TCEB JOINS HANDS WITH PATTAYA AND ICCA TO LAUNCH ‘HYBRID MEETINGS’ AND ORGANISE THE 1ST DOMESTIC MICE MART

Pattaya, 4 July 2014 - Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB recently announced a strategic plan to uplift Pattaya MICE City to an international level by organising the 1st Domestic MICE Mart in Pattaya, a domestic MICE business promotion platform for local operators and corporate buyers, in conjunction with the introduction of the ICCA’s Hybrid Meetings, which will help drive Pattaya as a world class MICE destination of the East.  

Mr Nopparat Maythaveekulchai, president of Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) disclosed that, “Pattaya is Thailand’s first MICE City that TCEB works proactively to promote and strengthen the domestic MICE industry. The bureau has identified and developed the ‘Pattaya MICE Model’ to be used as a fundamental guideline and strategic framework for other MICE Cities including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Khon Khan,”

The strategic directions to further drive the success of Pattaya MICE industry are under three key strategies including  1) WIN: To differentiate Pattaya MICE City underlining its unique selling points such as festive seaside city. Pattaya is a MICE City which is only 90 minutes away from Bangkok and can be conveniently accessed from the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Recently, Pattaya has welcome major national and international MICE events including ADFEST 2014, the IPSC General Assembly and International Range Officer Seminar and the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference 2014; 2) PROMOTE: To drive Pattaya MICE City to an international level by teaming up in industry’s key trade shows and roadshows. In addition, TCEB is developing DMICE@Pattaya application, and the MICE City Break: Pattaya to create awareness on the potential and readiness of Pattaya as an international MICE destination of the East;     3) DEVELOP: To further improve the MICE capabilities in Pattaya MICE City especially among the young generations and students under the MICE 101 Curriculum. Currently, Kasetsart University Sriracha Campus and  Burapha University were the high educational institutes joining with TCEB in the instruction of aforementioned programme.  Further, TCEB supports vocational college network in the development of “MICE 101 Curriculum” for vocational students.

In promoting MICE buesinesses in Pattaya, Mr Nopparat added that TCEB will implement two key action plans which include the expansion of MICE collaboration in Pattaya. By focusing on the collaborative network among MICE operators and education institutes within the eastern part of Thailand, the bureau recently joined hands with hotel entrepreneurs from northern Pattaya in holding the ‘Northern Pattaya. More Than You Think.’ to enhance the image of Pattaya as the destination of meetings and incentives. In addition, TCEB is  promoting the city as the centre of MICE 101 Curriculum of the East in order to prepare MICE resources, maximise competitiveness and disseminate MICE knowledge to nearby provinces, such as Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat. 

In term of the marketing promotion, TCEB aims to reach the key target audiences and high potential buyers through the “1st Domestic MICE Mart” which was held at Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall (PEACH) in Pattaya City. As a business platform for MICE entrepreneurs in Pattaya to meet more than 200 targeted buyers, and visitors from public and private, as well as information exchange through seminars on key topics such as advantages of joining trade shows, and online marketing, the event is expected to help attract additional 7,000 – 9,000 MICE travellers and generate THB 28.40 million revenue from meetings and incentives within Pattaya.

In collaboration with the 1st Domestic MICE Mart, TCEB also partnered with the International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA) to organise the ICCA Thailand Workshop 2014 “Mind Sharing for Sharing Success for Meeting Industry” together with the ‘Hybrid Meetings’ live broadcast of the special seminar on “What do associations really think about the risks and rewards of outsourcing their events?” from from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The partnership reflected the readiness of infrastructure system, telecommunication and communication systems of Pattaya City which could efficiently serve international conferences.

In 2013, Pattaya welcomed 2,107,000 MICE travellers who had generated THB 1,808.10 million revenue in to the city. This year, TCEB expects the overall 4,502,406 D-MICE travellers, 2 per cent increase from last year visitor target, or 13,291 million Baht in D-MICE revenue, 4 per cent increase from last year revenue target. Moreover, TCEB will continue to develop the D-MICE market while leverage Thailand’s image as an  Asia’s high quality MICE market.

###

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   

Mr Pishnu Plaikaew                   Tel:  +66 2 694 6000                  Email: pishnu_p@tceb.or.th   

Ms Kanokwan Kadeedaeng        Tel: + 662 694 6006                   Email: kanokwan_k@tceb.or.th   

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