Even though a softer business events market is on the horizon, there are still numerous opportunities that can help develop the sector
Despite the overall decline in business travel to Singapore in 2015 as per latest statistics, the encouraging performance of the business events market is providing that silver lining of hope amid the gloom.
Tourism receipts fell 6.8 per cent year-on-year in 2015 to S$22 billion (US$15.7 billion), even as international visitor arrivals climbed 0.9 per cent to 15.2 million. These poorer tourism receipts were largely due to a six per cent fall in BTMICE visitor arrivals, with a corresponding eight per cent drop in per capita expenditure.
Nevertheless, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) deputy chief executive, Melissa Ow, highlighted that STB supported more than 350 business events in 2015, which was a 27 per cent year-on-year increase from 2014. This resulted in 287,000 visitor arrivals, a year-on-year hike of 0.3 per cent.
“An example is Sibos 2015 in October, which saw over 30 per cent increase in attendance to more than 7,000 visitors,” she said.
“We recognise business traffic will be subjected to some of the conditions that will impact overall economies. That means there are a lot of opportunities for us to think about how we might grow our business events,” Ow remarked.
Significant upcoming business events secured by the Lion City include the International Council of Nurses World Congress 2019 which will see 3,000 visitors, the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress 2019 which is expecting 6,000 guests, as well as the Lions Clubs International Convention 2020 which is expected to host an impressive 20,000 guests.
As for Arun Madhok, chief executive officer of Suntec Singapore, he said business events have performed well in 2015 and the first half of 2016. In particular, 2015 was an excellent year for the centre as Suntec Singapore saw its “best ever financial performance”.
Moreover, last year at the Singapore Tourism Industry Conference, it was announced that STB will be getting S$700 million (US$520 million) to support its destination promotions over the next five years. A part of it will be channelled to the Business Events in Singapore (BEiS) fund to provide organisers, corporations and associations greater support for their events.
However, the exact amount of funding for BEiS has yet to be determined, and STB’s assistant chief executive, Yap Chin Siang, said that “detailed perimeters are still being worked through”.
Welcoming this additional support, Madhok said: “The enhanced BEiS is timely and provides the welcomed impetus to work closely with partners and form alliances to seek out and attract international opportunities to Singapore.”
The enhanced funding will enable the bureau to support business development initiatives that are industry driven. For example, a MICE venue, a DMC and a cluster of hotels can now be supported in their joint effort to go after an incentive group or large-scale business event, said Yeo. BEiS will also be used to support associations in their pre-bidding activities.
However, Madhok cautioned against a rosy market in the months ahead.
He said: “In the next six to 12 months, we anticipate a somewhat softer overall business events market especially for smaller size meetings of less than 500 pax due to a more uncertain economic outlook, (hence) we will see an emphasis on quality and value, and greater demand for customisation and ease of doing business.”
