Commitments to Sustainability

Reporter/Fu Bingbing

The Thai Exhibition Association“TEA”（www.thaitradeshow.com） was founded in accordance with the Trade Association Act of 1996， under the supervision of the Trade Association Registrar Office， Bangkok Metropolitan in the year 2007. Among the objectives of the Association are to promote the Association， and the operation and servicing of national and international exhibitions for exhibitors and visitors; to earn revenue for the country by promoting Thailand as a location for national and international exhibitions; to promote international standards of facilities and services for exhibitors; and to promote and facilitate cooperation among members and to exchange information and ideas related to national and international trade exhibitions to cooperate with the government and the private sector， e.g. organizations， associations， companies and individuals which the Association considers beneficial to our Association.

We specially invite the guest Pravit Sribanditmongkol， president of TEA to join us today on this edition of our Column and share his constructive insights on the current exhibition development and its future trends in Thailand during this very uncommon period.

Pravit Sribanditmongkol tells the reporter that they have seen the rapid expansion in 2021 from China’s exhibition industry against the backdrop of severe challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic to offline exhibitions across the world， a recent report shows.

According to a report from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade， a total of 2，949 economic and trade exhibitions were held in China last year， jumping 48.6 percent year on year， as the resilience and vitality of the domestic exhibition industry began to increase.The exhibitions covered a total exhibition area of 92.99 million square meters in 2021， rising 27.2 percent from the previous year， the report says.

Pravit Sribanditmongkol comments that East China took the lead in terms of both exhibition quantity and area. Shanghai Municipality and Guangdong Province remained the top two localities in terms of the number and area ofexhibitions held， with their respective exhibition areas exceeding 15 million square meters.

“The report also says digital exhibitions have become an important complement to offline exhibitions amid the pandemic. As the shift from offline to digital exhibitions is accelerating， many Chinese exhibitions combined both online and offline modes to help Chinese and overseas companies better expand international trade channels. TEA would like to convey our sincere congratulations to the trade exhibition industry in China！”adds Pravit Sribanditmongkol.

Pravit Sribanditmongkol shares his constructive insights with us that they are heading to a Net Zero trade exhibition association when referred to the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative pledge at COP 26. The first stage， they have registered to become part of the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative and are delighted to participate in the Advisory Group. The Group will provide review and feedback on the various documents and plans that they undertake; The second stage of the initiative， they did participate in the Launch of the Event Industry’s“New Zero Carbon Events”Pledge in advance of COP 26 in November 10th， 2021; The third stage， they are convincing their nearly 100 members to join this initiative too.

Pravit Sribanditmongkol states that the related exhibition data report is shown as described below according to Thailand’s Exhibition Statistics：

·Space utilized annually： 3，000，000 sq.m.

·6.5 billion baht on space sales

·5.5 billion baht revenue for related suppliers

·10 billion baht revenue for the country through spending of foreign visitors.

·Joint venture between local & overseas organizers are now common in Thailand

“ISO 20121 is a key driver in the Thailand MICE market. Based on the continuing success of its‘Green Meetings’initiative in Asia， Thailand aims to extend the approach， with‘Sustainability Thailand’as the nextstrategic goal for Thailand’s MICE industry. Thai MICE operators are urged to focus on adoption of management methods that support sustainable development， encompassing its three dimensions - social， economic and environmental.”briefs Pravit Sribanditmongkol.

Pravit Sribanditmongkol points out that according to Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau （TCEB）， Thailand is the second in the world to implement the standard for the MICE industry after UK. The aim is to encourage the public and private sectors to move towards sustainability in their goals and daily operations. The standard is based on the British Standard BS 8901 and was applied for the very first time in the organization and management of the Olympics London 2012. ISO 20121 applies to all types and sizes of organization involved in the events industry–from caterers， lighting and sound engineers， security companies， stage builders and venues to independent event organizers and corporate and public sector event teams. Organizations that successfully implement the standard will be able to seek independent recognition of their achievement through a process called ‘Certification’.

Pravit Sribanditmongkol tells the reporter that there are several ways-out for their exhibition industry to survive and move forward. At least two initiatives that TEA， in cooperation with Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau （TCEB） has prepared for the industry for now and then. Firstly， they’re promoting the People Development and Partnership as a proactive solution for Thai organizers. Although new technologies are being applied to the industry and transforming work processes， skill development is more important for leading the competitive advantage. They are introducing skill development opportunities through the incubation program “EO： Pro LEAGUE” project， a platform for industry professionals to up-skill， reskill and leverage themselves with their new-launched comprehensive manual as an essential tool containing useful knowledge and practices in preparation to the coming business opportunities at international exhibitions. TEA and its members aim to prioritize and support for focused industry movement and investment from overseas for business opportunities and trade show development in Thailand.

Secondly， they are promoting the“2HY”（Hygiene and Hybrid） New Norm Initiative for trade shows to stay competitive. A series of the support activities is in thepipeline to engage the industry on this collaborative recovery journey. This campaign aims to share guidance and practices to venues for their safe business operation. In light of hygiene， to ensure lower risks of infection spread， venues have been advised to execute these efforts as their prevention measures to support their safe presence at the venue facilities.

“We are promoting innovative solutions and providing vigorous support to Thai MICE industry since its establishment in 1996. We are now looking into the future how to reshape our MICE industry while preparing MICE operators for the ongoing changes with a strategic end-to-end digital transformation. In cooperation with Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau （TCEB）， we therefore have promoted and support “MICE Winnovation” to embrace digital innovation and technology solutions in all aspects of event management for the purpose of business continuity， and long-term competitiveness of Thailand’s MICE industry while creating trade opportunities for start-ups and tech firms. Particularly， 80% of this tool is developed and executed for exhibitions. Currently， those in Health & Tourism， Biofuel & Biochemical， Future Automotive， Food Processing， Integrated Medical Service as well as Aviation & Logistics sectors have been supported in these models： 1. Virtual Booth & Hybrid Event， 2. Live Streaming/ Hybrid Event and 3. Crowd Management.”says Pravit Sribanditmongkol.