The new CEO of Suntec Singapore tells Raini Hamdi how the venue’s US$147 million upgrade will redefine the meetings business when it reopens on May 1
You joined Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre in 2009 as business development director, then promoted to COO, and now CEO, in a span of three years.
Yes, but don’t forget I had quite a career behind me as well. I was with British Airways (BA) for many years, where I ran the whole of Europe for the airline. Pieter Idenburg (his predecessor) was my mentor from BA and that’s how I got into this business. When he recruited me, the MICE business in Singapore was going through a change. Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) were coming online and a different type of person was needed. I used to do strategic planning for BA and business change is my forte.
Did you imagine you would be CEO of Suntec?
I didn’t come with that objective. The objective was meeting the challenge of the new business, defining the new business model, learning how to be a non-monopolist.
A non-monopolist?
(Laughs) Suntec was a monopolist in Singapore. There’s the Singapore Expo of course, but we were the only large convention centre space in town and we had to reposition as the business expanded to include MBS and RWS. They were great for our business because they raised the profile of Singapore and boosted the entire business.
We started developing plans for our next-generation convention centre and here’s where I think I’m the luckiest man in town. I worked about two-and-a-half years on the design and concept, and now I get to lead it. I get to do what I’m basically good at, which is managing change, and maybe even actually change the way the convention business is being done and influence it.
How?
We’re designing for flexibility, such that we can offer the right space to the clients whenever they need it. In the past, you have a 4,000m2 exhibition hall. The client’s event is growing so a centre says “take another hall” when the client probably needs just 1,500m² more.
We are now in position to allow the space to grow with the client. Give him what he wants as opposed to what you have. That’s the essence of the modernisation programme: getting the building to be relevant to the client’s changing requirements by having a high level of convertibility, capability and technology.
Tell me more about the high level of convertibility.
A lot of our walls can move. A moving wall is not new in the convention business but having so many spaces that can be configured to the client’s requirement is quite new. We have a meeting room that has one fixed wall and three (mobile) walls. So we can remove three walls and use the room as a reception area in the morning and close it up as a break-out in the afternoon if the client wants to meet in the same space. And when it is closed, it is fully closed, i.e., it’s a proper room.
Is the building gutted out completely?
The building has been stripped bare. We’re changing a large portion of it. Level one and half of level two are retail. Level three is all new and there will be 36 meeting rooms which you can convert into various configurations for big receptions, small exhibitions or break-out rooms.
Level four and five (double height) will have four exhibition halls. We can move walls and add interesting lighting concepts so you can use the space either as an exhibition hall or, at a flick of a switch, change the lighting and create the right ambience for a a conference or dinner and dance.
Business is evolving. Before I joined Suntec, I was told if it was an exhibition or convention, it was clear it was an exhibition or convention. Now there is a merging of the two, convention with exhibition component, meeting with incentive, etc.
We are well-positioned for hybrids. We can co-locate events. There is no need for delegates to go to one hall for their exhibition and another for a conference. For an exhibition with a conference, we can now create a soundproof section for them to have the conference. Today, you see a lot of exhibitions cordon off space for the conference and the speaker competes with the sound and buzz from the exhibition.
So after the modernisation, is your convention space bigger, smaller or the same?
I have a little more space, but I could do a lot more with that space than I could before. Productivity comes in from using space as often and as efficiently as we can. It does not come from selling more space that the client does not need. We want the same customer to come back again and again. We want to be the convention and exhibition centre of choice in Singapore and Asia by having the perfect location, right space, flexibility, technology and service-oriented people.
So the client buys only the space he needs. What he’s going to get with it is next and we are going to make a big difference to competitors. Venue managers have been sort of content in just giving space, not realising we are an integral part of the entire experience and we need to add value to the client. Space can no longer be just a shell.
How will you be different?
One of the things we’re doing is something the industry has been asking for for a long time. I am surprised we didn’t have it. We’re going to offer free wireless LAN connectivity to all delegates. We’re working with renowned suppliers and telcos to allow 6,000 gadgets to be connected simultaneously and, once you connect, you can go from floor to floor without losing connectivity and having to sign in again.
We are also going to use technology to improve processes and change the way people look at the convention business. For example, clients need to know how their event is going to look. If it’s a conference, how many rows, how the chairs are arranged, how much distance to the stage, etc. (Instead of a 2D floor plan, which is the norm), we are investing in an online system which will allow, possibly for the first time in the convention and exhibition business, a client, if he so chooses, to actually take control of the configuration of his floor plan. So without any training or qualification in the area, with his sign-in code, if he does not like what we’ve planned for him, he can remove a chair from a certain row, add a chair back in or move a table to the back of the room, etc.
We’re allowing clients to visualise and modify the layout of their events, thus giving them a little more control. So when they turn up on the actual day and look at the floor plan, there are no surprises. In our business, we don’t need surprises.
How are you gearing up your staff for the new Suntec?
You’re right to point out that there are challenges when space is so modular. And while high-tech is all well and good, people are going to be the differentiator still.
Though we closed end-September and will reopen May 1, we did not lay off anyone or cut anyone’s salary. Staff are being retrained. It (a new Suntec) requires a slightly different way of running and selling. The actual service style changes. We’re lucky to have the luxury of taking staff through a longer period of training. We have 150 permanent staff now and are working towards 200 later on.
I’ve also changed my leadership team, promoted a couple of people internally. It’s a tight team of eight people. Every business goes through a cycle and you need a different team to bring the vision to reality.
In light of the change in product, we’re also looking at a rebranding exercise so that the image is also upgraded and modernised. Suntec is perceived as a leader, but we have to go out with the message that while we have all the experience, expertise and credibility, we also have a new product offering.
What sort of conventions/events would you love to clinch with the new product you have?
Our first order of business is to bring back our loyal customers who have had to move their events elsewhere as we’re closed for five months. We want to give them the first chance to experience the centre. So Tax Free World Association will be the largest exhibition to operate in the month of May when we reopen. We already have a good line-up for the month, including a conference, a consumer show and a trade show.
But of course we also want to collaborate with organisers to bring events into Singapore and offer them space/services in a compelling way, so those who might not have considered us before will do so now.
The venue did 1,600 events with 7.1 million guests last year. What’s your target for the first year after reopening?
I don’t know if these metrics mean as much as some people make them out to be. We have to watch our occupancy and the type of yield we getting but these do not necessarily correlate with the number of events held.
So we are re-evaluating our position if we want to continue to do some of the big consumer shows and we’re looking at new business such as pharmaceutical and medical events. We want more international business, but we also want the local business, including weddings and government business.
For me, the better metrics to measure success is, yes, to report profitability back to the owners/shareholders, but what’s important is getting the right mix of clients and developing long-term relationships with them. My personal objective is to work with a large customer base which will commit their events to the venue for longer terms, so as their events grow, we adjust the space to meet the growth.
How different are you to Pieter Idenburg?
Pieter is a mentor and a good friend. We have different personalities though. I’ve this thing about converting vision to reality. I leave him to tell you what he’s good at. I’m good at managing change and bringing people along on the journey. On March 31, we get the building back. It’s mine to win or lose. I intend to win.
