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Over 10 million people live in Bangkok. As I
was transported into the city with other
Convention delegates, that number was
obvious as the highway was packed with all
manner of vehicles. The cityscape was vast
and industrious – under-construction
skyscrapers and cranes dotted the skyline.
I was transported to the Grand Hyatt Erawan
in the downtown part of the city. It was my
first trip to Thailand and I was excited to
see the city. After checking into the hotel,
I was on my way to the Convention city
through Bangkok’s busy streets. The skywalks
were a convenient way to get around – they
allowed walkers a method of traveling above
the bustling city streets.
At the Convention Centre, I registered as an
Exhibitor and set up the TravelTalkMEDIA’s
exhibit booth we shared with our colleagues
from eTurboNews. Afterwards it was time for
the Pre-city Tour.
Myself and half a dozen other convention
delegates climbed into the preferred method
of travel in Bangkok – tuk-tuks. These
motorized auto rickshaws are fun and festive
and each driver has a preferred method of
decorating his tuk-tuk, whether with bright
lights, pictures or other colorful items. I
shared a tuk-tuk with James Jeske, a travel
buyer from St. Louis, Missouri, who had
attended the IT&CMA convention for several
years already.
Our first stop: The Grand Palace and Wat
Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Don’t forget your camera, because at The
Grand Palace you’ll find over 100 brightly
colored buildings, golden spires and mosaics
at this majestic temple. Built over the
centuries by Thailand’s Kings, The Grand
Palace has many statues and buildings you’ll
want to explore.
The Emerald Buddha, located in the Palace,
is a green jade statue housed inside the
Chapel of the Emerald Buddha. The Buddha’s
garments of gold are changed with each new
season to come to Thailand. No cameras are
allowed inside this Chapel and visitors must
sit with their feet pointing away from the
Buddha statue, so as not to show disrespect.
From there we were off to Vimanmek Mansion,
the world’s largest golden teakwood mansion.
Our city tour ended at the Bangkok Doll
Factory and Museum where artisans were hard
at work molding, dressing and painting the
features of traditional Thai dolls. Dolls
and other Thai handicrafts were available
for sale.
I opted that night for authentic Thai food
and, finding an enthusiastic tuk-tuk driver
to show me around, headed out on the city
for calamari and spicy crap and shrimp soup.
Content, with a belly full food, I headed
back to the five-star Grand Hyatt to rest up
for the first convention day.
Day one of the convention began with a press
conference announcing the attendees. Of the
1,600 pre-registered delegates, 360 buyers
and corporate travel managers from 40
countries were in attendance, along with 305
exhibiting companies and organizations from
32 countries.
Buyers from markets in Bulgaria and Brazil
were participating for the first time, and
new exhibitors included the first-time
participating countries of Nepal and
Zimbabwe. Emerging sectors for the 2008 show
included Spas and Golf Resorts.
Darren Ng, Managing Director of TTG Asia
Media, said the addition of Spas and Golf
Resorts to the convention line-up gave
buyers a greater diversity of products and
services to choose from to help them make
more informed decisions, especially since
many of these buyers were coming from as far
away as the United States and Europe.
“We, as an organization, want to make sure
there are enough suppliers and vendors for
the MICE sector exhibitors at our events,”
said Ng. MICE is short for meetings,
incentive travel, conventions and
exhibitions.
Approximately 95 percent of the exhibitors
present had attended a previous IT&CMA show,
said Ng, while the number of buyers had
increased over last year and the number of
sellers remained roughly the same.
“IT&CMA is not so much in terms of numbers,”
he added. “IT&CMA is more about quality.”
Thailand has played host to the IT&CMA and
CTW for seven consecutive years and is
expected to host the event for another four
years.
Malinee Kitapanich, Director of Meetings &
Incentives Thailand Convention and
Exhibition Bureau, said “despite the
political turmoil which has negatively
resulted in some considerable recession of
MICE business, our continuation to organize
the event with exceedingly satisfactory
response of 360 buyers from 40 countries
participating proves to be a good sign for
the industry and thus helps build
substantial confidence for MICE
entrepreneurs in Asia Pacific attending this
year’s event.”
I spoke with several travel buyers and
sellers, who said they were happy with the
amount of business they acquired.
“If you’re targeting the East Asian travel
companies and hotels, you’ll have enough
data here,” said Sarhan Keyder, Vice
President of Business Development for Intra
Turkey.
A bit of the local flair and authenticity
would make IT&CMA a more effective venue
though, he added.
“I think there has to be more of a local
touch at an exhibition like this, which is
aiming to promote a very specific
geographical area,” said Keyder. “You do not
really feel like you’re in Southeast Asia…I
think there should be more authenticity.”
Wendy Tang, Director of Sales for Park Hyatt
Beijing, said the first day Park Hyatt
sellers met with more than 70 buyers; on
Thursday they met with approximately 30
buyers. She was satisfied with the turnout.
“For a MICE Hotel, we need to have a lot of
different sources and channels to explore
our clients, and this is one of the best
[opportunities] in Asia,” said Tang.
The MICE business is booming, making
conventions like IT&CMA important revenue
generators, said Aris Syamsul, General
Manager with the Aston Denpasar Hotel and
Convention Center.
“The most important thing now is how to
change and focus on the product,” said
Syamsul, adding that the Aston International
hotel chain is working to target MICE
attendees.
For Pan Pacific Bangkok Hotel Sales Manager
Nuttinee Jiemvithayanukul, the IT&CMA
yielded “quite good results”.
Jiemvithayanukul spoke with approximately 40
sellers over three days, which allowed her
to make some publicity announcements about
the hotel’s “extreme makeover” renovations.
While sellers and buyers reported satisfying
results at this year’s IT&CMA event, Parita
Chitakasem, Research Manager with
Euromonitor International, said the state of
business travel in Asia-Pacific has showed
considerable growth for inbound and outbound
travel from 2002 to 2007 and will continue
to grow. |
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The global recession has caused the market
to taper slightly for Asian airlines, Chitakasem said, and, as a result, travel
budgets are being more closely scrutinized
and corporate travelers are looking at
cheaper travel options.
In the future, we’ll see Asia’s airline
travel expand with a wider supply, said
Chitakasem, as well as air travel shifting
Asia and business-only travel amongst
long-haul flights. Look to China for the
most dynamic all-round growth, she added, as
well as India acting as a key business hub
and Hong Kong for the greatest trade events. |
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