Exhibitions must wait until September to see more events resume as the third Covid wave has stopped almost all activities during the second quarter, says the Thai Exhibition Association (TEA).
Pravit Sribanditmongkol, president of the TEA, said if there are signs of improvement after vaccine rollout, the government should immediately remove restrictions on exhibition venues from July.
Given that events can resume in September, the occupancy of exhibition venues will gradually escalate from almost zero in the second quarter to just 40-50% as most exhibitions have already been postponed to the end of the third quarter to stem the virus.
According to the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), exhibitions made up the highest revenue compared to meetings, incentives and conventions, generating 33.6 billion baht in fiscal 2020.
"Domestic exhibitions used to generate 10 billion baht when Thailand battled the first two waves last year," Mr Pravit said. "But with the third wave, domestic exhibitions might generate less than 10 billion this year."
The third outbreak, which triggered tight restrictions on venues and mass gatherings, contributed to a higher employment rate of almost 70% out of more than 100,000 workers in the exhibition industry.
He said the industry would find it difficult to recruit new staff because fresh graduates are not interested in the exhibition business as much as the hospitality sector.
This week, the association plans to submit a letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha calling for urgent financial aid to retain jobs, including accessible soft loans and tax reduction.
The TEA also want the state to support the 1-billion-baht budget to organise 10 exhibitions nationwide, such as consumer fairs, to expedite recovery when the virus subsides until 2022.
Mr Pravit said the low-risk provinces with Mice venues should prepare to welcome visitors from nearby provinces to increase expenditure.
He also suggested the government inoculate 10,000 frontline workers in the exhibition industry who have to work closely with foreigners.
He said the plan to bring in vaccinated international exhibitors without quarantine is set for September which is the high season for the market.
