BEC-Tero to build permanent centre for exhibitions, concerts
BEC-Tero Entertainment announced plans yesterday to build a Bt100-million permanent exhibition and concert hall next year in central Bangkok.
The company's three-year lease on the 10,000-square metre BEC-Tero Hall at Suan Lum Night Bazaar expires in March next year, which has forced the company to establish alternative digs, said Brian Marcar, the group's chairman. BEC-Tero is considering building a permanent venue in popular areas like the RCA (Royal City Avenue) section of Rama IX Road or Rachadapisek Road. The new hall should be capable of holding all the concerts, exhibitions and entertainment events organised by the group. "We will decide on the location by the end of this year and a permanent hall will be constructed and opened in 2007," Marcar said. "There will be space of about 10,000 square metres and it should hold between 10,000 and 15,000 visitors." He added that BEC-Tero's parent company, BEC World Plc, owns a 10-rai plot in the RCA area. BEC-Tero, together with its partners Pico (Thailand) and Asia Congress Events, yesterday announced a joint venture named BEC-Tero Exhibitions to organise exhibitions to attract upmarket visitors. BEC-Tero holds a 51-per-cent stake in the joint venture, while Pico owns 39 per cent and Asia Congress Events the rest. The new outfit has registered capital of Bt5 million. "BEC-Tero Exhibitions will specialise in organising consumer lifestyle exhibitions. They will be relevant to today's image-conscious consumers who want more than just discounted deals," said Christopher Elliott, managing director of BEC-Tero. "We are going to appeal to upmarket visitors who want to find out more about goods and services and wish to compare features and benefits of products beyond looking at the simple price," he said. The company will organise about five exhibitions during the rest of the year, starting with the World for Women exhibition at BEC-Tero Hall between August 10 and 14. There will also be the Hip Hip (Highly Innovative Products for Highly Individual People) exhibition at the same venue between August 31 and September 3. Elliott said other exhibitions would be about child development and education, spa, health and wellbeing, as well as outdoor activities and adventuring. "We would like to make our exhibitions exciting and create a stimulating environment for visitors to interact with suppliers in an exciting way rarely seen before in the country," he said. Marcar said the group expected to generate more than Bt100 million a year from its exhibitions, which could benefit from BEC-Tero's strong database of between 150,000 and 200,000 customers who regularly attend concerts and entertainment events. He said BEC-Tero, which has organised over 10 concerts this year, expected to generate Bt1.5 billion in revenue this year, up from Bt1.2 billion last year. Income will be split evenly between concerts and television productions. Marcar said the company would organise more concerts this year including: the Black Eyed Peas and Darren Hayes in July; Robbie Williams in November; and Billy Joel in December. Marcar said that Thai Ticket Master, BEC-Tero's subsidiary for distribution of tickets for concert and other shows, was in talks with a partner in India to set up an overseas joint venture. Thai Ticket Master, which hopes to generate revenue of Bt600 million-Bt700 million from selling concert tickets this year, will franchise its licence to a Malaysia firm, Marcar said. A Malaysian Ticket Master office is due to open by next to sell tickets for Disney's live Winnie the Pooh show. Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn The Nation
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