Convention and exhibition businesses in Thailand are returning to normal, thanks to the easing of political tensions, say venue operators.
Three key venues in Bangkok — the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (Bitec), Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) and Impact Muang Thong Thani — confirmed that business is rebounding and all event organisers in the past month were satisfied with the number of visitors.
Political conflicts affected attendance at trade shows and consumer fairs. Promulgation of the new 48-section interim charter should help boost confidence not only in the investment sector but also in tourism and meeting and exhibition businesses.
"Business must go on. I strongly believe that organisers who put off decisions on events in Thailand earlier in the year will rethink their decision now if they don’t want to lose out on a business opportunity in Asean," said Sakchai Pattarapreechakul, president of NCC Management and Development Co, the operator of QSNCC.
Duangrat Thatsanaprasert, sales director of Bitec, said the venue's occupancy rate was 68% so far this year. Clients, especially industrial trade shows, have demanded more space to organise their events, showing the exhibition business still has room to grow.
Bitec is setting up temporary outdoor tents covering 3,600 square metres for the International Machine Tools and Metalworking Technologies Trade Exhibition Conference 2014, slated for Nov 19-22, 2014.
The centre also expects to book four or five consumer fairs by 2016.
The second phase of a skybridge connecting the centre to the skytrain as well as an office building are scheduled to open at Bitec in 2016. Bitec allotted 6 billion baht for the phase, which also includes a new convention building. Total space at Bitec will double to 75,600 sq m once complete.
Paul Kanjanapas, managing director of Impact, revealed its occupancy rate so far is around 80%, and it has booked four or five international trade shows for next year.
Its organiser clients are satisfied with spending and total visitors since the end of the prolonged political problems.