At the time of going to print the level of ancellations
among incentives was unclear, but most destination
management companies CEI Asia Pacific spoke
to said postponements or complete withdrawals had
been "minimal".
Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) board member Opas Netraumpai said there had been "no impact on major convention and
exhibition events".
However, he added there may be a drop in
incentive groups and that TCEB and the Thailand
Incentive and Convention Association were assessing the situation.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand also said there
were no cancellations from foreign media familiarisation groups organised for September and October.
As far as CEI Asia Pacific could ascertain, the only major event cancelled in Bangkok was the
Bangkok preview (at All Seasons Place) of the
fourth Phuket International Marine Expo.
The actual event will take place in Phuket on
December 7-10.
Major exhibition and conference centres IMPACT, Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre and Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition
Centre confirmed all events held at their centres are continuing as scheduled.
Meanwhile the second Association of Asia Pacific
Airlines Aviation Emergency Response Conference continued over September 20-21 in Bangkok.
The conference brought together more than 160 aviation industry professionals from around the region.
Also pledging to continue on without disruption in
October are two major events — the 67th Skal
World Congress, and the combined Incentive Travel
& Corporate Meetings Asia (IT&CMA) and Corporate Travel World
(CTW) Asia-Pacific Show, both to be held in Pattaya.
Skal International president Jan Sunde said he did
not think moving the congress to another site was an issue to be discussed.
IT&CMA organiser Phila Anne Tan said: "It is
'business as usual' for us and we are proceeding
with the final preparations for our event."
Despite the upbeat nature of all involved in the
business event industry, most industry professionals advised to proceed normally
with plans but "obviously monitor the situation".
Major provincial business tourism centres such
as Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hua Hin (including
Pattaya) have reported no disruptions at all.
But with Thailand's King having endorsed the
change, there appears very little chance violence will play a part in this latest change of leadership.
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