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Aloysius Arlando, the STB's Assistant Chief Executive, Business Travel and MICE*
Q: How does it feel now that the first Business Events Awards is over? Did it accomplish the objectives that were set?
We are heartened by the industry’s support for the inaugural Singapore Business Events Awards. It was truly an industry affair as industry members readily contributed to the success of the awards at every stage.
We hope that the Awards has created widespread international awareness of the high standards that Singapore’s MICE industry subscribes and adheres to. The quality of the submissions is demonstrative of the creative and thoughtful touches on the part of the business event organisers. These include efforts to customise their services to cater to participants’ needs and to impart Uniquely Singapore experiences to them, as well as ensuring that the content of their events and their speakers are of a top-notch quality.
Through these, we can see that the Awards has succeeded in meeting the objectives of recognising Singapore MICE players' achievements so that they serve as role models for the industry; raise the profile of the industry locally and abroad; and nurture creativity and build business and service excellence within the industry.
Q. Business Events awards are known to be challenging to put together, given that each event involves so many players to make it happen. What were some of the challenges of putting together such an awards programme so that it would be meaningful and relevant, and that it wouldn't just end up being a popularity contest?
This being the inaugural Singapore Business Events Awards, we wanted to ensure that our awards were developed in a way that recognised the industry in a well-rounded way and it is not merely a contest of popularity or size of the event.
The Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB) conceived a comprehensive and rigorous set of evaluation criteria, covering business excellence, service excellence as well as tourism contribution. We encouraged the industry members to provide information and materials that would impress upon our international panel of judges how their event best satisfied the objectives of the awards and met the exacting criteria and standards. For entries in the event excellence awards, participants were given the opportunity to acknowledge not just the individual event, but their partners as well.
The judging panel consisted of 16 judges who are industry experts as well as representatives from other related sectors such as corporate, association or academic leaders. They included individuals from international MICE organisations such as Meetings Professionals International (MPI), International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and UFI – The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. It is important for the Singapore MICE industry to know that their achievements were assessed by notable industry professionals who are recognised in the global MICE arena.
Q. What were some of the lessons learnt from this first experience? And how might you do it differently next year?
Click the image to find out who the Singapore Business Events Awards winners are
After this year’s Awards ceremony, SECB intends to conduct a review that looks into the overall organisation of the Awards. This would include a review of the award categories, evaluation criteria, submission guidelines as well as the Award ceremony.
There is much potential for further enhancement of the Awards, in terms of the addition of categories and awards, identifying more avenues to showcase the winners or in the staging of the awards ceremony.
More importantly, we will continue to work with the industry to evolve the awards and make them relevant to the changing global MICE landscape.
Q. What impressed you most about the finalists and the eventual winners - what did they have in common?
The passion and commitment of the finalists and winners was a common thread that was evident in all the submissions and which impressed the judges and the SECB. The passion and commitment were evident in the care that the finalists and winners put into speaker/delegate/visitor management. As event organisers typically work with multiple parties including venues, hotels and other suppliers, people management is key to the success of any event. Notably, the winners were individuals and companies who were able to motivate and inspire others, effectively manage their resources, drive and implement ideas, navigate complex situations and ultimately delivering high impact results.
Q. How important is the BTMICE segment to the tourism industry, and how did it fare last year?
Continuing on the strong growth in 2005, the tourism industry enjoyed a golden year last year, registering record highs in several indicators such as visitor arrivals, tourism receipts and hotel occupancy rate.
In 2006, the BTMICE sector also showed strong results, with business visitors accounting for close to 3 million or 28 per cent of total visitor arrivals and $4 billion or 35% of tourism receipts, up from 25% of visitor arrivals and over 30% or more than $3 billion of total tourism receipts in 2005. Under the Tourism 2015 blueprint, the STB aims to raise the tourism receipts contribution of the BTMICE sector to $10.5 billion while maintaining its overall proportionate share of the total TR.
Q. Are you excited by the opening of the two IRs and expanded BTMICE infrastructure and facilities? Do you think they will at last elevate Singapore to a world class MICE player?
We are excited by the ongoing transformational developments taking shape in Singapore which will enhance our appeal as a leading business destination in the world and top MICE destination in Asia.
Marina Bay Sands™, opening in 2009, will boost Singapore's MICE capability with more than 100,000 sqm of MICE space including 89,000 sqm of exhibition and meeting room space, and a 9,200 sqm column-free Grand Ballroom that can hold 7,500 people and which will be one of the largest in Asia. With the Marina Bay Sands™ and other future MICE developments, we can look forward to a combined meeting space of 200,000 sqm supported by an inventory of 10,000 hotel rooms and dynamic events, entertainment, retail and F&B offerings all within walking distance and set in the visually stunning Marina Bay.
Scheduled to open in 2010, Resorts World at Sentosa will be able to host approximately 12,000 delegates in three key venues: Le Vie Showroom/Plenary Hall (1,600 theatre-style seating), Ballroom (7,300 theatre-style seating) and 22 meeting rooms that can accommodate a total of 3,390 seats. For incentive travel groups, there are seven indoor incentive venues within Resorts World, such as Broadway Theatre, Movie Studios, Snoopy's Stage and Waterworld Amphitheatre. There are also 10 outdoor incentive venues, which include The Showplace, The Bull Ring and FestiveWalk. Incentive travel groups will have a wide variety of entertainment, dining and retail experiences to choose from such as the Universal Studios theme park, Marine Life Park, Equarius Water Park, Maritime Xperiential Museum and FestivaWalk, a lively outdoor retail, dining and entertainment experience.
Other exciting developments that will provide facilities for possible MICE events include the Gardens by the Bay (to be opened in phases from 2010 onwards), the Sports Hub, and the Marina Bay floating platform. Besides augmenting Singapore's MICE space, these tourism developments will also enhance the appeal of Singapore as a destination, offering a unique and holistic experience for all business delegates.
There are also new retail developments such as Ion Orchard, Somerset Central and Orchard Central, all on Singapore's premier shopping street, Orchard Road. Other upcoming attractions and events like the Singapore Flyer and Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix race in 2008 will add to the buzz and excitement of Singapore, offering business visitors an exhilarating mix of business and leisure activities.
Singapore's strength as a business and MICE destination lies not just in state-of-the-art infrastructure, but also our strategy of developing a robust pipeline of business events to deliver on our promise to be a catalyst for business success and being the exchange capital of the world.
Take our 'BE in Singapore' or 'Business Events in Singapore' incentive scheme which was developed in consultation with the industry - recipients of the incentive scheme thus far include the recently concluded 2007 Herbalife Asia Pacific Extravaganza which attracted more than 16,000 - the largest corporate meeting that Singapore has hosted to date.
We also launched a business strategy named the Stategic Cluster Approach entailing a close collaboration between Singapore Inc agencies and industry partners within key economic clusters to create, grow and attract business events that are centred on the nation's key economic drivers and initiatives such as Biomedical Sciences, Infocomm Technology and Digital Media, Environment and Water Technologies, Banking and Finance, Transportation, Logistics and Tourism. The Singapore International Water Week, which will be held in June 2008, is one of the first fruits of the strategic cluster approach.
Q. What are some of the major business events to look forward to the next three to five years?
Click the image to find out about the Singapore Business Events Awards ceremony
Over the past year, the SECB, in collaboration with industry partners, international exhibition companies and tradeshow organisers, announced a host of international brand name events which we have successfully created and secured to be staged in Singapore. These include ITB Asia, FDI World Dental Federation Congress, the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) and SIGGRAPH Asia 2008.
ITB Asia, the Asian edition of ITB Berlin, one of the largest tourism trade shows in the world, will be the first to be held outside Germany and is expected to attract some 10,000 overseas visitors when it makes its debut in Singapore in October 2008. Singapore was chosen as the venue for the show's first foray into Asia because of our strategic location within the emerging Asian markets, our track record and proven ability to hold such large-scale events, as well as our wide range of dynamic and appealing entertainment and leisure offerings.
The FDI Annual World Dental Congress, to be held in September 2009 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, is expected to attract more than 13,000 delegates from all over the world. The congress will be one of the biggest the FDI has ever held.
The FDI World Dental Congress is one of the few mega conventions in the world that attract more than 10,000 foreign delegates. The winning of the FDI Congress 2009 is even more significant given the fact that this is not the first time that Singapore plays host to the world's foremost dentistry experts; the city-state last welcomed the FDI congress in 1990. The rare achievement of bringing the event to Singapore for the second time around 19 years later is largely credited to the active role that the local FDI representative, the Singapore Dental Association (SDA), played in bidding for this event.
The Strategic Cluster Approach has reaped results, with prominent cluster-centric events like the Singapore International Water Week and SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 taking place in Singapore next year.
Singapore International Water Week
The Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) which will be held in June 2008, is one of the first fruits of this new Strategic Cluster Approach, with the STB working closely with the Environment and Water Industry Council (EWI), Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and other agencies.
Consisting of five anchor events including the inaugural Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, the SIWW will bring a wave of exciting water activities to Singapore, bringing together global water experts and creating business and technology networking opportunities.
SIGGRAPH Asia 2008
In December 2008, ACM SIGGRAPH (Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics), the world's largest society on computer graphics, will mark its entry into Asia with SIGGRAPH Asia 2008.
Together with shows like Games Convention Asia 2007 and Imaging Expo Singapore & P.I.X. - Photo Imaging X-change 2007, these events complement the development of the Information Communications Technology and Digital Media industry in Singapore, an area identified as a focus for research and development, with the National Research Foundation setting aside S$500 million to fund research in this area over the next five years.
We will continue to strengthen our private-public partnership to sharpen our competitive edge in MICE business development and marketing so that we can secure our share of the global MICE business.
*MICE stands for Meetings, Incentive travel, Conventions and Exhibitions
