia Pacific Society of Respirology 2016 / 12-15 November 2016 in Bangkok; with an expected 2,000 delegates
• The 10th International Petroleum Technology Conference / 14-16 November 2016 in Bangkok; with an expected 4,500 delegates
• Affiliate World Asia 2016 / 5-6 December 2016 in Bangkok; with an expected 1,500 delegates
• The 29th Congress of International Society of Sugar Cane Technologist / 5-8 December 2016 in Chiang Mai; with an expected 2,000 delegates
• VIV ASIA 2017 / 15-17 March 2017 – the largest international platform for Southeast Asia's booming animal protein production and processing industry
• 2017 PCMA Global Professional Conference – Asia Pacific / 28-31 August 2017 in Bangkok, an intimate event with 35 senior delegates
• The UIA's Associations Roundtable Asia-Pacific 2017 / 21 – 22 September 2017 in Chiang Mai; with an expected 100 delegates
• IT&CM Asia & CTW Asia Pacific 2017 / 26-28 September 2017 in Bangkok; with an expected 2,500 delegates – Asia's leading trade show for the MICE industry, which Thailand will host for the 16th consecutive year
• SIGGRAPH Asia 2017 / 27-30 November 2017 in Bangkok – a conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques in Asia

TCEB's own events:

• Thailand Incentives & Meeting Exchange 2017 (TIME 2017) India Edition – an initiative offers a new platform for knowledge sharing among MICE operators to support the MI business
• Thailand International Exhibitions & Events Forum 2017 (TIEEF 2017) / January 2017
• MICE Standard Day 2017 – an activity to provide certificates for certified MICE operators
• MICE Academy and MICE Career Day 2017 – an activity to help strengthen academic networks and to provide employment opportunities for MICE professionals
• ASEAN Conference on MICE 2017 – a technical conference aims at leveraging knowledge and policy exchange
• THAILAND DOMESTIC MICE MART 2017 – a sales promotion platform for MICE operators and buyers of Domestic MICE products and services, in Phuket, Pattaya and Khon Kaen MICE Cities

Together with the outlined strategy and effective plans, TCEB is confident that Thailand will be able to achieve its overall targets of 155 billion baht revenue, welcoming a total of 27.1 million MICE travellers in 2017. Of this revenue, 101 billion baht will be generated from international markets, which will include 1.1 million international MICE visitors to Thailand, while 54 billion baht will be generated from the domestic market, with the total number of domestic MICE travellers reaching 26 million.

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For further information, please contact: Corporate Communications Division,

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization)

Ms Arisara Thanuplang    Tel: +66 2 694 6095    Email: arisara_t@tceb.or.th

Ms Titiwanlaya Thaimongkolrat Tel: + 662 694 6103    Email: titiwanlaya_t@tceb.or.th

Ms Kwanchanok Otton Tel: + 662 694 6096 Email: kwanchanok_o@tceb.or.th

Ms Paniyada Mulalin    Tel: + 662 694 6091    Email: paniyada_m@tceb.or.th