It may be ASEAN’s second hottest destination for business events but political strife is taking some shine out of the exciting kingdom this year
Thailand’s association congress sector continues to suffer from the effects of the country’s protracted political crisis which has led clients to cancel events in droves over the past 10 months.
Specialists in this sector told TTGassociations that the political quagmire has clearly skewed the industry’s performance for the year. Some said a recovery is in place, albeit a slow one. Others commented that while the country has one of the best business event infrastructures in the region, improvements must be made in terms of pitching for association congress events and upgrading the quality of professional congress organisers for the destination to deliver on its full potential.
“This year has been bad,” said Alvin Wee, event manager at GAT International. “We’ve seen cancellations of association business that had been in decline along with other business events for the past 12 months.”
David Barrett, executive director events at Amari Watergate Bangkok and Amari Pattaya, agreed that the sector had taken a battering.
He said: “Winning international association congresses to Thailand can take three or four years of advance planning and investment. Losing business, due to social and political instability, can happen in a flash. Regrettably, earlier this year we have seen a considerable amount of business lost as congress organisers have boycotted Thailand.
“From a Bangkok perspective, we have also seen smaller local association events relocate to other parts of Thailand, away from the capital.”
Anti-government groups led street protests and an occupation of Bangkok, which sometimes resulted in deadly clashes with police and government supporters, from last November until army chief general Prayuth Chan-ocha staged a coup on May 22 and ousted the elected government. While the putsch ended the violence and returned a level of stability to the country, Thailand still remains under martial law – a fact which worries many business event groups.
Prayuth was appointed prime minister in August, however, elections are not expected to be held until the end of next year. As a result, political stability remains a long-term challenge for Thailand.
Commenting on the current state of affairs, Barrett said: “I do believe we’re on the right track now. The good intentions of the interim junta are instilling confidence in the destination.”
Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) said it has helped rebuild confidence in Thailand through “close communications with relevant stakeholders, including major industry associations, conference organisers and destination management companies,” enabling the country to secure events for this year and the next, including the 10th International Mycological Congress and One Young World 2015.
The bureau is currently focusing on three market segments for the congress sector: “focus market” which is India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and Indonesia; “maintain market” including Germany, UK and Canada; and “emerging market” including Russia and the Netherlands.
Thailand’s MICE industry had been performing well, prior to the political crisis. In fiscal 2012/13, which runs October to September, the country welcomed 1,013,502 overseas business event visitors, according to TCEB. Conventions and association congresses made up the biggest sector in terms of delegates, accounting for about one-third of the market with 315,961 visitors, followed by corporate meetings (258,286), incentive travel (247,936) and exhibitions (191,319). Conventions were also the greatest revenue contributor, generating 31.25 billion baht (US$975 million) of a total 88.49 billion baht, with convention delegates each spending an average 98,919.60 baht per trip.
TCEB’s revised forecasts for fiscal 2013/14 show just how badly the industry has been affected. Overall MICE travellers are set to decline by almost 13 per cent to 888,210 delegates with revenue expected to slide by 1.5 per cent to 87.2 billion baht. Convention attendees are expected to fall at a faster rate of 16 per cent to 264,874 visitors, seeing the segment’s market share reduce to about 30 per cent from one-third, although revenue will nudge up by about one per cent to 87.2 billion baht.
International Congress & Conventions Association, in its 2013 Country and City Rankings report, placed Thailand as ASEAN’s top second market, after Singapore, for hosting 136 association meetings.
In terms of facilities, the destination is generally well regarded within the industry, however, it still faces a number of challenges.
“Thailand has one of the most complete infrastructures within South-east Asia to host large-scale business events in its five prime business event cities. (Its standing) can be improved in terms of value of intellectual and monetary support for winning and hosting international association events,” said Wee.
He said TCEB could help companies improve their ability to pitch and win congress contracts by producing value-added case studies of successful events.
Kirk Harbison, general manager of SAM Assist, said after domestic politics the main concerns raised by his clients were the need for a stable currency that was not too strong to enable the country to compete more effectively with China and Vietnam on costs, followed by security concerns relating to the on-going separatist insurgency in Thailand’s south and regional flare-ups with China.
“(Thailand) could also make it easier (for us) to bring equipment into the country for events,” he said. “I have a medical conference with 600 doctors (and) they often bring equipment with them. It can be a hassle as customs agents are not sure about the processes and protocols.”
Perapan Angkhasuko, director of the PCO department at NCC Management & Development, said there is a clear need for more certified and experienced professional conference organisers (PCOs) in the local market. “As the industry grows there is more demand for experienced PCOs,” she said, adding that TCEB could help by bringing in training workshops conducted by business event industry associations such as IAPCO, UFI-EMD and ICCA.
