According to the survey, Thailand secured the top spot with the so-called delight factors in hospitality, value for money, good variety of international and local cuisine and MICE activities.

The poll was conducted by Custom Asia Co Ltd to survey and sought responses about the preferred destinations for business travel and MICE trips.

The TCEB also announced that Thailand was chosen as the host country for international conferences organised by the world’s leading associations in events and travel incentive industries, UFI and SITE. These events, which will take place in Bangkok next year, will be emphasise Thailand’s potential and its position as the leading MICE destination in the region.

TCEB president Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya said that TCEB is tasked with promoting and developing business events in Thailand. The bureau has been working toward establishing Thailand as premier MICE destination and elevating the country to be the “Top of Mind Destination for MICE”.

In order to identify the strengthens of Thailand to better attract the overseas MICE markets, the TCEB needs to study key factors that influence the destination choice, evaluate Thailand MICE destination image, and measure the competitiveness of Thailand when compared to other MICE destinations.

Recently, TCEB had assigned the Custom Asia Co Ltd, a member of Global Market Research Association which has a network in 39 countries, to conduct a market survey on Thailand’s brand image as a destination for MICE. The research, which took place in 20 countries, focused on global MICE professionals and their outlooks on Thailand’s MICE brand. Some 40 MICE professionals participated in the online bulletin board, and 649 took part in the online survey. These survey participants comprised four segments: MICE Players; business travellers; MICE visitors, associations and organisations related to MICE.

Thailand is ranked top as a preferred destination. More than 85 per cent of the survey respondents who have travelled to Thailand on business/MICE trips would like to revisit for their business/MICE trips in the future.

Meanwhile, the participants see that when compared Thailand against the other MICE destinations, Thailand’s delights factors are great hospitality, value for money, and a good variety of international and local cuisine. It is followed by Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong Australia, United State, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and China.

In addition, the result shows that Thailand secured the first rank as the choice for MICE destination.

According to the survey, the country features strengths in three areas, which are: basic requirements: connection hub, international standard accommodation, and great facilities; delight factors: great hospitality and delicious local cuisine; and unique experience: culture and heritage and the abundance of nature. Furthermore, the destination also offers a wide variety of activities beyond MICE, good accessibility to/from destination, endless business opportunities, and the uniqueness”, he said.

Custom Asia Co Ltd’s chief executive officer Sukit Tanskul said that the survey also shows interesting results about main criteria in selecting MICE destinations. These criteria can be considered as important factors which MICE destination needs. They are: value for money, international standard accommodation, good accessibility, English proficiency, and compliance with corporate governance.

When analysing the criteria by segments, the survey shows that MICE Players look for ease of travel within the country. MICE visitors look for hospitality and value for money, Business travellers look for good destination image and reputation, while MICE associations also look for within the budget accommodation choices, English proficiency, and unique destination.

Besides the survey, key events that affirm the position of Thailand as the world-class MICE destination include a number of leading international conventions that take place in the country. Next year, Thailand will be a host country for The 86th UFI Global Congress 2019, which is scheduled for November 6-9 at the Iconsiam

The event is expected to attract 450 professionals. In addition, in January the country will welcome SITE Global Conference 2019. The Society for Incentive Travel Excellence or SITE comprises more than 2,100 members and 29 local chapters in 84 countries.

Thailand is the first country in the Southeast Asia region that won the right to host the SITE Global Conference. More than 400 of attendees are expected to gather at this event, which will take place from January 11-13 January at the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok.

According to the survey it’s a group that no one can afford to ignore. What does it take to win their hearts, minds and wallets?

Amadeus shines a light on what 18 – 35 year olds in APAC want when it comes to travel.

Journey of Me Insights: What Asia Pacific Millennial Travelers Want is the latest in a series of Journey of Me reports that Amadeus first launched in August 2017. Conducted in collaboration with YouGov across 14 markets in Asia Pacific, the research surveyed 6,870 respondents, 45 per cent of whom were millennials at the time the data was collected.

More so than the generations that have come before them, millennials are embracing new technology, experiences, and ways of traveling. 42 per cent of millennials say they often use ride-sharing apps when they travel, and 35 per cent frequently use sharing economy services for trip accommodation.

They are also overall more open to new technologies that enrich their experiences. For example, 77 per cent of Thai millennials show interest in augmented reality apps that delivers digital overlays containing interactive information about the culture or history of the site, compared to 67 per cent regionally.

Targeting millennials’ desire for new experiences is a golden opportunity for travel providers. In fact, the research found that after recommendations that help them save money (37 per cent), millennials are most interested in recommendations that expose them to new experiences (27 per cent).

They are also open to travel providers sending them these recommendations or updates through alternative platforms. While APAC millennials prefer to be contacted by email, 45 per cent of Thai millennials actually prefer to be contacted via social media.

Karun Budhraja, Vice President, Corporate Marketing & Communications, Asia Pacific, Amadeus said, “The Millennial generation is indeed an extremely interesting generation. They grew up with the Internet and technology is second skin to them. They have an openness to new experiences and a willingness to rattle the status quo. They want different experiences in travel, so the industry must serve them differently. Travel providers will need to adopt new technology, new strategies, and above all, new mindsets if they want to secure millennial mind and market share.

By understanding what drives Asia Pacific millennials and what they value when they travel, businesses will be better placed to meet their needs.”

“While millennials may still look to influencers to curate trends, ideas and inspiration, I believe they are also becoming more sophisticated in how they evaluate them. With so many influencers becoming brands unto themselves, some of the authenticity that made them so appealing in the first place starts to get lost. ‘Real’ is more important than ‘perfect’, and that is an important lesson for the industry to understand,” added Budhraja.

The research shows that Thai millennials are less likely to avoid visiting a destination that has extreme weather, a recent terror attack, or safety or security issues like a spike in crime. While 71 per cent of Thai baby boomers would avoid a destination which has had a recent terror attack, only 61 per cent of millennials say the same.

However, the research also finds that millennials are less open than older travelers to sharing their personal information with travel providers, in return for more relevant offers or personalised services.

73 per cent of Thai Generation X travellers say they are somewhat open to sharing their information, compared to 65 per cent of Thai millennials. This caution may be due to millennials being tech-savvy digital natives, and therefore more likely to be aware of security and privacy issues.

 Booking.com has conducted a research across 20,500 global travellers from Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, China, Brazil, India, the USA, the UK, Russia, Indonesia, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Croatia, Taiwan, Maxico, the Netherlands, Sweden, Sinagapore, and Israel in March this year. It revealed that Thai travellers, the biggest missed travel opportunities included not traveling more often (44 per cent), not traveling more when younger (38 per cent), not doing more adventurous travel (38 per cent), not going to more remote destinations (38 per cent), not visiting a destination when he/she could afford to (37 per cent) and not seeing more of the countries traveled to (35 per cent).

However, regrets are a lot higher amongst Generation Z with half of this age group regreting not traveling more often (52 per cent) and about 34 per cent regrets not being more adventurous.

It’s also no surprise that 42 per cent of the selfie generation (18 to 24 year olds) found it upsetting when they failed to capture more photos to commemorate their trips. This figure stood at only 34 per cent for overall travelers.

Despite their sense of regret, chiefly stemming from perceived barriers around language, expense, directions and safety in the unknown, most (83 per cent) of all Thai travelers have overcome their worries about travelling to a new destination and have traveled there.

Baby boomers are the most willing to face their travel anxieties head on with the majority (85 per cent) say they have. This has positive impacts as it encouraged 52 per cent to travel more widely in the future, 49 per cent gained increased confidence in life and 25 per cent a sense of personal achievement. Traveling deepen existing and create new relationships with almost a third (31 per cent) of Thai travellers becoming closer to their families and one in three (34 per cent) making new long-lasting friendships while on vacation.

For the majority (84 per cent) of Thai travellers, going on vacation has inspired significant life changes, rising to 89 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds, with nearly half (40 per cent) saying they found their purpose or passion in life, 29 per cent of people have overcome a major fear and 26 per cent learnt a new language.

Travelling can also be beneficial both physically and mentally with 60 per cent saying it had a positive effect on their mental health and 25 per cent deciding to improve their physical health.