Thailand to lure more visitors from China

A girl sits on a boat decorated with flowers in Ayutthaya province, Thailand, July 22, 2013. People celebrated the arrival of Vassa with candles and flowers on Monday in Thailand. This day is also called "Candle Festival" in English by foreigners. Vassa is the three-month annual retreat observed by monks and Buddhist ascetics. The Vassa 2013 starts on July 23 this year. [Photo / Xinhua]

Thailand is launching a campaign to attract more Chinese visitors.

The campaign will focus on meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions and goes under the acronym of MICE.

"We pursue global MICE excellence and international standards to drive our industry growth," Parichat Svetasreni, director of Marketing and Corporate Image under the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said on Thursday.

She said the bureau's initiative is to increase MICE revenue up to $2.93 billion by the end of 2013.

She believed that the robust Chinese economy will boost travelers from China to Thailand.

The director said the bureau will hold promotional events in other parts of China.

"China is a big market which will be expanded by the reinforced ties and contact between China and ASEAN," she said.

Besides Beijing and Shanghai, emerging cities, such as Chengdu in Sichuan province, Wuhan in Hubei province and Suzhou in Jiangsu province, will see more of their residents visiting Thailand.

Thailand welcomed about 64,000 Chinese visitors attending meetings and exhibitions in 2012, an increase of 31.6 per cent over the figure for 2011.

Its targeted number in 2013 is estimated at more than 70,000.