Singapore ranked as Top International Meeting City

For the first time in history, Singapore has been ranked the “Top International Meeting City” in 2007 in the Union of International Associations (UIA) 2007 Global Rankings. In the UIA’s International Meetings Statistics 2007 report, Singapore leapfrogged two notches to clinch the top position, beating perennial favourites Paris (ranked 2nd) and Vienna (3rd), giving its ambition to be an exchange capital of the world a boost. 

“The UIA congratulates Singapore on the steady growth in the number of international meetings it has hosted over the past few years, a growth that results from and reflects the focus, quality and creativity of the Singapore meetings industry,” said Mr Jacques de Mevius, Secretary-General, UIA.

Pitted against the best of the best from around the region, Singapore also topped the rankings in Asia, as Asia’s top country and city for meetings, a position it has held for the last 24 consecutive years for the latter. As a destination, Singapore accounted for 22.5% of the meetings held in the continent in 2007. Over the past ten years, Singapore has also seen a whopping 256% growth in international meetings staged there.

Mr Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board said, “The strong showing by Singapore reflects its strengths and sustained popularity as a leading business destination. In clinching the top position of the world’s top city for meetings, Singapore cements its position as the preferred destination globally for business travellers to congregate.”

Mr Richard Holmes, International Director of Meetings of the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the International League Against Epilepsy, feels that the main factor accounting for Singapore’s strategic strengths as a MICE destination is the uniqueness of its East meets West culture. “The blend of culture and history ensures that every visitor to Singapore feels welcomed. This was the first time in 20 years that the International Epilepsy Congress was held in Asia so not only was Singapore showcasing its own city but it was also representing the region too, and it passed with flying colours.”

“The support that the Singapore Tourism Board offers to congress organisers is superb – from the moment an initial enquiry is made right through the event and beyond. Additionally, Suntec as a convention centre has world-class facilities and an excellent strategic location. The professionalism of all personnel, be it from the convention centre, hotels or enlisted suppliers, was first-rate,” he added.

Cityscape Asia, a property investment and development event, similarly chose to stage its event in Singapore because of its world-class infrastructure, good transportation and telecommunications systems, strategic location in Asia, safe environment, transparent business environment and an English-speaking workforce.

“We are very pleased that the event attracted more than 3,600 trade buyers with more than 28% coming from overseas. This is particularly encouraging when you consider that Singapore has limited space for property projects and yet was able to attract high net worth individuals, property developers and investors to this neutral hub for business networking,” said Ms Rosalind Ng, Managing Director (Asia), IIR Exhibitions Pte Ltd.

According to Professor Jae-Hoon Song, President of the International Symposium on Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance (ISAAR), what drew the organising committee to stage the 6th ISAAR for the first time outside Korea is Singapore’s organisational capabilities, excellent meeting facilities and a wide range of accommodation options.

“The selection of Singapore signifies the host organisation's confidence in the organisational capability of the Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) as well as Singapore’s ability to attract delegates from Asia Pacific and beyond.” The event attracted over 1,200 delegates from 47 countries.

Last year saw Singapore hosting 465 international meetings that met UIA’s qualifying criteria, representing a significant 56% growth over 2006. Most notable among these were The 3rd Hague International Model of United Nations, the 27th International Epilepsy Congress, the 2nd World Glaucoma Congress & Exhibition, the 18th Wonca World Conference 2007 and International Bar Association Conference 2007 which cumulatively drew close to 12,700 delegates to converge in Singapore.

Singapore also maintained its ranking as the easiest place in the world to do business for the third year running in the latest World Bank Report, and edged out New Zealand and the United States in the “Doing Business 2009” ranking by the World Bank.

As cities around the world ramp up their efforts to capture a slice of the growing BTMICE market, the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB) has laid the foundation to surge ahead in this area. Two years ago, SECB launched a new business strategy to foster an even closer partnership with other Singapore government agencies in growing, attracting and creating business events that are centred on Singapore’s key economic clusters such as Biomedical Sciences, Infocomm Technology and Digital Media, Environment and Water Technologies, and Banking and Finance. To strengthen its competitiveness, a Sin$170 million ‘BE in Singapore’ or ‘Business Events in Singapore’ incentive scheme was introduced in 2006 to enable the industry to bid for, attract and anchor a critical mass of business events to sustain a robust business pipeline.

“Through this new business approach, we have been able to support, attract and anchor some 450 business events. This has translated into a bumper year of high calibre business events in 2007, including Cityscape Asia, BioMedical Asia, Carbon Forum Asia and the inaugural Singapore International Water Week. Last year, business and MICE visitors accounted for close to 3 million of total Visitor Arrivals, and contributed over $5 billion or 40% of our total Tourism Receipts – a new record for Singapore,” said Mr Aloysius Arlando, Assistant Chief Executive (Business Travel and MICE Group), STB.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Promotions, New Hotels, Singapore, Singapore Visitor Arrivals