Thailand's meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (Mice) industry grew by 12% quarter-on-quarter in the first three quarters of fiscal 2013 thanks to a strong Asean market and the return of European travellers.
The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) said Asean continues to make up the largest cohort of travellers for Mice, but Europe is increasing in line with its economic recovery.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2013, running from Oct 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, Mice travellers numbered 747,072 and helped to generate 64.3 billion baht in revenue.
The TCEB, a government agency, is confident of drawing 940,000 Mice travellers in fiscal 2013, generating 88 billion baht for the country.
TCEB president Nopparat Maythaveekulchai said the strong performance will be enhanced by the execution of strategic marketing moves by the TCEB that have continued over time as well as the strengthening of Thai Mice to tackle the advent of the Asean Economic Community in late 2015.
"Foreign Mice markets continue to grow, and European Mice travellers are returning," he said.
Mr Nopparat said the first three quarters of fiscal 2013 saw the international convention segment produce the greatest number of Mice travellers with 223,463 or 30% of the total. The segment earned the country some 22 billion baht.
Incentives came in second with 196,088 travellers or 26% for 12.5 billion baht in revenue, followed by corporate meetings with 174,701 travellers or 23% for 18.2 billion.
International exhibitions attracted 152,820 Mice travellers or 20%, generating 11.5 billion baht.
"The outcome of our strategic operations in significant markets in Asia, Europe and the US greatly contributed to the successive growth in those three regions," said Mr Nopparat.
The Asian Mice market was the biggest at 72%, consisting of 543,016 travellers and drawing 46.8 billion baht in revenue.
The European and US markets showed signs of recovery. European Mice travellers numbered 83,772 and generated 7.21 billion baht over the period, while American Mice visitors totalled 43,165 and generated 3.71 billion.
Statistics showed most Mice travellers entered Thailand from Asean+6 nations, particularly China, India, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia.