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Thailand Becomes a Popular MICE Destination in Asia
It looks like Thailand is getting more attention from business meeting and event planners. The country has become the fourth most popular choice in Asia for international conventions. Of course, this is good for the country’s economy and its hospitality industry as hotels in Bangkok and other major destinations are able to boost their revenues.
The number of domestic and international MICE travelers in Thailand has reached 8 million. They contributed to the revenue growth of 6.27% that is equal to 50 million baht. The country plans to break a new milestone for MICE revenues in 2019 and reach a tremendous sum of 220 million.
The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) put Thailand as the 4th most popular MICE destination in Asia, just behind Japan, China, and Korea. Moreover, Thailand becomes the #1 choice among ASEAN countries. In 2018, the country hosted 193 international events. This is a huge step forward from 2017 and 171 international conventions. At that time, Thailand was Asia’s no. 5 most popular MICE country.
Naturally, Bangkok is on top of the list with 135 events. Bangkok was the second most popular Asian city for international conventions in 2018. Chiang Mai hotels also benefited from international business guests last year as it was able to host 25 events. Pattaya hosted 11 events. In total, the country attracted 353,256 international MICE travelers that generated the revenue of 26,703 million baht. The number of domestic guests was much bigger – 7,752,864 travelers that generated 28,069 million baht in revenues. If international travelers mostly came for meetings, domestic ones were mostly representing the exhibitions category.
Corporate meetings travel is currently the fastest growing MICE category in Thailand. It added 11% and generated 7% more revenues last year. Here are the biggest source markets for Thailand’s MICE travel: China (122,426 visitors), India (40,492 visitors), Japan (30,038 visitors), Hong Kong (26,021 visitors), and Indonesia (21,202 visitors). This year, the country will host several important events that are likely to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. These are Lanna Expo in China Mai (the expected number of visitors is 400,000), Thailand Toy Expo 2019 (190,000 attendees), Bangkok Entertainment Fest (100,000 attendees), and TTC Fair Khon Kaen (100,000 attendees).
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