Singapore woos more business, MICE visitors

Andrew Phua, director for exhibitions and conferences at Singapore Tourism Board (STB), said about 44 per cent, or 218,680 of 497,000 Thais who travelled to Singapore in 2013, were on business travel and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (BTMICE). Thailand is one of few countries from where the proportion of business visitors was high. Last year, Thai BTMICE to Singapore spent about Bt39,000 per person per trip while leisure travellers spent Bt26,000 per person. Thai BTMICE spent approximately 37 per cent on accommodation, 20 per cent on entertainment, 20 per cent on shopping, and the rest for miscellaneous expenses. 

The Philippines is also stepping up its presence in the regional market by announcing its Visit The Philippines Year 2015 campaign, aiming to boost international arrivals from Asean nations through musical, sport, and world conferences.

According to STB’s tourism demographic, business travel and MICE comprised 30 per cent of total arrivals of 14 million in 2013. Singapore is targeting 15 million international visitors this year and trying to increase the proportion of business travellers from the current 30 per cent.

Phua said that the STB on Tuesday launched a campaign called Singapore Media Festival for the first time in Bangkok, specifically to encourage film shooting and media activities and events from Bangkok as well as from other major provinces to Singapore.

“This is the first time that the STB is targeting a niche market from Thailand, aside from leisure. Business travellers from Thailand are expected to increase this year and next year,” said Phua.

To achieve the arrivals target, the government has approved more hotel developments over the past several years. The number of hotels in 2013 totalled 373, increasing from 338 in 2012. In the same period, the number of rooms were up from 51,622 in 2012 to 54,962 in 2013. 

As of the second quarter this year, about 9,000 hotel rooms are under construction and about 3,000 rooms are planned for future development. The average hotel-room rate in Singapore is S$258 per night or Bt6,700 per night, which is more than double the rates in Thailand.

Singapore is now hosting TravelRave, a four-day regional travel and trade show, which concludes today. The event is providing a dynamic platform for businesses and executives in the tourism sector as well as to exchange knowledge and opportunities in the region. 

Multiple events are running through this week under TravelRave; Asia Travel Leaders Summit, Aviation Outlook Asia, Hotel Technology Conference, ITB Asia, Singapore Experience Awards, and Web in Travel Conference.

This year, 35 hotels and travel operators from Thailand are joining Thailand Pavilion at the event. Moreover, a group of operators from Phuket, Pattaya, and also Bangkok Airways separately reserved their own spaces to reach customers.

Last year, 1.6 million Singapore residents visited Thailand. During the first eight months this year, visitors from Singapore fell by 20 per cent. The trend is expected to continue for the rest of the year because of the political chaos in Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand announced that it would run a national campaign “Discover Thainess” to boost foreign tourist arrivals next year.