Bangkok--14 Mar--JWT
(Bangkok) The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) joins forces with UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, which is renowned as the premiere international organization for MICE business, to propel the development of local MICE personnel. The program, the first of its kind in Thailand, is called the ‘UFI Exhibition Management Degree’, or ‘UFI EMD’, and it aims to promote Thailand as the regional center where MICE personnel can attain the highest levels of expertise in this field. So far, the organization says that the project is successfully beyond expectation and it has received an overwhelming number of applications both Thai and foreign to enroll in the program before closing date on 31 March.
Captain Kajit Habanananda, Director General of the Thailand Conventions and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), says that the reason for the creation of ‘UFI EMD’ is to help those interested in advancing their management knowledge and skills in the exhibition and trade show industry. Thailand was chosen by UFI to be the representative of Asia Pacific region to provide this new program, beating out other country candidates, which included China, Singapore, and South Korea.
“We are very proud to be offering this program and that we were entrusted by UFI to be the EMD representative in Asia Pacific,” says Captain Kajit. “We have a contract to provide consecutive three-year curriculums of the UFI EMD programme beginning this month. To ensure job placement for graduates of the program, TCEB has joined with the Trade Exhibition Association (Thai), or TEA, and the Thailand Incentive and Convention Association, or TICA, to search for job vacancies for those trained by this program. So we are confident that those who enroll in this program will get solid jobs and put their knowledge to good use.” Captain Kajit said.
In Thailand, MICE business, or the business of organizing international meetings, incentives, and exhibitions, enjoys an annual growth of about 20%, and there is strong potential for the future. In the past year, 2006, it can generate MICE business owners 677,500 persons and generate income to the country for Bt50,000 million. This country boasts fully-equipped facilities for MICE events such as convention centers, excellent infrastructure for such events, unique cultural charms and its delicious food which is renowned around the world. Once situated in Thailand for a MICE-related event, businesspeople have a wide range of tourism choices, which also provides great financial benefits to the country. This spillover effect is a strong reason Thailand is actively working towards becoming the regional center for the MICE industry. For the year 2007, if the plan can operate effectively, we expect to increase MICE business owners to be 870,000 persons which will generate income to the country about Bt59,000 million.
Ms. Pojai Pookakupt, Chairwoman of TCEB Education Committee, has been very satisfied with the project’s progress so far:
“Right now, there are 32 people who have applied to the program from both Thailand and abroad,” she explained. “There are a total of 15 Thai participants along 17 participants from nine foreign countries, which has exceeded our expectations, as we originally anticipated having 15 Thais and 10 foreign participants in EMD. This heartening development signals good news for the program, and can provide reassurance that political situations are not stopping people from visiting Thailand, and that MICE tourists do not feel threatened about attending an event here.”
“As a management program, EMD will cover subjects such as project administration, business strategic development, risk management, human resources management, and expenditure controls. Also, besides knowledge development, this program will also stimulate students to conduct in-depth exhibition market research by focusing on customer relationship management (CRM), public relations, sponsorship management, special event marketing, and will feature courses on logistics, exhibition scene productions, partnership organization and venue and information research. The program will be supervised by 20 international veteran lecturers, and the Thai and international entrepreneurial students will pay course expenses that have been set at Bt170,000 — 200,000 per student.”
“The EMD 150-hour course will include on-site seminars, along with an e-learning platform. With e-learning, students can consult with international experts to learn about how different situations and challenges are actually handled in the real world. Graduates from the UFI EMD program will possess the required special professional knowledge and skills tools to successfully organize exhibitions and meetings, especially for event organizers whose business involves industrial and governmental exhibitions. It will also greatly benefit those who are exhibition managers, as well as senior and mid-range project directors in MICE-related establishments who are directly involved in the development and operations of local and international exhibitions and meetings events.”
Captain Kajit Habanananda concludes that the launching the UFI EMD programme, will help local MICE personnel step their knowledge up and obtain the highest skills levels. This will inevitably elevate Thai MICE industry to be a leader in the region and greatly help the organization achieve its main objective of ‘developing and improving Thailand to be ‘ASEAN’s hub of MICE industry by the year 2010.’
The first courses of the Exhibition Management Degree or EMD commence in Bangkok on 26-31 March 2007, with e-learning classes starting in April and lasting until July, and on-site classes and seminars taking place between 30 July and 4 August 2007.
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