New convention centre plans still delayed

A new national convention centre planned for Chiang Mai is still on the drawing board much to the dismay of the tourist and hospitality industry. Initially planned under the disposed Thaksin administration, the project was put on hold following the Sept 2006 coup.

Plans to develop a large centre and target the MICE sector created a bullish sentiment in the city when announced several years ago, resulting in a flood of new hotel rooms. However, with the project failing to materialise the industry is struggling, and the losses incurred might eventually add up to 2 billion baht according to Vorapong Muchaotai, secretary of the Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association.

“The MICE market is highly productive and has great potential as the market can generate tourism income three times greater than other sections,� explained Vorapong.
 Many seminars and conferences that were penciled in for Chiang Mai on the strength of the convention centre plan have since been moved elsewhere, including the association’s conference and exhibitions and the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2008 in January next year.


Although the centre’s construction will go ahead, sited on land provided by the military compound in Mae Rim, north of the city, no decision has been made to restart the project by the military installed government. It is hoped the newly elected government will deal with it as a priority in 2008.

Particularly affected is the luxury hotel chains who had decided to finally go ahead with building five star hotels in the city. The Shangri La, GHM (Chedi), Mandarin Oriental, Dusit and Le Meridien Groups have all recently constructed or opened luxury hotels in the city in an unprecedented show of up-market hospitality. Some have more than 200 rooms and without the centre, are struggling to maintain occupancy levels.