The first dedicated exhibition and conference center has be officially opened at the Royal Phuket Marina, Thailand. The 2,500 square meter waterfront facility known as “RPM International Exhibition and Conference Center” is a joint venture between Royal Phuket Marina and Informa, the largest publicly-owned organizer of conferences and courses in the world, staging over 10,000 events annually.

The new conference center, three times larger than any existing exhibition facility in Phuket, is expected to host one or two high profile events every month. RPM was developed by tycoon Gulu Lalvani, founder of Binatone, the world’s second largest manufacturer of digital cordless phones, who is on a mission to promote Phuket as a world class yachting hub.

PIMEX, which runs from December 4 to 7 was the first major exhibition to be held at the new RPM facility. Visitors to Phuket exceeded a record five million last year, up 11.25 per cent from 2006. Despite the troubles in Bangkok over the past few weeks, a spokesperson for RPM said Phuket had been largely unaffected and high season hotel bookings and visitors to the Island are expected to be high.