BANGKOK, 2 October 2019: TCEB joins hands with five cities in Thailand to campaign for ‘zero plastic events.
The five cities identified as having strong potential in the events business could eliminate 8.6 million plastic water bottles from meeting venues within a year.
TCEB has identified Chiang Mai, Phuket, Khon Kaen, Pattaya and Bangkok as the five MICE cities that lead in the country lucrative events business.
The campaign to green events is part of a wider initiative by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau to promote sustainability in Thailand’s MICE industry.
TCEB president Chiruit Isarangkan Na Ayuthaya claims Thailand was the first country in Asia to conduct a roadmap for green meetings.
“To push forward the agenda of environmental responsibility, TCEB joins forces with the MICE Cities network to support the readiness of each city. By putting the sustainability policy into practice, it will positively benefit stakeholders,” Chiruit explained.
Creating ‘zero plastic events’ is the starting point for the cities to reduce plastic use in meeting and banquet rooms, ranging from meeting equipment to food and beverage containers.
According to recent statistics, the five MICE Cities welcomed 34,691,347 domestic and international MICE travellers in 2018.
In one year, over 17 million plastic water bottles were used in meeting events in the cities. Within the first year of the campaign, TCEB projects to reduce the use of plastic bottles by 50% or take out of circulation 8,600,000 plastic bottles which would help to save organisers meetings around THB30 million.
Meanwhile, international associations that organise events in Thailand are now obliged to select venues and restaurants that have green credentials if they wish to have TCEB’s endorsement and support.
