Business

Saturday April 4, 2009

Thailand’s aggressive marketing plan

By SCHAVE DE ROZARIO


IN view of the economic downturn, Thailand has upped its ante to meet market demands. With the theme of Thailand Moving Forward, Thailand’s Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has launched an aggressive marketing plan to invite international companies to host events in Thailand.

“We have pulled all our resources together from all sectors, both government and private, to create a massive advantage to compete for business events internationally,” says TCEB director of meeting and incentives Malinee Kitaphanich at a recent briefing attended by media from six countries from Asean.

Malinee . . . We are all in it together.

Between January and March this year, 173 MICE (meeting, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) events were held and a further 400 international events have been confirmed for this year.

Two major events will be held this year in Bangkok – a six-day event by Amway Japan with 3,000 participants in June and a four-day event by Unicity International, a nutritional multi-level marketing company, with 25,000 participants from around the world.

The Thai government has allocated US$25mil for this year’s budget and TCEB has requested an additional US$5mil for its 2010 budget.

There are many incentives to woo corporate event organisers.

Those who can guarantee room nights for 2,000 will be able to enjoy a refund of a million baht; for 500-room nights, a cultural theatre show for 40; for 1,000-room nights, accompanying spouses get free classes on Thai cooking, classical dance or massage.

For women, it is just as enticing. For every 30 women in a group, they can shop privately at exclusive malls, get 1,000 baht coupon for spa treatment or golf tournament with golf sets for each player and a trophy for the winner.

TCEB will also offer special privileges to returning companies with tours and activities.

Bangkok and Pattaya, combined, offer 100,000 hotel rooms, event avenues that can accommodate 70,000 people and exhibition space of 250,000 sq m.

Bangkok’s new airport has more than 5,000 flights landing and taking off, drawing over 100 leading airlines.

The airport also has special customs and clearance counters for MICE participants to ease traffic flow.

For Pattaya, the city has taken a new turn. The deputy mayor of Pattaya city Ronakit Ekasingh acknowledges the city is taking on a new identity as a tourism and business destination.

“We have established an Association of Tourist and Business to undertake the challenge of building a new convention centre next to the city stadium, a monorail system to get people from the hotels to the centre as well as a new international airport,” he says.

“Pattaya city is truly changing. We recently hosted a series of Asean meetings in January and the 3rd Asean Defence Ministers meeting in February,” he adds. The city currently receives 6.5 million visitors of whom 70% are foreigners.

It recently opened a 10-acre floating market to meet tourists’ demand for a traditional cultural hub and local handicraft shopping and museum ware. The city also has plans to sink old navy ships to make it a new diving destination.

Various hotels in Thailand have joined TCEB in making MICE events a success. Both The Dusit Thani and Millennium Hilton have upgraded their hotels to meet market demand.

The Dusit group has taken the financial downturn as an opportunity to expand. It recently signed a joint venture with India’s Bird Hospitality Group to open four new properties in India by next year.

The group also plans to open a hotel in Kuala Lumpur in the next three years.

The Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, besides being in the midst of a renovation costing some US$35mil during this financial downturn, is also looking to buy new properties to expand the Starwood chain of hotels in the Asean region.

The hotel has also undertaken the project to be a one-stop meeting and incentive destination. It has created a new lobby for MICE participants and extended its lobby parking area to hold up to six buses.

The Sheraton hotel offers full catering services and in any theme the customer wants. It recently held an Indian wedding for five days with a different theme each night and closed the roads for an elephant parade.

Convention centres have also upped their ante to meet Thailand’s demand. The Pattaya Exhibition And Convention Hall (Peach), The Zign Hotel and Ravindra Beach Resort in Pattaya as well as Royal Paragon Hall and the Centara Grand Hotel in Bangkok are offering special packages for international meetings and exhibitions.

“The hotels and convention halls are working in collaboration with TCEB to build the Thai economy as well as package the country as a working and leisure destination. We are all in it together,” says Malinee.

Companies and small businesses interested in holding their meetings or exhibitions in Thailand can contact TCEB’s office in Kuala Lumpur at 03-27151061 or via email at
tceb@pacleisure.net.my

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