Some 6.65 million travellers both foreign and domestic attended Mice events in Thailand in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, generating more than 42.5 billion baht in revenue.
International Mice travellers during the period stood at 241,400, representing 2.5% of the country's inbound travellers in the period, said Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).
Travellers for Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) generated 18 billion baht in revenue for the county. The top three categories of spending during the period (Oct 1-Dec 31, 2018) were accommodation, food/drink and shopping, Mr Chiruit said.
Of the segments making up Mice, exhibitions had an outstanding performance as the number of travellers rose by 60.7%. Growth was supported by factors such as positive trends in the global economy and the waiver of visa-on-arrival fees for certain nations since Nov 15, the latter drawing travellers from target markets like China and India.
With more short-haul flights within the region, Asia is now the biggest originator of Mice travellers in Thailand. The top five markets in the fiscal first quarter were China, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, in that order.
In terms of the domestic Mice market, there were 6.41 million local Mice travellers generating 24.5 billion baht in revenue. The top five domestic Mice destinations were Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket and Khon Kaen.
For this fiscal year's plans, the TCEB will continue to support the development and distribution of Mice activities in big cities and second-tier cities in order to distribute income to local communities, Mr Chiruit said.
Key measures include developing 25 Mice routes in five big cities and expanding to five second-tier cities, providing at least 50 Mice routes countrywide.
The agency is also joining with the Cooperative Promotion Department on the Mice for Community project by promoting co-op centres as venues for Mice.
Initially, 35 co-ops have been selected and there are plans to expand to 100 co-ops nationwide by the end of the fiscal year.
Mr Chiruit said all these plans will help the TCEB welcome 35.98 million Mice travellers, generating 221.5 billion baht in revenue this fiscal year, which ends Sept 30, 2019.
Of the figures, 1.32 million will be international Mice travellers with projected revenue of 100.5 billion baht and 34.66 will be domestic travellers generating 121 billion baht.
