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 additional tools to compete at an international level. TCEB encourages the idea that everyone in society has an important role to play in helping to preserve our environment by applying these green concepts not only for corporate meetings, but also for other social occasions.”

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 to want 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 Green Meetings so that service providers will develop their products and services more actively along these lines to serve their customers’ needs.                          

Applying the ‘Green Meetings’ concept to every part of Thai society will build a more environmentally friend image for the country on an international level. 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 the year, most companies - especially large ones – 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 including choosing event organizers or hotels with a high awareness of green concepts, avoiding the use of non-recyclable materials like foam and plastics, reducing paper usage and reusing delegates’ name badges and accessories from previous events.  

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