Bangkok named best city for conventions in Asia-Pacific

As Bangkok prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this November, the Thai capital was named the best destination for conventions and exhibitions in the Asia-Pacific region and sixth in the world by GainingEdge, an Australia-based global tourism and convention consultancy.

Already rated the world’s most visited city several times by MasterCard, the Thai capital has long been known as an exceptional destination for tourism, culture, food and entertainment. The city has also been staking its claim as a competitive nexus for business and conventions. APEC is just the latest in a long line of major international conferences that Bangkok has hosted over the years.

While the city boasts several major convention centers and exhibition halls, along with an abundance of top-flight hotels that also serve as venues for events, GainingEdge used a different metric to determine Thailand’s advantage as a convention capital.

The consulting firm has created what it calls a “harnessing ratio.” The ratio determines how effective destinations are at attracting bids for summits, meetings and conventions.  It assumes that cities with more active leaders on the boards of international associations will bring more forums to the city.

According to GainingEdge, Bangkok has 194 local leaders active on the boards of global organizations. That, in turn, helped them draw as many as 123 meetings to the capital since 2018.

Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayutthaya, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) Director, said that he understands the role those types of leaders play in bringing events to Bangkok. TCEB has launched a program to appoint local leaders or well-known experts to become convention ambassadors, he added.

Photo courtesy of https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG220224150950783