The exponential increase in flights in and out of Singapore contributed to its appeal as a destination for large-scale events, marking the city's debut on the global index. Photo Credit: GettyImages/f11photo
Singapore has appeared for the first time in this year's annual Convention Cities Index (CCI), along with the South Korean city of Goyang, joining Chinese cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming and Chongqing, as the only cities from Asia Pacific to make it to the list.
The global CCI is compiled by Northstar Meetings Group and uses a weighted ranking system with the latest data to evaluate destinations around the world that are ideally suited to hosting large events.
Now in its fourth edition, the index evaluates each city across six categories deemed most pertinent to large-scale business event organisers: available exhibit space, nearby hotel rooms, average hotel cost, travel time from the nearest international airport to the convention centre, the number of direct flights per month and the city’s safety level for travellers.
New additions to the 2022 global list include Singapore (#22); Goyang, South Korea (#23); and Milan, Italy (#25) — replacing Copenhagen, London and Moscow.
A 77% increase in monthly flights since December 2021 made Singapore a worthy contender on the list. Attendees will appreciate the short transportation time, with just five minutes needed to travel from Changi Airport to the Singapore Expo. A slight drop in hotel costs, from US$174.23 to US$157.48, also added to the destination’s appeal for large events.
Even as the pandemic wanes, safety remained a component of this year's site selection process. The CCI safety scores, provided by the safety awareness app GeoSure, measure the overall safety level of destinations based on seven factors, including health and medical data, nighttime safety, women’s safety, LGBTQ+ safety and more.
Madrid received the highest score on the global list at 79 out of 100 points, usurping Munich, which was the safest on the December 2021 CCI Interim Report. Shenzhen, China, still struggling with lockdowns and China's strict zero-Covid policy, scored the lowest for safety at 52.
The rankings in the 2022 Global Convention Cities Index are as follows:
1. Frankfurt, Germany
2. Las Vegas, USA
3. Cologne, Germany
4. Hannover, Germany
5. Shenzhen, China
6. Shanghai, China
7. Orlando, USA
8. Birmingham, UK
9. Guangzhou, China
10. Barcelona, Spain
11. Dusseldorf, Germany
12. Atlanta, USA
13. Paris, France
14. Kunming, China
15. Dallas, USA
16. Munich, Germany
17. Valencia, Spain
18. Madrid, Spain
19. Poznan, Poland
20. Chicago, USA
21. New Orleans, USA
22. Singapore
23. Goyang, South Korea
24. Chongqing, China
25. Milan, Italy