Bangkok--15 Aug--Vivaldi PR
Singapore has retained its position as Asia's Top Convention City for close to a decade, according to the latest Global Rankings by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). In addition, Singapore has maintained its spot as one of the Top Five Convention Cities alongside Vienna, Barcelona, Paris and Berlin.
On this win, ICCA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Martin Sirk congratulated Singapore on hosting the most rotating association meetings amongst all Asia-Pacific destinations in 2010. “Singapore has been proactively targeting this sector as part of a clear strategy for many years, and was probably the first destination in the world to so closely align this meetings strategy with the economic development goals of the country.”
According to Mr. Martin Sirk, “it’s no great surprise to me to see this continued success, since this is a sector where long-term vision and consistency are required. But it still takes great marketing effort in what are becoming ever-more competitive regional and global marketplaces, and the continued investment in great new facilities and human capital, so I applaud the hard work and creativity of all our Singaporean members.”
“Our success is in no small part due to our sound business fundamentals, ease of doing business and the relentless commitment of our MICE industry partners,” commented Ms. Melissa Ow, Assistant Chief Executive, Industry Development (II) Group, Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
In 2010, Singapore attracted 3.1 million business travellers, which accounted for 27 per cent of all visitors to Singapore, spending about $ 5.4 billion Singapore dollars. This signifies growths where it matters most - 19.2 per cent and 28.6 per cent respectively over 2009.1 Singapore’s Business Travel, and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry looks set for greater heights as evidenced by more event wins. Within the first half of 2011 alone, there were 12 new World Congresses secured to add to Singapore’s line up of events from 2012 to 2016 — in comparison, 14 were secured within the whole of 2010. Spanning across a vast array of industries such as Lifestyle, Business and Trade, Social, Infrastructure, and Healthcare, these new association meeting wins include the 52nd ACI World Congress in 2013, the World Federation of Engineering Organisations Congress 2013, the 36th World Diamond Congress in 2014 and the International Congress of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy 2015.