MESSAGE FROM

Restart, Respond, and Reassure

Dear TICA members,

Despite several false starts, and the untimely surge of COVID cases in the last few months, the Thai government is adamant on the country’s impending reopening. Therefore, the pertinent question to ask is, are we in the MICE industry ready?

During the pandemic, hotels have had to let go of many of their staff, supply chains have seen disruptions, and every facet of the hospitality industry’s infrastructure has been affected. While we’re quite certain that the floodgates aren’t opening yet for business events, we should make sure we are ready so that good opportunities do not pass us by.

This can only be achieved by sharing, cooperating, and collaborating to jointly put Thailand ahead of everything else. Domestic MICE should, therefore, be treated with the utmost importance, with all marketing and promotional measures implemented. Leading the charge in boosting domestic MICE is TCEB, who have helped to upgrade and develop five new MICE destinations in strategic locations throughout the country: Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, Phitsanulok, Surat Thani and Songkhla. Each of these destinations have unique selling points to offer the industry, with plenty of potential for growth.

TCEB have also committed to strengthening the MICE industry’s foundations with various schemes to support Thailand’s domestic meetings and incentives, a three-pronged strategy to drive the growth of MICE next year, and an incubation programme to prepare exhibition organisers for future events. Furthermore, in anticipation of the country’s reopening, they have also invested in advancing lesser-known Thai cities as tourism destinations, recently announcing the results of their ‘10 Creative MICE Routes in 10 MICE Cities’ contest. This saw 10 out of 95 entrants awarded online marketing packages, through TCEB’s MICE Connect platform, worth over THB 2 million.

To that end, in this edition of TICA’s MICE update, we are showcasing Krabi, whose growing popularity in recent years, due to its natural beauty, exceptional cuisine, and investment in MICE infrastructure, has made it an ideal destination for the full range of MICE events.

Not to be forgotten when encouraging the Thai MICE industry’s recovery is ASEAN’s untapped potential in driving business events and investors from the region to Thailand, as well as new avenues of economic cooperation. One of the ways that this cooperation can be encouraged is the adaptation of MICE initiatives to help us successfully pivot in a post-pandemic world. For example, the Web in Travel (WiT) Experience Singapore 2021 event, which was the leading travel technology conference in Asia Pacific, was an example of the kind of hybrid event that the MICE industry should adopt, in order to forge forward with its meetings and conventions.

Whether we like it or not, the new dawn is slowly and surely rising, and our members must arm ourselves with the necessary tools, manpower, and training to restart our engines, respond, and reassure the country that we will eventually propel the MICE industry forward.



Sumate Sudasna
President,
Thailand Incentive and Convention Association