TCEB bankrolls exhibition expansion

BANGKOK  Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau launched its ASEAN Rising Trade Show campaign to pull more business for exhibitions in five key sectors over the next three years.
The five key rising sectors are: automotive; energy; infrastructure; food & agriculture; and health & wellness. It will involve substantial support grants for exhibition organisers who can pledge to draw more foreign support for what have been largely domestic shows.
Speaking at Thailand International Exhibitions & Events Forum 2015, last Friday, TCEB Strategic and Business Development vice president, Supawan Teerarat, said the campaign would help the country prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community.
The ASEAN Rising Trade Show campaign’s underlining the theme is “Think Big, Go Beyond” and aims to position Thailand as the top events destination for exhibitions in ASEAN.
inside no 2“It is a three-year programme running until 2017. TCEB will provide financial support of THB25 million annually to exhibition organisers to encourage trade show organisers to lift the quality of shows attract more visitors and reach a high quality target audiences.”
She added: “We see the opportunity to expand the sector in ASEAN as well as to capture new markets in South China likes Yunnan–one of the GMS countries.”
“For this year, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines will be our main competitors…their exhibition industry continues to grow especially in Myanmar where is a fresh venue and a high demand from business exhibitors exists.”
Last year, Thailand welcomed 919,164 MICE travellers, generating revenue of THB80,800 million to the national economy. Of that, 157,996 were business travellers in the exhibition sector with revenue of THB13,616 million.
The top five countries with buyers and visitors participating in Thailand’s international exhibitions were Japan, Malaysia, China, Singapore and India respectively.
TCEB Exhibition and Events Department director, Jaruwan Suwannasat, added that the exhibition sector should grow by 21% to reach 190,400 international visitors while revenue should increase 24% to THB17,000 million.
Thailand’s exhibition sector gained the highest growth rate in the region at 9.0% in 2013 followed by Indonesia (+7.0%), Singapore (+6.8%), Vietnam (5.7%), and the Philippines (4.3%), according to the Trade Fair Industry of Asia 10th Edition data.
The ASEAN Rising Trade Show campaign is endorsed by the Thai Exhibition Association and the Global Association of The Exhibition Industry (UFI) also participated as one of the judging panel.
This year, there are 12 selected exhibitions under the five key sectors that will gain support from TCEB:
The Food and Agriculture industry – Hotel Asia 2015 (17 to 19 March), TFBO & TRAFS 2015 (16 to 19 July), Food & Hotel Thailand 2015 (2 to 5 September), and Food Ingredients Asia 2015 (9 to 11 September);
The Automotive industry – Automotive Manufacturing 2015 (24 to 27 June) and Assembly and Automation Technology 2015 (24 to 27 June);
The Energy industry – 3W Expo 2015 (29 to 31 January), Renewable Energy 2015 (10 to 13 June), and PEA Presents EcolightTech Asia 2015 (18 to 20 November);
The Healthcare and Wellness industry – Thailand Lab 2015 (9 to 11 September);
The Infrastructure industry – ASEAN Ceramics 2015 (9 to 11 September) and Smart Rail 2015 (25 to 27 November).

sourced:ttrweekly.com