Up to 40,000 clients from top multi-level marketing (MLM) companies are scheduled to come to Thailand this year for incentive purposes, boosting Mice tourism.
The boom will ensure that revenue generated from incentive travel will achieve the target of 22 billion baht in the fiscal year that ends Sept 30, according to the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau.
Incentive travel is one of the four elements of Mice, along with meetings, conventions and exhibitions.
Upcoming incentive events in Thailand include the Herbalife North Asia Extravaganza 2018, attracting up to 10,000 attendees for the June 7-10 meeting at Impact Muang Thong Thani, said bureau president Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya.
The 2018 JM Top Incentive Seminar Thailand is expected to bring 3,500 participants to the May 6-10 event in Pattaya; Yofoto's seminar with 4,000 participants runs June 4-10 in Bangkok and Pattaya; and the Infinitus seminar with 10,000 attendees, runs June 6-16 in Bangkok and Pattaya.
US-based Jeunesse Global plans to organise the Jeunesse Expo World Tour 2018 in Thailand for Sept 20-23 at Impact, with more than 12,000 attendees from the Asia Pacific Region and India.
All these events mean that the number of travellers for incentive tourism from MLM firms could approach 40,000, Mr Chiruit said.
In fiscal 2017, which ended last Sept 30, Thailand welcomed 1.2 million Mice travellers who generated 104 billion baht in revenue. Of the total, 271,793 were incentive travellers contributing 16 billion baht in revenue.
The top five countries for incentive travellers in Thailand are China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Scott A Lewis, chief visionary officer of Jeunesse Global, said the firm is growing rapidly in Asia-Pacific, with Thailand showing the highest growth in the region.
"Thailand is the first market that we've launched our intensive marketing campaigns," Mr Lewis said. "We chose Thailand as the venue for our annual convention in Asia-Pacific for the second consecutive year."
Loy Joon How, general manager of Impact Exhibition Management Co, said Impact facilities welcome an average of 900 events a year. In 2018, Impact events are expected to rake in revenue of 2.84 billion baht, up 5%.
Impact has invested in footbridges connecting each exhibition hall and the Ibis hotel, as well as a new parking lot that can accommodate up to 2,200 cars.