While every country in Southeast Asia is scrambling to secure a larger share of the market for corporate events and exhibitions, Singapore appears to be slightly ahead of the rest.
The MICE sector is big business in the Asia-Pacific region, which is expected to attract more than 100 million business travellers and MICE visitors by 2015, up from 40 million in 2002.
Singapore, recognised for its safety and cleanliness, is leaving no stone unturned in its pursuit of a larger share of this market.
According to Aloysius Arlando, assistant chief executive, Business Travel and MICE Group at the Singapore Tourism Board, the board aims to raise the contribution from business and MICE visitors to at least 35 per cent of total tourism receipts, or a projected S$10.5 billion (HK$54.2 billion), by 2015, up from the current 30 per cent, or S$3 billion.
Last August, the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, a specialist group of the city's tourist board, earmarked S$170 million, drawn from the country's S$2 billion tourism development fund, to help the local MICE industry submit competitive bids and win a critical mass of business events, under its 'Business Events in Singapore' scheme. The Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau also launched a marketing initiative late last year, called the corporate outreach programme, aimed at influencing the decision making on corporate events among the more than 7,000 multinational corporations in Singapore.
The bureau also started a conference ambassador programme last December to strengthen its relationship with individuals, mostly opinion leaders in their respective fields, who organise business events in Singapore on a voluntary, non-professional basis.