The inaugural Singapore Hospitality & Tourism Conference (SHTC) 2025 is taking place today at Marina Bay Sands, in conjunction with ITB Asia.
In addition to panel discussions, student attendees also have access to a career fair which offers close to 700 immediate opportunities across more than 20 companies in tourism such as Mandai Wildlife Group, Conrad Singapore Orchard, and Singapore Airlines.
These extensive job opportunities reflect the tourism sector’s strength, supported by strong employment trends, where between June 2023 and June 2025, Singapore’s total tourism workforce grew by more than eight per cent from 69,000 to 75,000. The sector is actively hiring, with over 5,000 job postings covering around 6,700 vacancies available in 2Q2025 on Workforce Singapore’s MyCareersFuture portal.
Rachel Loh, executive director of hospitality and tourism talent at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), told media during a group interview that, beyond traditional roles such as HR executives, new positions have emerged, including a data scientist at Marina Bay Sands and an international ski and snowboard management trainee at EU Holidays.
Additionally, the hospitality sector, which employs over 43 per cent of the tourism sector’s workforce, is set to grow even further, with another 1,500 new hotel rooms expected to open by end-2026.
Loh asserted that “tourism has a bright future”, backing this claim with IHL statistics that show some 1,500 students now select tourism and hospitality as their top choice – a 66 per cent growth compared to two years ago.
For mid-career individuals, work-study programmes have seen “very encouraging growth”, with participants rising from 70 two years ago to 100 this year (based on Republic Polytechnic figures). This development is supported by accredited courses offered through CET (Continuing Education and Training) centres like the NTUC LearningHub, which has a three-year partnership with STB.
Responding to a query raised by TTGmice about SHATEC’s closure earlier this year, Loh reassured: “There is sufficient supply to continue this pipeline of training, both for students as well as industry professionals, into the broader tourism sector as well.”
In response to another query about how difficult it is to hire within Singapore’s business events sector, Loh acknowledged that while demand is high – driven by the goal to triple business events receipts by 2040 – hiring is challenging because roles are now far more specialised and sophisticated.
Business events are no longer just about basic logistics, but about creating “really good and immersive” experiences, and this shift requires specific competencies in technology, data analysis, and sustainability, forcing the sector to compete for talent with industries that traditionally own those skillsets. Loh cited the creation of specialised audiovisual courses as an example, illustrating how deeply the required skills have evolved.
This inaugural SHTC 2025 evolved from the annual Tourism Transformation event, building on five editions led by the Tourism Sector Coordinator Team, comprising six IHLs (Institute of Technical Education, Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, and Temasek Polytechnic).
Now rebranded and enhanced, this iteration with new partners including STB, Singapore Institute of Technology, and Singapore University of Social Sciences, aims to deliver a more comprehensive programme and job opportunities for students, signalling a strong commitment to build Singapore’s talent pipeline for the hospitality and tourism sector.
