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Nattawut Amornvivat feels more marketing will help Mice businesses
Chadamas Chinmaneevong
``It is not important what people say to you when living, most important is if people remember it when they are not around anymore,'' says Mr Nattawut. |
Born into a well-known family, having acquired a solid educational background and hosting the popular TV talk show "Jor Jai," political parties keep knocking on the door of the charming Nattawut Amornvivat.
But Mr Nattawut, the only son of former national police chief Sawat Amornvivat, has never said yes. Looking at the current political chaos, Mr Nattawut thinks he could not bring the philosophy of his life, honesty, to bear in politics.
Mr Nattawut, a former top executive of mobile phone distributor Ericsson Thailand, took a 30% paycut to take the position of president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).
Established in 2003, the bureau aims to promote the meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (Mice) business. Such business generated 55 billion baht in revenue last year, forming a key segment of the 700 billion-baht in revenues estimated to be generated annually by tourism.
Mr Nattawut, 35, admits that he would not have made such a decision if he was younger than this. But he has grown up and realises that beyond everything is the public.
"If the public cannot survive, nobody will survive in the end. This is why our society needs contributions from successful people to survive together," said Mr Nattawut, the youngest president to date of the six-year-old TCEB.
"It is not important what people say to you when living, most important is if people remember it when they are not around anymore."
To follow his belief, he is eager to promote Thailand through the TCEB as a globally recognised and preferred Mice destination in Asia. Mice, a segment of the tourism industry, can attract people with high purchasing power, he said.
Joining the bureau last October, he has come up with many projects such as proactive marketing campaigns and launching convenient services including a Mice lane at airports, a newsletter, and satisfaction surveys.
In the past, the TCEB focused mainly on support money for Mice organisers but today it works closely with the private sector to bid for jobs.
With more than 10 years of experience in private companies, he has learned that marketing strategy is very important to compete with other rivals. Therefore, the TCEB has pushed for a 1.4-billion-baht budget for this fiscal year from the government, much more than the 600 million from the previous year. The government has not approved his proposal yet.
"The TCEB will focus on marketing strategy. Mere financial support (for Mice organisers) is no longer enough to strengthen Mice businesses. We must have gimmicks to attract new visitors," he said.
Mr Nattawut would like to see the TCEB as a key driver to upgrade Thailand's Mice business to a world-class destination.
The initial business plan will focus activities on Asia, and Mr Nattawut expressed confidence that the government will approve the budget request soon.
He is happy with his new job and works hard. He is married but has no children which leaves him time to devote to his job.
Mr Nattawut earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Chulalongkorn University and a master's degree of science in industrial engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States. In 1994, he started his first job as an engineer at Advanced Info Service (AIS) with salary of 20,000 baht per month.
In 1988, he earned a MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, one of the leading business schools in the US.
The TCEB projects that total Mice travellers this year will increase to 947,600 and generate 65 billion baht in revenue for the country.
In 2007, Mice businesses attracted 797,000 travellers which generated revenue of 55 billion baht, compared with 677,500 Mice travellers contributing 47 billion baht in the previous year.
Spending was estimated at 76,000 baht per day per person.
The TCEB is not worried about political uncertainties. Most travellers in the Mice market understand the political situation, particularly travellers who have visited Thailand before, said Mr Nattawut.
"It is not a big deal for us as long as there is no coup," he says.
He believes the global economic slowdown will benefit Mice businesses in Thailand because many Mice organisers will shift from expensive countries to ones that offer value for their money.
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