Meeting Newz caught up with Stephanie Yong ~ Area Director Oceania at Singapore Tourism Board (STB) recently to talk business events Singapore. What is the STB strategy for attracting incentives and events from ANZ? What products and services is STB focusing on and what are the current trends? Singapore has consistently been a popular destination for both the Australian and New Zealand leisure and MICE1 markets. With leisure and business travel fast resuming, Singapore’s reputation as a destination that is safe, offers numerous delegate experiences, and is also convenient to reach via direct flights from major capital cities, are some of the reasons that make it a favourite choice for MICE and event organisers from Australia and New Zealand. As a city that constantly innovates and reinvents itself, this also means that a repeat visit can present completely different experiences from the one before. For example, when the world largely ground to a halt during the pandemic, Singapore remained busy, with new hotels, attractions, tours and food and beverage establishments opening their doors, while existing establishments also took the opportunity of the down-time to renovate and rebrand. This suite of new offerings and ease of travel to Singapore remains a drawcard for event organisers. What are the visitor numbers like coming from Australia? And New Zealand? And for business travel and events specifically? In 2019, Singapore received 19.1 million international visitors. While the COVID-19 pandemic naturally affected arrivals on a global level, Singapore has remained cautiously optimistic. It was very promising to see the city receive 1.5 million visitor arrivals for the first half of 2022. And with events like the successful Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix and new and rejuvenated destination offerings, it is anticipated that numbers can only increase favourably for 2022 and into 2023. SINGAPORE REIMAGINED [ S I NGAPOR E Stephanie Yong ~ Area Director Oceania at Singapore Tourism Board [44] meeting newz [nov dec] 2022
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