The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) certified 114 business-event venues with a combined total of 349 meeting rooms in Bangkok as well as other high-growth cities in Thailand.
The venues include 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. Meanwhile, exhibiton venues include Pattaya Exhibition Hall, Royal Paragon Hall and Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center.
The venues were certified in line with the Thailand MICE Venue Standard (TMVS) to meet growing business demand for new and exciting venues. The new category also aims to upgrade special event venues to meet internationally recognised standards. TMVS is among some of the many strategies implemented by the Bureau to keep venues credible and ensure consistent professionalism across the country.
In their assessment, TCEB have used qualitative and quantitative measures made up of four key indicators that are the physical component (holding area, supporting area and other supporting facilities); safety and security component (safety measures and preventions of risks from operation, personnel, terrorism, and natural disasters); supporting component (support and services for venues, devices and apparatus, and personnel; and the sustainability component (social responsibility, revenue distribution, and environmental friendliness).
Besides that, venues must meet basic requirements such as 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 sqm, and must have a supporting area to accommodate secondary activities at a 3:1 ratio.
This year, TMVS also looks to launch a new Special Event Venue category to promote unique venues such as beaches, botanical parks, sports stadiums, archaeological sites, and cultural centers.
By the end of the year, TCEB expects to certify up to 150 venue operators under TMVS – Meeting Room category – including re-certification of 100 operators and new certification of 50 operators – up to five venue operators under the Exhibition Venue category, and up to 20 venue operators under the Special Event Venue category.
The current certification will cover the venues from 2018 to 2020, after which operators will have to be certified again if standards are maintained.