In a bid to further strengthen its presence in India, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) recently conducted roadshows in Chennai and Mumbai along with 14 industry partners. During the roadshows, TCEB highlighted its role as ‘Thailand’s MICE One Stop Service’ and introduced its ‘Mega Event Thailand Connect’ promotional campaign to boost MICE travel from India. The roadshows received an overwhelming response with an attendance of over 200 travel agents and tour operators in each city. The event focused on educating the Indian travel trade on Thailand’s vast MICE offerings and highlighted the country as an ideal value-for-money destination for MICE and short-haul vacations.
The roadshow opened with a short insight on the Indian market by Nat Pinyowattanacheep, Consul General, Thailand, followed by a presentation on the country’s vast array of business offerings for the Indian market by Vichaya Soonthornsaratoon, Director, Meetings, Incentive & Convention Department. The suppliers at the roadshows included a mix of DMC’s, hoteliers, airlines and attractions namely Asian Smile Corporation Co Ltd, Asian Trails, Bangkok Airways, Centara Grand at CentralWorld, Exquisite Travels, GAT International, Grand Sukhumvit Hotel Bangkok, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, IMPACT Exhibition Management, Royal Cliff Hotels Group, Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort, Thai Journey DMC, TravelBullz, Tops Holiday Co Ltd, Thai Airways International.
Throwing light on the importance of the Indian market for Thailand, Pinyowattanacheep said, “TCEB is the ultimate platform to strengthen ties between both countries and most importantly to establish Thailand as a MICE base for the Indian market. Indians are one of Thailand’s top five MICE markets and we have recorded a 10-15 per cent growth from the Indian MICE market over the last year with 75,000 Indian delegates travelling to Thailand in 2012. With this years roadshow we aim to see a further increase in Indians visiting Thailand.”
Elaborating on the focus of this year’s TCEB roadshow, Soonthornsaratoon said, “The objective of the roadshow was to promote Thailand as a preferred MICE destination for Indian buyers and provide an update on the latest MICE products in Thailand. This roadshow created business opportunities via “buyers meet sellers” tabletop session and networking sessions with the travel trade partners and corporate decision-makers.”
TCEB’s new campaign ‘Thailand Connect’ lays exclusive focus on Indian Meeting and Incentive groups travelling to Thailand and is designed to help Thailand achieve a target of 987,000 MICE visitors from abroad in 2014, with revenues projected at USD 3.2 billion, up by five to ten per cent over the figures projected for 2013. With Thailand Connect, TCEB will assist Indian MICE groups with a variety of facilities such as souvenirs to all delegates, cultural performances, transfers, team-building support, airport assistant, police escort for VIP, subsidies for cocktail receptions, etc.
The criteria for availing this offer is minimum stay of five nights, with an overnight stay in more than one destination. There should be at least 200 delegates per group and Request for Proposal should be submitted till 30 September 2014, at least two months prior to group arrival. There is limited number of offers available with a maximum equivalent to THB 200,000 for each group (as per bank of Thailand Exchange rate).
Speaking on the sidelines of the roadshow, third time participant, Ferry Tjahjono, Director of Sales, Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at Centralworld, said, “The TCEB roadshow is a great way to interact with the Indian trade on a personal level and helps us accurately understand their wants and requirements. We see a lot of Indian MICE groups coming into Thailand and staying at our properties. Last year we catered to 13 Indian groups each of 800-1000 pax and Indians form a major chunk of our clientele. Our latest property Centara Grand Phratamnak Resort, Pattaya, will be launched this month and we hope to see more Indians staying at our property.”
Throwing light on the new destinations that Thailand is promoting in the Indian market, Soonthornsaratoon said “Recently TCEB invited over 70 members of the international press and delegates from 16 countries to experience the gem of the Andaman Coast, Krabi, Thailand. As Krabi has been chosen to showcase the vibrancy of Thailand under the ‘Adventure MICE of the Andaman’ scheme, TCEB aims to promote it as an adventure and MICE destination along with Thailand’s other MICE cities namely Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Khon Kaen.” She also revealed TCEB’s plans to be part of IMEX Las Vegas this month, followed By EIBTM in Barcelona in November and TCEB’s first-time participation in Australia’s biggest trade show, AIME, in February 2014.
Further, in an attempt to further increase connectivity to India, Bangkok Airways will commence daily flights from Mumbai via Bangkok to Hua Hun and Phuket by month end and will introduce daily flights from Mumbai to Krabi in December.
Source: http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/tceb-conducts-2city-roadshow-in-india-to-promote-its-offerings-22052