TCEB Certifies 114 Additional MICE Venues

27 April 2018, Bangkok: TCEB today announced the certification of 114 MICE venues with a combined total of 349 meeting rooms in Bangkok, MICE Cities, and other high potential cities across the Kingdom of Thailand. The venues were certified in line with the Thailand MICE Venue Standard (TMVS), which MICE operators believe plays a vital role in helping raise confidence and attracting international MICE organisers to choose Thailand as their business events destination. Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB has this year built on the success of the nationwide MICE venue standardisation programme by introducing a new TMVS – Special Event Venue Category in response to the growing business demand for new and exciting venues for business events. Creation of the new category aims to upgrade special event venues to meet internationally recognised standards, helping position Thailand as a premiere MICE destination with a wide variety of choices on offer.

Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, President of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) 

stated that the Bureau has put in place strategic plans to develop the competitiveness of the Thai MICE sector to be in line with international best practice. “This is in parallel with the Royal Thai Government’s policy to drive Thailand’s MICE industry to serve as a key economic growth driver.

The Thailand MICE Venue Standard (TMVS) is among the key initiatives that TCEB has spearheaded to help MICE venues in Thailand meet internationally recognized standards, as it enables credibility, and ensures the professionalism of those certified MICE venues in the country. This is one of the key factors for organisers when choosing Thailand as their destination for MICE events. In their TMVS certification assessments, TCEB prioritises both qualitative and quantitative measures, as well as aspects such as eco-friendliness.

A satisfaction survey held among operators of TMVS-certified MICE venues highlights that the TMVS certification and symbol helps make existing customers more confident in their services, while increasing the number of customers, especially organisers from overseas. TMVS certification is an effective tool to enable MICE venue operators to sustain their quality and maintain their standards.”

In 2018, TCEB certifies 107 MICE venue operators (with a total of 332 meeting rooms) in the Thailand MICE Venue Standard – Meeting Room category. These covered 46 meeting rooms from convention centers, 265 meeting rooms from hotels and resorts, and 21 meeting rooms from public and private venues. The certified MICE venue operators (meeting rooms) in Bangkok, MICE Cities, and high potential cities, include the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Impact Exhibition Management Limited, Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center (BITEC), Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Center at Central World, Jomtian Beach Hotel and Resort (Chonburi), Avani Khon Kaen Hotel and Convention Center (Khon Kaen), and Duangjitt Resort and Spa (Phuket). The TMVS certification in 2018 will cover from 2018-2020, after which, operators will have to re-certify.

TCEB also certified 7 certified exhibition venue operators (with a total of 17 venues) under the Thailand MICE Venue Standard – Exhibition Venue Category. These include six Type 1 (minimum 5,000 sq.m.) venues, and one Type 2 (minimum 1,000 sq.m.) venue. The certified MICE venue operators (exhibition venues) in Bangkok and MICE Cities include Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Pattaya Exhibition Hall, Royal Paragon Hall, Centara Grand at Central World, Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center, IMPACT Muang Thong Thani, and Central Plaza Chiang Mai Airport.

In the fiscal year 2018, the TMVS development plan will focus in 2 key areas; 1) To upgrade the quality of the TMVS (Meeting Room and Exhibition Venue) in 5 MICE Cities including Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Khon Kaen, and other high potential cities by working closely with the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) to uplift the Thailand MICE Venue Standard to meet international certification criteria, and to receive accreditation; and 2) To expand the TMVS certification for the Special Event Venue Category.

“A Special Event Venue is an event venue for special occasions that go beyond everyday activities, such as for entertainment, cultural or spiritual purposes. These special venues aim at educating, entertaining, celebrating or providing new experiences to their visitors with their activities, and help disperse revenue to benefit organisers, venue operators, transportation services, utilities and infrastructure, and so on. The TMVS – Special Event Venue Category has been created to support the diversity and inclusion of business events from domestic and international organisations, driving investment from both the public and private sector to upgrade special event venues, and ultimately to stimulate the sustainable growth of Thailand’s MICE industry.”

The special event venues that request TMVS assessment must be legally owned by proprietors or managed by an authorized party. The special event venues must meet basic requirements which include that the area used to hold main activities, banquets or official ceremonies must be within the same piece of land that covers a minimum of 300 sq.m., and must have a supporting area to accommodate secondary activities at a 3:1 ratio, excluding parking spaces, and areas deemed not appropriate for public access. The assessment will focus on four key indicators including 1) Physical Component (P) – holding area, supporting area and other supporting facilities; 2) Safety and Security Component (SF) – safety measures and preventions of risks from operation, personnel, terrorism, and natural disasters; 3) Supporting Component (SP) – support and services for venues, devices and apparatus, and personnel; and 4) Sustainability Component (SP) – social responsibility, revenue distribution, and environmental friendliness.

The strong growth of special events in Thailand, such as product launches or motivational activities to incentivize or inspire employees, helps drive the need for a variety of special event venues. The hosts and event organisers are on the look out for new and exciting venues to impress their guests. In addition to meeting rooms or shopping centers, today we see more special event venue choices including public parks, national parks, botanical gardens, beaches, sports stadiums, archeological sites, and cultural centers. The introduction of the Thailand MICE Venue Standard – Special Event Venue Category will provide a useful guideline to further develop this array of special events venues to meet internationally recognised standards, allowing Thailand to elevate venue quality across all aspects of MICE activities.

In addition to the development and upgrade of their venue standards and services, another benefit MICE venue operators will receive from joining the TMVS program is inclusion in the official TMVS Directory, which will be promoted around the world. Furthermore, the TMVS is used as a development model for the ASEAN MICE Venue Standard (AMVS), created to help accelerate the ASEAN MICE industry’s position in the global marketplace and widen the target audience at the regional level. By choosing a certified TMVS and/or AMVS venue, organisers can be assured that the quality and physical attributes of the venues will leave a positive impression on their guests and delegates.

“Currently, there are 315 TMVS-certified MICE venue operators, covering a total of 791 venues. For the AMVS, there are 13 certified MICE venue operators in Thailand including Chao Phraya Park Hotel, Chatrium Riverside Bangkok Hotel, Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok, Centara Grand at CentralWorld, The Sukosol Hotel, Rama Gardens Hotel, Anoma Grand Bangkok Hotel, Amari Don Muang Airport Hotel, Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom Hotel, Pullman Pattaya G Hotel, Avani Khon Kaen Hotel and Convention Center, Duangjitt Resort and Spa, and Sheraton Hua Hin Resort and Spa.

By the end of this year, TCEB expects to certify up to 150 venue operators under the Thailand MICE Venue Standard – Meeting Room category – including re-certification of 100 operators and new certification of 50 operators – up to 5 venue operators under the Exhibition Venue category, and up to 20 venue operators under the Special Event Venue category, targeting tourist attractions, public parks, sports stadiums and shopping centers. The accredited certification period will cover 2019-2021,” Mr Chiruit concluded.

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About Thailand MICE Venue Standard (TMVS)

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau has initiated Thailand MICE Venue Standard (TMVS) – Meeting Room since 2014 as a part of the MICE Capabilities Development Strategy, targeting 3 key target groups – convention centers, hotels and resorts, and public and private organisations. The Exhibition Venue category was recently been added to the TMVS certification. Thailand is the first country in ASEAN to conduct such standardisation. In January 2016, ASEAN Tourism Committee agrees to adopt the TMVS to be used as a model for the ASEAN MICE Venue Standard (AMVS), underlining Thailand’s pioneering role in the development of the MICE industry at the regional level.

For further information, please contact: Corporate Communications Department

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization)   

Ms. Kwanchanok Otton     Tel: + 662 694 6096    Email: kwanchanok_o@tceb.or.th

Mr. Issara Rotchanakuson  Tel: + 662 694 6181     Email: issara_r@tceb.or.th

a publicist Tel: 0 2101 6860

Ms.Arpaporn (A) 089 788 4868, Ms.Thittaya (Jang) 094 323 5641, Mr.Sorasak (Earth) 089 406 5544