Bangkok - 23 August, 2010

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau Public organization (TCEB) has brought together a host of green-hearted Thai top executives from leading organizations interested in developing environmentally-friendly activities to share their ideas on how to create the perfect environmentally-friendly event or party using the latest Green Meetings concepts.

Mr. Akapol Sorasuchart, President of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau 
(Public Organization) said, “As TCEB's main objectives are to promote meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions [known by the acronym ’MICE’], we established ‘Green Meetings’ as a strategic policy and set standards to drive Thailand’s MICE industry. We strongly believe that promoting a ‘Green Meetings’ policy will also give Thailand the tools to compete at an international level. TCEB encourages the concept that everyone in society has an important role to play in helping to preserve our environment by applying these green concepts within their wider communities - not only for corporate meetings, but for other social occasions also.”

Until now, TCEB has been successfully working alongside government agencies and private sector organizations, including the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), Green Leaf Foundation, Trade Exhibition Association (Thai), the Thailand Incentive & Convention Association (Thai) and Thai MICE players to support service providers and operators – such as hotels, convention centers and event organizers – to run their businesses in more eco-friendly ways. However, despite these efforts, many end-users of these services remain unfamiliar with the Green Meetings concept.

“‘Green Meetings, Greening Your Lifestyle’ is an activity aimed at encouraging service buyers to be more environmentally conscious and desire to play their part in the Green Meetings trend by applying these ideas when organizing meetings and other special occasions, such as outings, team building activities and all kinds of parties. I think it is very important to increase the demand for of Green Meetings in society so that service providers will develop their products and services more actively to serve their customers’ needs. Applying the ‘Green Meetings’ concept to every part of Thai society will lift up the country’s environmentally-friendly international image. This will also establish green branding for Thailand’s MICE sector,” Mr. Akapol added. Green Meetings concepts are simple and easy to implement. To illustrate, during one year, most companies - especially large ones – usually organize a number of internal staff meetings, external meetings and other celebratory occasions. From start to end, many waste a significant amount of energy, creating waste and pollution from the logistics involved. In order to more effectively make our country greener, service buyers can apply the Green Meetings concepts of ‘reduce, recycle and reuse’ to their next meeting or seminar. Some examples of these are to choose event organizers or hotels with a high awareness of green concepts, avoid using non-recyclable materials like foam and plastics, reduce paper usage and reuse delegates’ name badges and accessories from previous events.

By bringing service providers and service buyers of meetings and seminars closer together under this new nationwide trend for Green Meetings, TCEB’s vision is for Thailand to become a regional leader in the field and the global destination of choice for hosting international green conferences and seminars.

Those interested in finding out more about how they can play a part in the Green Meetings revolution can visit www.greenmeetingsthailand.com for more details.

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For further details, contact
Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau
Arisara Thanuplang Public Relations Manager
Tel 02 694 6000 ext 6095