Singapore was ranked third top city for meeting by the Union of International Associations’ (UIA). According to the UIA’s International Meetings Statistics 2006 report it moved up one place from 2005 to the third position in the Top International Meeting City category. Ahead of Singapore is only Vienna (ranked 2nd) and Paris (ranked 1st).
Mr. Aloysius Arlando, Assistant Chief Executive of Business Travel and MICE Group, said: “We are very honored to be ranked among the top three cities internationally, and to emerge as the Top Country for Meetings in Asia while maintaining our position for the 24th consecutive year as Asia’s Top City. These rankings by the well-respected Union of International Associations further validate and reinforce the strong performance of the industry last year which accounted for 28% or 3 million of total visitor arrivals to Singapore, and 35% or Sin$ 4 billion of total tourism receipts.” He also added that the development was possible because of the strong cooperation and close partnership between the public and private sector, including government agencies and the MICE industry players. Mr. Arlando believes this positive development will continue in the coming years.
The MICE sector is growing rapidly here. In 2006 Singapore hosted 298 meetings that met UIA’s qualifying criteria, representing a significant 62% growth over 2005. In the past Singapore has hosted important meetings. Among the recent ones it was e.g. the 2006 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in September. Singapore is number one city for meetings in Asia. Last year it has hosted some 22% of all meetings held in Asia in 2006. The success did not happen by itself thought. The fact is that the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau launched the “BE in Singapore” or “Business Events in Singapore” incentive scheme in August 2006, which helped local MICE players to attract more visitors.
