By Ian Neubauer

A leading Thai hotel group has said it expects the MICE market will contribute about 50 per cent of the company’s total revenue in 2009 — up from 35 per cent this year.

Dusit International announced it expected its MICE business to improve substantially despite a forecasted 8 per cent profit downgrade for 2009 attributed to rising oil prices and political instability in the Southeast Asian nation.

Dusit International global director of sales, Simon Burgess, told the Bangkok Post Thailand was ideally suited to the needs of the MICE market. 

”Thailand is value for money. It’s a real destination for MICE,” he said, adding that the cost of staging MICE events in Thailand is much lower than in neighbouring Singapore or Hong Kong. 

Dusit International has planned 20 foreign trips to promote its hotels and will attend three trade shows in Thailand next year.  It will also focus its promotions on the Mice market.

Dusit International has 16 hotels and resorts in Thailand and two more under construction: the Baraquda Pattaya and the Dusit Samui. The group also has properties in Dubai, the Philippines, and Egypt.