The United Nations has urged exhibitors in Thailand to adopt the "green" concept in order to reduce their operating costs and enhance the country's competitiveness in the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) market.
Niclas Svenningsen, head of sustainability at the UN, said Thailand is one of the most popular destinations in the world and has the potential to develop as a MICE hub.
Yet, the Kingdom needs to improve the local business environment if it wants to attract more events. As concerns over global warming are on the rise, green marketing and exhibitions should be a priority issue, he said.
The first step is to use local products and lower the use of chemical products. Meanwhile, key policy-makers should encourage local organisations to understand and be concerned about climate change and environmental problems, said the UN official.
"Looking at this year's World Expo in Shanghai and the World Cup in South Africa, they are holding green events. This is a global trend that Thailand should get in line with," he said.
Svenningsen added that green meetings and exhibitions also create more jobs, besides which humans trouble the environment less than machines.
Akapol Sorasuchart, president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), said his agency had launched a Green Meeting Project in 2009. This year, it is running concurrently with a subsidiary project called Go Green Exhibition.
Since last year, 35 local MICE organisations - mostly venue operators, event organisers, hotels and contractors - have joint the Green Meeting Project. Many of them have put the environment to the forefront of their business development.
This year, the TCEB is conducting development measures specific to the exhibition segment, with an outline set to be issued of how the private sector can improve in this respect.
One of activities is to deliver a "Go Green Exhibition Award" to certified outstanding operators. The private sector is invited to join the project by October.
Akapol said green meetings would help country to improve its competitiveness in the MICE sector.
He said the TCEB intended to use the green-meeting concept to help in bidding to hold World Expo 2020.