Local leaders and tourism professionals have long desired a modern conference centre to bolster Phuket’s appeal for the so-called meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market. Leave it to Gulu Lalvani, developer of the Royal Phuket Marina (RPM), to make that dream a reality. In a press announcement on 5 August, Lalvani celebrated the launch of a privately funded exhibition and conference centre at RPM and detailed plans to partner with a world leader in conferences to make the centre a hub of activity.

“I’ve lived here and done business here for a long time, and I’ve heard about government projects — that they have planned to build an exhibition and conference centre for a long time, more than 10 years,” Lalvani said. “I didn’t see any continual progress, and the projects didn’t move on. If the projects could get approval, the Thai government would still have to continue working on the them for around five years.”

To build the RPM Convention Centre, Lalvani’s RPM joined Informa, the largest publicly owned organizer of conferences and seminars in the world, staging over 10,000 events annually. Informa is a owned by IRR Exhibition, Ltd., which organizes many popular conferences in Europe, such as the Adam Smith Conference and the Monaco Yacht Show.
The exhibition and conference centre covers around 2,500sqm, with a final cost of around 1 billion baht. At capacity, the centre will accommodate around 1,800 participants for events, making it three times larger than any other conference centre in Phuket. After opening in December with the Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX) from 4-7 December, the RPM Convention Centre will aim to host two events monthly.

“We appreciate that we can extend the world’s business commitment to present here in Phuket,” said Will Morris, chief executive officer of the Informa Yacht Group. “Phuket is not only a famous destination full of natural places to relax at the beach, but it’s also a destination for people to come to conferences, seminars and international exhibitions. Visitors can see the beautiful Andaman Sea and other natural wonders, and as a destination it’s a paradise for tourists. That’s why Phuket has potential to become a leading international venue for conventions and expos.”

Lalvani explained that talks about partnering with Informa Yacht Group started after RPM had prepared a budget and location for the project. He said RPM approached Informa because of the group’s expertise in organizing, arranging and managing conventions.
“If the first phase is successful, we’re planning to continue with a second phase of around 7,000sqm, which will have a budget of around 1.5 billion baht,” Lalvani said. “However, we have to see the turnover and income during one year first. If the government approves construction of an exhibition and convention centre as well, that will encourage Phuket’s economy to be stronger, and we believe that it will increase the number of tourists by around 20 percent.”

Morris also said that Informa will seek to promote exhibitions and conferences not only for the local population to use the centre but also to draw people from overseas, from Asia and Europe, with events that are presented both indoors in the exhibition space and outdoors. The capacity of the first phase of the development is 200 booths, and it can be divided to accommodate two or three simultaneous events. The main uses of the RPM Conference Centre are expected to be boat shows, motor shows, conferences and seminars.