Marina Bay Singapore Otters looking across to Marina Bay Sands S I NGAPOR E] For the business events sector, in 2021 Singapore played host to over 200 events attended by an estimated 49,000 delegates, while in the first three months of this year (Jan – Mar 2022) alone, the city hosted more than 150 events attended by over 37,000 delegates2. With both returning and new international events that have taken place in 2022, the numbers for the year are expected to be favourable. The robust pipeline of MICE events is also a healthy reflection of event organisers’ confidence in Singapore’s fundamentals – its vibrant business culture, excellent infrastructure, stable government, and stellar track record in delivering high-quality events. What are the key products and experiences being promoted for incentive travel? There are many new experiences now available for incentive organisers to consider when planning their Singapore programmes. For example, the Skyhelix, is a new openair panoramic ride that gently rotates as it ascends to a height of 79 metres above sea level, and Scentopia offers a unique teambuilding experience, where delegates can participate in a workshop to create and take home their own personally designed scent. Both are located on Sentosa. With sustainability and social responsibility becoming key trends in travel, what does Singapore offer to business event planners that need to ensure these are key aspects of any event? While Singapore is already well-known as a City in Nature, the city is also striving towards being one of the world's most sustainable urban destinations, where large experiences come with small footprints. This past year, Singapore began its journey to be certified as a sustainable destination under the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s (GSTC) Destination Criteria, and also launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030 – a national movement across industries to make Singapore a greener and more sustainable city. For the MICE sector in particular, Singapore is participating in the Global Destination Sustainability Index this year for the first time, to benchmark the country’s sustainability performance against other MICE destinations. In addition, the Hotel Sustainability Roadmap was also launched in March 2022 – a collective effort amongst Singapore hotels that sets out clear targets and strategies for them to adopt in their sustainability journey. The trade association for the business events industry – SACEOS (Singapore Association of Conference and Exhibition Organisers) – is also working to align their MICE sustainability certification with internationally-recognised standards. For MICE organisers, the INSPIRE (In Singapore Incentives & Rewards) assistance scheme enables groups that qualify, access to about 80 experiences that range from dining and attractions to thematic tours and team building, to complement their Singapore itinerary, some of which include sustainable options. Gardens By The Bay Photo: Arthur Yap 1 Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions 2 Event figures for 2021 and the first three months of the year refer to both international and local events. meeting newz [nov dec] 2022 [45]
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