The past few months have seen major changes in Thailand's Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry with the appointment of a new interim head of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) taking the helm at a time of great opportunities in the kingdom.

Kajit Habanananda, Chairman of the Bangkok-based TCEB Executive Committee, was appointed as temporary director-general of the bureau, delivering the global promotion of Thailand's MICE sector into good and experienced hands. Khun Kajit positions Thailand for a battle with neighbouring competitors, Singapore and Hong Kong, for a bigger share of the region's conventions and events.

Khun Kajit sees promotion as his prime focus, with income from MICE expected to rise to 100 billion baht, or 10% of total annual tourism revenue, within three years.

Thailand is not resting on its laurels of past successes and TCEB has established the country's first research and development centre to develop and educate local MICE suppliers in winning greater market share from rival destinations.

The rewards are clear for the wider community. The conference business alone is a big contributor to the Thai local economy with each delegate spending on average 10,000 baht a day – three times more than leisure tourists.

Khun Kajit says a key promotion for Thailand will come in early March next year with the first homegrown Asean MICE 2007 fair. Additionally, IT&CMA, the region's leading MICE trade show that attracts international buyers to the three-day networking event, will move from Pattaya to Bangkok at the CentralWorld Plaza Convention Centre, providing an additional boost for the city. Khun Kajit forecasts around 600,000 MICE visitors will attend events in 2007, generating total income of 50 billion baht, or about 5-6 percent of tourism revenue and about 10 billion baht more than last year, despite the political upheavals that have undoubtedly deterred many corporate groups in October and early November. Even with the coup, international meeting and incentive travel planners have been quick to reconsider Thailand and seem unfazed by the political scene in Thailand, thanks to a peaceful military operation and limited media coverage.

Maggie Greenstock, MICE manager at TCEB's UK office, says the British have shaken off the fears that arose at the time of the coup. She said corporate event planners are becoming more resilient to destination challenges and, surprisingly, have been quick to put Thailand back on the destination list. Greenstock went on to add that changes at TCEB would have greater impact and would lead to positive follow-on administrative changes at their UK office. For customers, they have encouragingly started considering Thailand again, after a two month hiatus.

"It was a peaceful coup, and as HM the King, who the Thais revere, backed it, the locals seem to have accepted the change, resulting in a peaceful outcome. Social and political stability is important if we are to generate more MICE business to Thailand," she said.

Thailand ranks as fourth in the world's top 10 most popular long-haul destinations for meetings and incentives travel. Bangkok was the only Asian city in the top 10, good news for those like Khun Kajit setting out to take more business from Singapore and Hong Kong. New markets, such as India and China, have been identified given Thailand's strategic geographical position.

While there is no doubt that Hong Kong and Singapore attract many MICE visitors because they are important commercial hubs and home to the headquarters of many multinational companies, Thailand enjoys a big cost advantage – by some accounts up to 30 percent – over its two main regional rivals.

Further government initiatives to provide attractive incentives for corporates to set up base in Thailand can only help enhance the country's armoury as it takes on the competition. According to Khun Kajit, Thailand also needs to become more proactive in its marketing. The charms of the country win over many when they arrive, but more can be done to get them here in the first place. He believes that TCEB has five operations which need to be set up as soon as possible: a MICE Information Research Centre, MICE capability development, the promotion of domestic MICE businesses, a MICE mart exhibition, and the cooperation scheme with related MICE agencies, entitled "the Thai Team", to bid for more international activities in the country. TCEB will also put a higher priority on international conventions and exhibitions.

Recently, TCEB helped organise international conventions such as Inno Bioplast 2006 in September at Siam Paragon, the 67th SKAL World Congress in October in Pattaya, and the 35th International College of Surgeons, also in October in Pattaya. Other major gatherings have been the corporate convention of Herbalife at their Bangkok Extravaganza 2006, that was held at the IMPACT Convention Centre in Muang Thong Thani and was attended by more than 18,000 Herbalife members from across Asia Pacific.

Khun Kajit's aim is for TCEB to become the one-stop service centre for MICE, assisting organisers in coordinating with both public and private sector organisations, such as the Customs Department, the Airports Authority of Thailand and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Benjawan Wisootsat, President of the Trade Exhibition Association, the industry body for exhibition organisers in Thailand, has a different focus and is keen to stress that the "E" (exhibitions) segment of the MICE industry has its own unique dynamics and should be treated separately.

Khun Benjawan highlighted several advantages to this sub-sector. The first is that exhibitions tend not to change their location once set and repeat every year, compared to meetings, incentives and congresses, which are unlikely to return to the same destination within six to 10 years. The goal is to make each show bigger and better every year, she says. Khun Benjawan added that the exhibition business also results in more travel by business travellers who often return to the country later in the year to pursue deals initiated at the exhibition.

At the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, our MICE business has benefited from an interesting trend over the past few years. There has been a migration of small- to medium-size corporate meetings away from the riverside to city centre hotels. However, overall growth of Thailand's MICE industry could be held back in the short-term by political uncertainties. In the long-term, with the completion of mega transportation infrastructure projects, Bangkok should become more competitive with Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. We forecast minimal growth of citywide events next year. Nevertheless, Thailand will remain a popular destination due to the diversified pre- and post-event opportunities available across the country and in the neighbouring Mekong region. Richard Chapman General Manager Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit

Benjawan added that there are important messages for hoteliers, too. Room rates are not the main issue when deciding whether or not to exhibit in Thailand. Thailand continues to enjoy many advantages in the competitive MICE market. It has good quality large venues and a solid track record of handling large-scale events and exhibitions as well as enjoying a good reputation as a tourist destination.

The successful opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport will give the MICE sector a big boost, increasing capacity by millions and providing the necessary accessibility and support infrastructure to grow the business. Infrastructure is also growing due to the so-called "space race". Competition is heating up between existing players such as IMPACT and BITEC, newcomers CentralWorld and Siam Paragon, that are bringing more convention space on line.

Mike Kelly, Senior Vice President at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC), says that the "space race" is doing no more than catch up with pent-up demand. "The new venues in Bangkok are contributing to Thailand's stated objective of becoming the regional hub for convention and exhibition activity," he says. "The variety of meeting space has been expanded, in addition to the simple addition of gross space, and the respective venues serve particular domestic and international niche markets."

Kelly says that business tourism and the MICE business in Thailand is on the rise, with QSNCC already set to host several international events in 2007 and early 2008, including such diverse gatherings as the International Properties and Facilities Congress, Asia Fruit Logistica and Congress, Asia Pacific Coatings Show, HOSPIMedica Thailand 2007, and the World Congress of Osteoporosis. "Within the context of available space, international congress business has grown and the future is promising based on tentative leads and individual exhibition expansion," explained Kelly. "It is hoped that the TCEB Exhibitions Representative Programme just being unveiled will bear fruit as early as 2008 and certainly beyond."

However, Thailand's MICE industry has plenty of work to do to cement its position and build a stable platform for that growth. The most important areas that have been identified as requiring more initiatives are education and promotion. The need to build our destination reputation is even more important following concerns by corporate event planners over the military coup.

In Australia, one of Thailand's key feeder markets for MICE business, the political events have passed virtually unnoticed, according to Mary Helen Farrell of MHF Marketing. Farrell says, "Thailand, together with Fiji and New Zealand, enjoys the position as a favoured destination for corporate meetings and incentive travel rewards." Farrell adds, "The diversity offered within Thailand has always been a drawcard with Bangkok and Phuket as the two preferred destinations, but other resorts such as Hua Hin and Chiang Mai are gaining interest." Farrell commented that "the initial reaction to the announcement of the military coup sent shock waves through the industry but as the weeks passed and media coverage faded it became evident that it was 'business as usual' and planners have very quickly started proposing Thailand again."

According to Amanda Haycock from Directions, CIM in Sydney, "Thailand is definitely worth considering based on price, proximity and culture." With buyer confidence regained, re-engineering at TCEB, new venues and hotels coming online, Thailand is well positioned to maintain its longstanding attraction and position as a premier MICE destination in Asia Pacific.

Thailand has been a popular destination for Australian conferences and incentive travel rewards. Popularity of destinations is cyclical and we were on the ebb of a wave of new interest in Thailand earlier this year. Following the Thai military coup and subsequent Australian government travel advisory, most meeting planners put Thailand on hold and avoided proposing the destination. As the weeks passed, the question of political and social stability was no longer an issue and event planners began considering Thailand again. Another factor that has impacted Australian MICE business to Thailand this year was the cancellation of Thai Airways service on the Sydney-Melbourne-Phuket route. Additionally, lack of promotion of Thailand as a MICE destination by TAT and TCEB has also affected business. For Thailand to reemerge as a choice venue for Australian event planners in 2007, immediate and vigorous destination marketing needs to be undertaken. At Incentive House Australia, we are continuing to propose Thailand to our clients as confidence is regained. With continued political and social stability, we foresee a brighter year ahead. Les Alford Manager Conferences & Events Incentive House Australia

10 reasons why Thailand is not (yet) the "hit" it claims to be in the Macro MICE markets: • No complete convention centre. • Poor location of most exhibition centres. • Few hotels in close vicinity of the larger convention centres. • Famous "Thai Hospitality" is fading. • Human resources on rank and file level lack communication skills. • Human resources on rank and file level not trained in understanding MICE needs. • MICE trends in favour of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. • TCEB has focused too much on "numbers". • TCEB has largely ignored the strength of Thailand as an incentive destination. • "TCEB knows best" approach, ignoring broad consensus. 10 reasons why Thailand will be a 2007 "top hit" in the Micro MICE markets: • Asia is "in" as a motivational MICE destination. • Airfares to Asia are reasonable. • The attractiveness of Thailand's destinations for pre- and post-business travel. • Strength of variety and "value for money". • Resilient "do it yourself" mentality of small and large hotels. • Individual marketing efforts of MICE suppliers. • Sensible approach of some exhibition companies towards Mekong region only. • Diminutive group of real professionals (still) able to compensate for Human Resource weaknesses. • TICA fortunately serving a much broader range of business event service suppliers. • Thailand remains truly amazing. Bert van Walbeek CEO The Winning Edge

At Diethelm Events we had a great start to 2006. We helped organise the first ever corporate event at Phra Ratcha Wang Derm, Thonburi Palace for DKSH Thailand. Their centenary dinner was attended by 200 high-profile guests and graced by the presence of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Another big win came in April, when Incentive House Australia brought back their Hagemeyer Connections conference and trade expo to Thailand for the third time in four years. Nine hundred Australians conferenced, networked and partied over four days at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket. By Q2, our forecast for 2006 was still looking good. Then as political demonstrations hit the streets, regional meeting planners started to express concerns over the growing unrest. By midyear, we saw a slow down in new inquiries from our feeder markets close to home, such as Singapore and Hong Hong, as planners were switched on to the political scene here. The biggest impact came in October with global media coverage of the military coup. Many event organisers moved swiftly to reschedule or relocate their meetings and incentive trips. As an example, an important pre-event inspection trip for a confirmed 30,000 delegate congress to Bangkok in 2008 was postponed. Thankfully, media coverage of the coup was short lived and business started to pick up again in early November. The quick return of business is testament to Thailand's appeal as an event destination. The outlook for Thailand's MICE sector in 2007 looks encouraging. However, the private sector needs to work closely with TCEB and TICA to ensure Thailand is proposed far more often as a preferred destination by organisers. Interestingly, a recent survey conducted by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) shows that event organisers worldwide (both corporate end-users and intermediaries) predict a 7% increase in the global corporate meetings sector for 2007. With new management at the helm of TCEB, their fresh marketing strategies, and with no further negative political news coverage, we are well positioned to tap into this growing market and drum up demand for our products and services. David Barrett Executive Manager Diethelm Events