Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has ordered the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) to devise more proactive strategies to improve the competitiveness of the country's Mice industry.
Mr Somkid said the Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) segment will continue to expand after next year's general election.
"A new government should bring optimism and raise foreign investor confidence," he told an audience at yesterday's Thailand Mice Forum 2018: Redefining Our Industry.
Mr Somkid said Mice is an important industry for driving new-wave economic growth. As such, the TCEB should play a greater role in attracting international business events to the country.
The deputy PM said Singapore has managed its Mice business successfully by encouraging and hosting Mice events year-round.
Thailand has many opportunities for Mice because the country has become a high-tech production-based economy, thanks to various megaprojects such as the Eastern Economic Corridor, Mr Somkid said.
Foreign investors, particularly those from the US and Europe, are heading to Southeast Asian countries, creating further opportunities for Mice.
"The TCEB should start working with other domestic and overseas organisations to prepare more strategic plans, as well as events and activities, to keep up with the bright future," Mr Somkid said.
Thailand has strong potential because of solid economic growth of 4.8% in the first half this year, he said, and the government has high hopes for an even stronger economy next year.
In order to reinforce Mice, the TCEB yesterday unveiled its 2019 strategy, focusing on economic development, innovation and income distribution.
Atchaka Sibunruang, chairman of the board of directors at the TCEB, said the bureau has been hosting 20 Mice events a year and has supported more than 5,000 domestic and international events in Thailand and overseas since the TCEB was set up in 2004.
All the events have together generated more than 1 trillion baht in revenue.
In fiscal 2019, starting Oct 1, the TCEB expects 40 million Mice travellers with projected revenue of 228 billion baht. Of the figures, 1.41 million are to be international Mice travellers generating 130 billion baht in revenue, with 38.9 million domestic and generating 98 billion baht.
Next year will require strategy to maintain Mice leadership in Southeast Asia.
The TCEB will continue to strengthen support for the Thailand 4.0 policy by adapting technology and innovation to develop the Mice industry and improve activities in different regions, especially in secondary cities, in order to encourage income distribution and raise industry enthusiasm.
The agency has joined forces with the Cooperative Promotion Department to develop co-op centres as venues for Mice. An initial 35 co-ops have been selected, and the project is intended to expand to 200 co-ops across the country.
For the first time, the TCEB has formed a working group with its strategic allies to develop the exhibition sector.
he group, established as the Empower Thailand Exhibition, provides a collaborative platform for the public and private sectors to enhance and create new exhibitions and encourage exhibitions in different regions.