Singapore Tourism Board deputy chief executive, Melissa Ow, says the recent event wins will help bolster Singapore’s reputation as a leading business events destination

Notable wins the Baker Tilly International Global Tax Conference 2019, the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit 2019.the KPMG Asia Pacific Tax Summit 2019, INSOL 2019, and Understanding Risk 2020.

American technology heavyweight, Oracle, will be bring its very first Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019 to Singapore later this month (26-27 March), while Ingram Micro One APAC 2019 comes to town in August.

Along with existing F&B events such as Speciality and Fine Food Asia, Food Japan, and Vitafoods Asia, Singapore will host debut editions of the Southeast Asia Café Expo and Equip&Dine Asia in 2019. The Global Restaurant Leadership Conference 2019, which has re-located from Dubai, will also hold their highly successful C-suite level, thought leadership event for the first time in Singapore this year.

This comes on the back of a strong performance of the BTMICE industry in 2018. From January to September 2018, tourism receipts from the BTMICE sector rose by 10 per cent, to hit S$3.44 billion, compared to the same period in 2017. This was driven by growth in BTMICE visitor arrivals to two million, which also rose 14 per cent year-on-year for the same period.

“High profile events in 2018 that garnered strong global interest, such as the DPRK-USA Singapore Summit and the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, have helped increase awareness of Singapore’s business events industry. This has also bolstered our reputation as a choice destination for meetings and business events.”