Government pledges to support MICE sector

The bureau has set a target of at least 2 billion Baht in revenues and 1 million visitors from Mice activities this year.

M.R. Disnadda Diskul, the TCEB chairman, said it had three strategies to achieve the target. They are a direct-to-target approach such as corporate familiarization trips, door to- door sales pitches, and domestic MICE campaigns.

Recently, the "Meet in Thailand: Prosperous Thailand" campaign was launched to encourage both public and private organizations to stage more meetings and seminars within the country. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who presided over the launch of the campaign, also reaffirmed that the government would encourage state agencies to have more local seminars and meetings.

"All government agencies and private firms can take part in helping revive the economy," he said. "This will not only generate income within the country but also provide an opportunity to sustain economic growth."

In early January, the cabinet passed several stimulus measures to help spur domestic tourism. For the Mice industry, it said that private organizations could offset the expense of accommodation and venue rentals against their annual tax payments at the rate of 200%, if they staged seminars or meetings locally.

The TCEB expects domestic MICE activities to generate 24 billion Baht from 8 million travelers in the next 16 months if everybody cooperates.

M.R. Disnadda said any government agency and private company wishing to hold a seminar in the same place could jointly plan their schedules and activities such as air ticket bookings. This could also increase their bargaining power.

Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, the TCEB Director for Government and Corporate affairs, said the government was a key player in the domestic MICE market. The government organizes seminars and training for about 2-3 million officials every year, at about 2,000 Baht per person with each trip lasting two days.

The TCEB has also produced a book, 32 Routes for Meeting in Thailand: Prosperous Thailand, to introduce various tourist destinations.