Singapore secures steady pipeline of MICE events for 2022 and beyond

Mid-to longer-term prospects for Singapore’s business events industry remain intact, and Singapore is well-placed to maintain its top business events destination status despite the ongoing pandemic.

Last year, the city-state hosted more than 200 business events, welcoming around 50,000 local and international attendees. These included pilot events where new Covid-safe protocols were tested, such as the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Industrial Transformation Asia Pacific 2021, Milken Institute Asia Summit, and the 50^th St Gallen Symposium.

In 2021, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) managed to secure 26 significant business events, some of which are multi-year deals.

Notable events this year include the Singapore Air Show, Global Health Security Conference 2022, FIND – Design Fair Asia (2022–2024), World One Health Congress 2022, World Cities Summit 2022, 60^th International Young Lawyers’ Congress 2022, and Seafood Expo 2022.

Beyond 2022, the business events slate will continue its robust growth with events such as Gastech 2023, Transport Logistic and Air Cargo 2023, SILMO Singapore (2023–2025), World Congress of Dermatology 2023, and Worldchefs Congress and Expo 2024.

At the recent STB media conference, Yap Chin Siang, deputy chief executive, highlighted two other prominent events that will grace Singapore shores – the Rotary International Convention 2024, the largest association convention ever hosted in Singapore; and the 110^th Lions Clubs International Convention in 2028.

The former is expected to attract 25,000 members to the city-state, while the latter looks set to welcome 20,000 foreign delegates and generate more than S$50 million (US$37.2 million) in expected tourism receipts.

STB has also been working closely with SACEOS (Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers) to support the industry-led accreditation programme SG SafeEvent Standards Certification, where more than 80 organisations have already registered interest. To date, 40 organisations and 3,200 Ambassadors have been certified.

“All these underpin the appeal of Singapore’s MICE destination status and it is a testament to international confidence in our ability to hold high-quality events in a safe way, especially in a post-covid environment,” stated Yap.