TICA MICE UPDATE

It is my profound pleasure to welcome you to the 40th edition of TICA news. As we are now in the third quarter of the year, we have a clearer view of the elements that have shaped the industry as it is today. Most important factors that have contributed to the improvement of the MICE industry is without any doubt the growth in the tourism sector, and the ever-improving infrastructure of Thailand.

Though the growth in the Thailand’s MICE industry may not have been as fast as expected, but every sector is moving ahead in a positive direction. Firstly, our infrastructure has improved drastically. This quarter, we have officially inaugurated the new 23-kilometre elevated rail track, known as the Purple Line, on the MRT. This provides faster and more convenient travel in greater Bangkok and will alleviate the capital’s traffic condition to some extent.

Also, more hotels and event venues are opening up, and within a short time we will be hearing the official announcement of soft launches of various hotels, some of which have more than 1,000 rooms capacity, located in the heart of Bangkok. These venues will have some of the biggest ballrooms and convention centres that add to our already impressive list of inventories ready for the MICE world to pick from. What’s more is that a recent project has been announced by Thailand’s largest hotel company TCC to invest in excess of 10 billion baht in a MICE hotel by the riverside. This reflects the strong growth potential of this industry which has been consistently backed by Thailand’s tourism attractiveness and ever-growing arrival figures which is expected to rise more than 30 million this year.

Thailand is also in a position to increase its revenue from tourism by a massive 170 billion baht to a total of 2.58 trillion baht for the year 2016. Domestic MICE isn’t the only area that is growing strong. With more short haul sectors easily accessible, decision makers in countries like China, South Korea, Malaysia, India and even Japan, are planning their events in Thailand.

With TCEB and TAT progressively increasing their drive to promote and market the country in creative ways, I am very confident of the future of destination Thailand. With its vast potential now backed by an even stronger infrastructure, I am sure that we will soon be performing even better and will continue to grow from strength to strength as we move forward.