TCEB highlights Australia in 2014 results

News this week: The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has revealed Thailand’s business events industry in 2014 was driven by significant growth in visitors originating from the Australia and Oceania region. For the financial year ended September 2014, Thailand received a total of 919,614 business events travellers generating more than US$2.1 billion.

In particular, TCEB highlighted Australia’s position as a top six source market for Thailand’s MICE industry, as Australian business events travellers jumped 137% year-on-year to reach 37,947 generating an estimated US$91.3 million. For the overall Oceania region, business events travellers were up 81% to 47,446. During the first quarter of 2015, a total of 190,660 business events travellers generated revenues of more than US$428 million.

Mr Nopparat Maythaveekulchai, president of TCEB, commented during the Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) in Melbourne, “As the Thai government’s official flagship body for the business events sector, a core part of TCEB’s mission is to foster the close connections that have been developed with our counterparts and business travellers in key markets such as Australia and Oceania. A 137% increase in Australian visitors in 2014 confirms that our direction in this region is attuned with market demands, especially within the corporate meetings and incentive travels segments.”

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TCEB launches ASEAN Rising Trade Show campaign

News this week: Last week, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) launched the ASEAN Rising Trade Show (ART) campaign at the Thailand International Exhibitions & Events Forum 2015 (TIEEF 2015) designed to position Thailand as the top events destination for exhibitions in the ASEAN region.

The ART marketing campaign focuses on three strategies: i) upgrading international exhibitions in the five key industries of automotive, energy, infrastructure, food & agriculture, and health & wellness over the next three years; ii) providing financial support to exhibition organisers’ international marketing efforts; and iii) expanding the ASEAN MICE Collaboration programme to capture new markets in southern China.

TCEB’s strategic and business development vice president, Mrs. Supawan Teerarat, said, “It is a three-year programme running until 2017. TCEB will provide financial support of US$764,000 annually to encourage trade show organisers to attract more quality visitors. We see the opportunity to expand the sector in ASEAN as well as to capture new markets in south China like Yunnan.”

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Johor plans formation of CVB

News this week: The Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) and Johor Tourism Department will partner to attract more business events to the region with plans of establishing a regional CVB – Johor Convention & Exhibition Bureau (JCEB). The two departments recently submitted a paper to the Johor state government in November on the formation of JCEB within a year’s time.

A MICE Working Group has reportedly been created to discuss the development, which includes regional hotels, Tourism Malaysia, Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (Inbound), Malaysia Airlines and other industry players.

Mohammad Rosly bin Md Selamat, IRDA senior vice-president economics & investment, said, “Our revised Comprehensive Development Plan II (2015 – 2025) acknowledged the need for a CVB, and to focus more on the MICE sector, in line with the state’s objective of increasing revenue by having more higher-spending visitors and increasing room-nights. We want to position Johor Bahru as a competitive secondary MICE city after Kuala Lumpur, and also take full advantage of our easy access from Singapore — a major convention and exhibition hub.”

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Australian government assists business events industry

News this week: Last month, the Australian federal government entered into a partnership to assist the country’s business events sector during the bidding and event delivery process. Australia’s minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb, recently unveiled a new framework, “Attracting Business Events to Australia: Role of Government Agencies”, to highlight international business events as part of the government’s economic agenda.

The framework will involve collaboration between the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and Tourism Australia, the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) and the wider business events sector to attract world-class events to Australia.

Lyn Lewis-Smith, president of AACB, commented, “This is a ground-breaking win for the sector. International business events offer high yield benefits beyond the event that drive prosperity for Australia and contribute to the visitor and knowledge economies. With the growth potential of Asian markets, government support and involvement is essential to ensure AACB is in the best-possible position to identify, bid for and win business events that align with the national priority areas, and better connect industry, academia, government and the private sector.”

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Hangzhou to receive dedicated CVB

News this week: The Hangzhou Tourism Commission (HTC) is looking to take on the role as the city’s convention and exhibition bureau (CVB) in the near future reports TTGmice. According to the HTC, the eastern Chinese city hosted around 10,000 delegates through 15 international meetings in 2013, and is targeting to reach 25 by 2017.

The CVB will be operated through a newly established division, Hangzhou MICE Promotion Center, and joins HTC’s existing branch of Hangzhou Tourism Promotion Center. Earlier in 2009, the Hangzhou Tourism Promotion Center established a MICE department, and set up the Hangzhou MICE Association in 2010 which currently has more than 100 members.

Roger Shu, MICE manager of HTC, was quoted saying, “Hangzhou is number three in China’s MICE ranking. We do not want to lose out to Nanjing, which is also in the same position, and Chengdu, which was number three in 2012. Hangzhou’s need for a CVB like Singapore, like Hong Kong, and to professionalise the industry are being highlighted to the city’s mayor, and we hope the bureau can be set up by next year.”

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Penang to launch CVB by end of year

News this week: The Malaysian state of Penang is planning to set-up its state convention bureau by the end of 2014. The announcement was first made at the Penang International MICE Conference in January 2013, and is currently still dependent on the success of hiring of a consultant to start work in August on formulating its structure and funding.

The bureau will be named Penang International Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PICEB), and the hiring of the consultant requires the approval of the chief minister and the board of directors of Penang Global Tourism. The consultant will be tasked with drawing-up a structure and a sustainable funding model for PICEB to fund its team, carry-out marketing and promotional activities and to support the bidding for business events to Penang.

According to TTG Asia, the Penang state government will not be providing financial assistance to the bureau, but has pledged to provide support through other means. The delay in setting-up the bureau was reportedly the result of a disagreement between MICE industry players and the government on establishing a sustainable funding model for PICEB.

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Penang to launch CVB

News this week: At the recently concluded 3^rd Penang International MICE Conference, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng announced the launch of the Penang International Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PICEB).

PICEB will be tasked with marketing the city as a MICE destination in South-East Asia. According to Abdul Malik Kassim, State Religious Affairs, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman, a committee team with its own elected chairman and members will be established within the first quarter of 2013.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.