The innovation assists young people from different cultures in addressing three specific issues laid out by the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in the Borderless Youth Forum, conducted from March 2-3.

The issues are social reintegration for ex-prisoners, gender-based violence and access to justice for vulnerable peoples.

Prof Kittipong Kittayarak, executive director of TIJ, said: “TIJ is confident that youths are the hope of a better future for society. They are integral in building the rule of law and sustainable development. Which is why we’ve invited youths from many countries to join in solving social problems concerning the justice system through Design Thinking at the world’s first Borderless Youth Forum. Technology is allowing us to reach across borders and build a sustainable network.”

From 14 countries, 162 young members of the Design Across Borders programme developed by Stanford School to share experiences, brainstorm ideas, consult with experts and develop solutions for the three issues given, with regards to their national contexts.

The program is developed by Glen Fajardo of Stanford School, who led the discussions between the 162 young people from TIJ’s Bangkok headquarters. According to Fajado, the essence of Design Across Borders is “helping people be creative together when they are far apart and different cultural contexts”. In this, he stressed the importance of not just brainstorming ideas and finding solutions, but also to “build empathy and understanding”.

A Thai youth participated in the forum, Chanyanuch Butsayaturt, said: “Being a part of this seminar is one of the best experiences for me. To meet with people from so many countries who all share the same interests. Just looking into their eyes and it’s apparent how passionate they are about these issues. Talking to them, you can feel their energy, and that help to fire up our own energy. Also, the seminar enabled us to talk to the experts, which is a rare opportunity whether online or in person.”

The findings from the Borderless Youth Forum will be presented at the 6th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development organized by UNESCAP March 27-29 in Bangkok.

Vinit Suraphongchai, chairman of the organising committee for Adfest, was joined by the Asia Pacific Advertising Association, the Department of International Trade Promotion, Ministry of Commerce, and the Advertising Association of Thailand in a press conference held recently to announce the concept.

A special Adfest Talk was also held under the same theme as a platform for the exchange of perspectives, experiences, and recommendations from veteran marketers and creators, all with outstanding track records in marketing communications on a national level, to shine a spotlight on current circumstances in the creative industries.

The talk session was joined by four top-tier talents in the field, including Siwat Chawareewong, Chief Executive Officer of GroupM Thailand; Dr. Siraya Kongsompong, Senior Consultant for SEAC (Southeast Asia Center); Kittipong Veerataecha, Chief Branding and Communications Officer of True Corporation PCL; and Wanna Swuddigul, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Thai Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The 2019 festival has received 2,500 creative submissions across 19 categories from the entire region, and more than 1,300 participants from around Asia and the world are expected to arrive for the event at Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Chonburi on March 20-23, 2019.

Vinit Suraphongchai, chairman of the organising committee for Adfest, described the festival as the region’s most prestigious competition and a center of capability development for the creative industries. Now a pride of Thailand, Adfest highlights Thailand’s incredible talent, reputation, and stature in the region’s creative landscape while also serving as a driving force for the development of the Thai creative industries.

Adfest’s goal is to provide a space for knowledge exchange and a meeting of old friends and new while also elevating the standard of creativity across Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Through the expression of each country and region’s distinctive cultural identities, each creative work can stand out from the pack in today’s fast-moving world as modern creators strive to cope with ever-shifting communication channels and demanding competition on the international stage.

Vinit said: “Adfest will continue to promote creativity that breaks old boundaries and blaze a trail for innovation. This creative force is the element that makes ADFEST stand out from other advertising awards, allowing the festival to blossom into one of the strongest regional platforms for thinkers, creators, and media producers in the world.

“This year, ADFEST is taking things to another level with its ‘TMRRW.TDAY’ theme, which focuses on the connection between the present and the future. Changes in our world today have pushed every person, every person, and every industry forward to embrace change, develop new values, and tackle complex challenges with skills and technologies, and creativity in the workforce is now key to unlocking the capacity to innovate for the future. As I have said previously, creativity is the beating heart that every company in every industry needs to cope and thrive with change.”

Held in Pattaya, Adfest will feature a creative competition with 19 distinct categories – including new addition ‘eCommerce Lotus’ as a response to the growth of the online retail market. Creator talks, meanwhile, will continue to serve up valuable knowledge and sparks of inspiration from world-renowned marketers and advertisers. Last but not least, an awards ceremony will crown winners of the creative competition.

The office, which was opened late last year, is operated by the Italian National Tourist Board (ENIT), which is responsible for the promoting tourism to Italy from around the world.

“The new Bangkok office plays a very important role, as the first the Italian hub in Southeast Asia with the task of promoting Italy and its destinations throughout this portion of the tourism market in this part of the world,” Giovanni Bastianelli, Enit executive director, told The Nation in an interview.

As Southeast Asia’s tourism demand for destinations worldwide is growing, it is a fundamental task for Italian regions to have a point of reference in such a growing market, said Bastianelli, who pointed to Italy’s status as a world-renowned top tourist destination.

Apart from Thailand, the Bangkok office is responsible for promoting tourism in the newer source markets of Vietnam and Myanmar, along with Malaysia, as visitors from these countries are increasingly heading to Europe, said Bastianelli.

“Since countries in this region make up an emerging market for the Italian tourism sector, it is still necessary to develop a correct and stronger brand positioning in order to reach the best target for Italian destinations, and namely the more affluent segment, as well as millennials and multi-generational family groups,” he added.

Enit’s marketing strategy is based on global campaigns to promote knowledge of Italy and its locations among travellers while providing information on tourism offerings and products.

Tourism promotion for Italy would be oriented towards “some strategic cross-cutting musts: sustainability, accessibility for all and digital implementation”, he said.

According to Bastianelli, tourism from Asia is increasing faster than that of the total tourism demand, because of the major increase in long-haul tourism markets in Italy with respect to its neighbours, he said.

Italy experienced a boom in tourism from Asian travellers in 2017, especially from Thailand.

The number of Thai arrivals in Italy increased almost 90 per cent over the past three years, from 18,000 in 2014 to 33,700 in 2017, according to Bastianelli.

In 2017, there were more than 254,400 nights spent in Italy by tourists from Thailand, he said.

Compared with 2016, these flows depict a growing trend regarding every variable of tourism. The number of nights spent increased 47.6 per cent, with a 7.4 per cent increase in expenditure that reached 21.7 million euros, Bastianelli said.

Alongside the increase in the number of Thai visitors to Italy, inflows from the rest of Asia also rose in 2017.

China is the biggest source market when it comes to Italian accommodation figures, with over 3 million arrivals for growth of 15 per cent; nights spent in accommodation touched 5 million, increasing 12.4 per cent.

Reaching 996,000, arrivals from South Korea increased by 14 per cent, and the nights spent totalled 1.8 million, up by 14.6 per cent.

The 933,000 tourist arrivals from Japan generated almost 2 per cent more nights than in 2016.

The other Asian countries totalled over 1 million arrivals and 2.4 million nights spent, an increase of 1.1 per cent.

As for this year, Enit expects the number of tourists from Asia to be relatively flat compared with last year, Bastianelli said.

“It means we are still growing from 2016 in international arrivals. Overall, there has been a 5 per cent increase in airport arrivals from foreign airports over the last two years (2018 and 2017),” he said.

The top down, authoritative “control culture” is being supplanted by agile cultures, which promote diversity, an open mindset and empowerment. These cultures allow organisations to quickly adapt to change and capture valuable opportunities.

“Over the past few years our senior executive team in Asia has transformed,” said Lisa Butler, Manulife Insurance’s chief talent and diversity officer based in Hong Kong.“We did this intentionally because we wanted to create a more diverse workforce open to change and capable of working comfortably with digital technologies.”

Indeed, a glimpse at Manulife’s Hong Kong office today immediately shows the difference between the old and new ways of working. Men in dark grey suits, who once dominated management ranks making decisions and telling people what to do, have given way to a more diverse workforce. Open-plan office layouts have replaced closed-door offices, facilitating greater collaboration and information sharing. There is a more informal work atmosphere and fewer symbols of status and hierarchy.

“Digital gives people information and the freedom to work autonomously,” continued Butler. “They can take the initiative without waiting to be told what to do. This is especially appealing to younger executives, who feel they have more to offer and want to be more involved in decision-making.”

Several years ago, Manulife recognised that the fast-changing life insurance markets in Asia were punishing stagnant work cultures and plodding bureaucracies.

The emergence of digital technologies and diversity hastened the ability of companies to create greater agility, where local teams had the knowledge and capabilities to experiment with new ideas and challenge the status quo. It was all about discovering and implementing solutions here and now, rather than waiting to be told what to do from distant corporate headquarters.

What’s more, Manulife is not the only organisation in Asia under pressure to evolve work cultures and deliver better results. Dozens of fast-moving consumer products companies face aggressive local competitors, who are offering consumers more of what they want for less.

“Brand loyalty is dying,” lamented the CEO of one global consumer products company operating here in Thailand. “We cannot live on past successes. Consumers know more and are willing to try new things. We need to come up with better ideas faster or risk being left behind.”

To do this, companies need to use digital technologies to enable agile work cultures that harness diversity and allow people to think and make faster decisions on their own. The goal is to generate more ingenious ideas locally and to give people the leeway to take risks. The alternative is to become stuck in the slow lane and to fall behind.

But to develop agile cultures will not be easy. Old habits die hard and shaping new attitudes takes time. Bold companies like Manulife have been in the vanguard for change. It’s not yet ideal, but it is a step in the right direction.

Contributed by LARRY CHAO, managing director of Chao Group Limited, an organisational change consultancy based in New York and Bangkok since 1995.

The bureau also said Thailand is ranked the top destination in Asean for hosting conferences, according to the ICCA. These results underscored Thailand as a leading destination for business events trusted by international associations while TCEB emphasised that the bureau will continue to prompt the Thai industries to host more international conventions.

Chiruit Isarangkun na Ayuthaya, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said the conventions sector contributes more than 30 per cent of the revenue to Thailand’s MICE industry. This sector supports the country’s economic development by providing platforms for knowledge exchange to enhance professional capabilities, products and services development, as well as innovations which can benefit the country at the macro level.

“Thailand’s convention sector has been rising continuously. In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2019 (October to December 2018), there were 70,000 business travellers in the conventions sector, generating Bt5.5 billion in revenue to the country. Meanwhile, conferences held in Thailand trend to cover broader fields following global trends such as technologies and startups.

Chiruit said: “Currently, the average expenditure in the convention sector stood at Bt80,000 per traveller per trip. This achievement reflects TCEB’s continuous works, especially in terms of the bureau’s efforts to bid for the right to host annual conferences of professional associations at the global and regional levels.

“With the fact that each bidding takes around three to seven years in preparation, TCEB has outlined proactive strategies to enhance partnership with membership organisations such as professional associations, non-profit organisations, educational institutions and entrepreneurs.

@The focus is on key industries which comply with the Thai government’s national policy. TCEB aims to encourage these professional associations to bid for their annual conventions to take place in Thailand,” Chiruit said.

Meanwhile, according to an international ranking conducted by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), in 2017, Thailand is ranked first in Asean and 25th place in the world when considering numbers of international conventions hosted in the country, followed by Singapore with 160 conventions and Malaysia with 112.

This month, there are eight international conferences taking place in Thailand, including conferences in medical, energy and electricity, financial, as well as creative and advertising industries.

Highlights of the international conferences are the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress from March 6-9 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Co-hosted by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists of Thailand, it is expected that this year the event will attract more than 5,000 delegates and generate at least Bt440 million revenue.

From March 19-23 at Bitec, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers will host an exhibition on engineering and technological fields in power generation, transmission and distribution and renewable energy. Held in the US for the past 40 years, Thailand is the first country in Asia to host the event. It is expected to attract more than 400 exhibitors and 3,000 international delegates with Bt240 million in revenue expected to be generated.