Singapore’s Tourism Board is confident in the city-state hosting a growing number of international conventions, exhibitions and other events now that borders have reopened and people are traveling freely again.
“The business community is eager for opportunities to meet and network in person,” Tboard Deputy Chief Executive Officer Yap Chin Siang (葉錦祥) said in a statement yesterday. “This desire, as well as the recent easing of our border restrictions, puts the MICE industry in good stead to recover strongly.”
MICE refers to meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, a sector that accounted for about 1 percent of Singapore’s GDP before the COVID-19 pandemic and 15 percent of international arrivals, the board said.
Photo: AFP
In addition to industry conventions, MICE covers company gatherings such as off-site meetings, where staff from different locations join up for internal events.
In the first three months of this year, Singapore hosted more than 150 local and international events attended by more than 37,000 people, the board said. They included the biennial Singapore Airshow in February and Asia Pacific Maritime in March.
A full recovery for the MICE industry is expected in two to three years, it said.
Major events planned for later this year include the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual meeting that draws top military officials and diplomats from around the world. The Global Health Security Conference is scheduled for the end of this month and the Milken Institute Asia Summit is to be held in September.
There is still a long way to go until Singapore gets back to bustling levels of business it was known for before the pandemic. While there has been a strong uptick in passenger flow at Singapore Changi Airport since entry curbs were lifted for all vaccinated travelers in April, traffic is only about 50 percent of what it was in 2019.
The lingering COVID-19 restrictions in Hong Kong have made Singapore a much more attractive option. Jewellery & Gem World in September and November’s Cosmoprof and Cosmopack Asia, which focuses on cosmetics supply chains, are among the events relocating from Hong Kong to the small Southeast Asian country.
Sport also falls under the MICE umbrella. The Singapore Grand Prix is returning on from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 following a two-year hiatus. The Formula One weekend has fast become a major feature on the national calendar, with thousands of spectators watching vehicles racing around Marina Bay at night.
Singapore expects the events to help restore it as a prime business and tourist destination in Asia. The government has set aside almost S$500 million (US$364.22 million) to support tourism and is planning new attractions, including a leisure park where people can skate, surf, ski and snowboard.
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