All eyes in the events industry are turning to what must be the most exciting growth story in the region: the rise of Singapore as a destination for meetings, incentive travel, exhibitions and conferences (Mice).
The Lion City growled off the economic downturn with the recent opening of two integrated resort projects that feature casinos, hotels and conference facilities, in addition to theatres, museums, shops and restaurants. Backers say the schemes should give Macau a run for its money, while enhancing the city state as a non-gaming visitor destination.
Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands have given the Mice industry something to savour with potential for growth bringing benefits to other Singapore venues. Singapore's tourism board says the strengths of the Mice industry in the city are its strategic location, extensive air links, entertainment and recreation options, a business-friendly environment and an English-speaking workforce.
'What is unique to Singapore is that experiences are built around the visitor, with their needs and preferences in mind,' says Melissa Ow, assistant CEO of the Singapore Tourism Board, adding that events such as the Formula One Night Race, Youth Olympic Games and Human Capital Summit are expected to lift the city's prospects even more. 'Singapore's pipeline of business events is a barometer of the health of the business events industry,' Ow says.
According to Singapore-based business formation consultants, Janus Corporate Solutions, about 6,000 business events are held in the city annually. In 2008, the city state accounted for a quarter of all the business events held in Asia with three million business travellers.
'The Mice industry generated about S$6 billion (HK$35 billion) that accounted for 40 per cent of the total tourism revenue for 2008,' a Janus spokesman says. 'There was a slight dip in visitor arrivals last year, but the Singapore Tourism Board forecasts 11.5 to 12.5 million tourist arrivals for 2010.'
Such revenue and delegate numbers bring ample rewards, not least recognition as 'Top International Meetings City' for the third year running in the Union of International Associations annual statistics report. Out of 1,653 cities, Singapore was also ranked second 'Top International Country', up from third place in the figures for 2008. The United States tops the list of 194 countries.
