SINGAPORE: Singapore has maintained its pole position as Asia's top convention city for the 10th consecutive year, according to the latest global rankings by the International Congress and Convention Association.
Singapore also retained its spot as the only Asian city in the top five convention cities in the world alongside Vienna, Barcelona, Paris and Berlin, since 2006.
Singapore welcomed a
record 13.2 million visitors last year. Business visitors formed 24 per
cent of total visitorship to Singapore, with the number of business
visitors rising 2.6 per cent to 3.2 million.
Expenditure by these
business travellers increased by 4.1 per cent to an estimated S$5.6
billion, or 25 percent of total tourism receipts.
The Meetings,
Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry saw a 46 per
cent year-on-year growth in the number of conventions, conferences and
trade shows held in Singapore last year.
Singapore Tourism
Board's assistant chief executive, Neeta Lachmandas, said: "Our success
can be attributed to several factors: a vibrant eco-system that nurtures
business events of exceptional quality, the dynamic growth in Asia, and
most importantly, the dedication of our MICE industry partners.
"Looking
ahead, Singapore aims to continue leveraging the growing opportunities
in Asia and our strong knowledge network to further strengthen our
position as a preferred MICE destination.
"Singapore strives to
differentiate itself by co-creating and developing a strong network of
business events within Singapore's key priority industries.
"Through
close collaboration with professional industry partners and sustained
efforts to develop the capabilities of Singapore's key industry clusters
such as biomedical and healthcare; infocomm technologies; environment
and energy; and banking and finance, STB serves to attract and develop
flagship MICE events of international standing that reinforce
Singapore's attractiveness as a leading MICE city."
Inaugural
events staged in Singapore last year included Cruise Shipping Asia,
International Air Transport Association (IATA) Global Aviation Human
Capital Summit and ScreenSingapore.
Singapore will host 17 new world congresses from 2012 till 2016.
These
include the 52nd ACI World Congress in 2013, the World Federation of
Engineering Organisations Congress 2013, the 36th World Diamond Congress
in 2013 and the International Congress of the World Confederation for
Physical Therapy 2015.
- CNA/al