TICA MICE UPDATE

MICE INITIATIVES

TMVS pushes MICE standards

More than 1,200 exhibition rooms and spaces are scheduled to be certified under the Thailand MICE Venue Standards (TMVS) within the next five years, the largest number in ASEAN.

The objective is part of the five-year venue development scheme of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), running through 2023, with the intention of promoting Thailand as the region's international hub for Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events.

TCEB president Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya said TMVS aims to leverage the capabilities of Thailand’s MICE industry to grow on par with international competitors, improving the sector’s competiveness, which is a government policy as MICE generates a large sum of income for the country.

“Standardisation is a key to build trustworthiness, and is a tool to measure the country’s readiness. It reflects the professionalism of Thailand’s MICE venue operators in regards to attracting events, and helps domestic and international organisers choose industry-standard venues,” Mr. Chiruit said at a press conference on Monday.

Launched in 2014, Thailand is the first in ASEAN to initiate MICE venue standard certification, and push forward ASEAN MICE Venue Standards or AMVS. The number of locations that have certified using TMVS totals 371 venues, consisting of 949 rooms and spaces nationwide.

The venues can be divided into categories – 344 venues have meeting rooms, totaling 910 rooms; there are 11 exhibition venues, totaling 23 halls; and 16 special event venues totaling 16 spaces.

Some Thai entrepreneurs successfully received the AMVS certification in Meeting Room Category, accounting for 33 venues nationwide. To achieve the goal to make available for about 600 venues or equivalents to 1,200 rooms by 2023, a number of specialists in MICE venue have been developed through Venue Management Course.

“Public relations and marketing promotion were provided for certified entrepreneurs who receive the TMVS mark to enhance their reputation via offline and online platforms,” he said.

The Thailand Sustainable Event Management Standards will be launched next year to respond to the world’s trend towards business operations with social and environmental concerns.

He said TCEB is working to design the standard and he expects the number of MICE venues to get this certification will total 15 for the first time in Thailand. TCEB projects some 1.32 million foreigners will travel to Thailand for MICE events this fiscal year (Oct 1, 2018 to Sept 30, 2019), generating revenue of 101 billion Baht.

Most of these MICE travellers are expected to come from the US and China. Mr. Chiruit said the bureau plans to attract new groups to join MICE events in Thailand this year by supporting events such as the SITE 2029 Global Conference during Jan 11-14 at Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok, featuring some 400 participants.