In its aim to be the ‘World’s Best MICE City', Singapore is stepping up efforts to attract high-value visitors and anchor world-class business events. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/chanchai
With a world-class line-up of events from Taylor Swift’s sold-out Era concerts to the Sibos conference, Singapore is going all out on its ambition to be the ‘World’s Best MICE City', stepping up efforts to attract high-value visitors and anchor world-class business events.
“2024 was a landmark year for Singapore’s tourism sector,” said Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and the Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, speaking at the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) annual Tourism Industry Conference (TIC) on 11 April. “Our international visitors arrivals grew 21% from the previous year to 6.5 million in 2024, and tourism receipts reached a record high of S$29.8 billion (US$22.6 billion).”
The MICE sector in Singapore had a strong showing in recent years, with the city clinching its highest-ever position on ICCA’s Worldwide City Rankings 2024 at No. 2, while major business events such as Asia Tech x Singapore and the Rotary International Convention drew over 30,000 delegates combined.
Significant MICE events such as The Meetings Show Asia Pacific, the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders 20th Annual Summit, and the world’s first SuperAI 2024 conference further cemented Singapore’s standing.
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Rising ambitions, long-term vision
MICE is now seen as a “high growth opportunity” sector in Singapore’s quality tourism strategy. “On average, a MICE visitor spends two times as much as a leisure visitor, making it an exceptionally valuable segment for Singapore,” said Fu. “With the global MICE sector expected to double in value over the coming decade, and Asia Pacific being one of the fastest-growing markets, Singapore is well positioned to capture a larger share of MICE visitors.”
Singapore has set an ambitious target to triple MICE tourism receipts by 2040.
“The MICE industry has significant economic potential beyond tourism receipts,” said STB chief executive Melissa Ow at TIC 2025. “Anchoring key MICE events will further deepen our connection to strategic sectors of growth and enable us to grow our economic heft by convening influential actors and thought leaders in Singapore.”
New venues and upcoming hubs
To keep up with future growth and ambitions, development plans are in the works. Marina Bay Sands will begin expansion works in mid-2025, adding a 15,000-seat arena, new hotel tower, and rooftop attractions, while a new MICE hub is also in the pipeline to leverage the synergies of existing MICE venues and attractions in the city.
Meanwhile, Changi Airport’s upcoming Terminal 5, expected in the mid-2030s, will boost annual passenger capacity by 50 million, on top of the airport’s current capacity of 90 million, further cementing Singapore’s role as a global gateway.
A raft of new hotels will boost Singapore’s room inventory, including Resorts World Sentosa’s Laurus, Singapore’s first Luxury Collection hotel; Mama Shelter; Raffles Sentosa; and Mandarin Rainforest by Banyan Tree.
Singapore is studying the development of a MICE Hub in the downtown area.Growing a robust event pipeline
Singapore is also ramping up its roster of high-impact events, with upcoming highlights including:
World Robot Olympiad International Finals 2025 – returning after 20 years, with 7,000 delegates.
SEMICON Southeast Asia 2025 – celebrating its 30th edition with 18,000 attendees.
LSI Asia 2025 – the region’s first medtech innovation conference.
Herbalife Extravaganza 2026 – expected to draw 25,000 visitors, Singapore’s largest-ever incentive event.
Sibos 2027, Passenger Terminal Expo Asia 2026, Smart Health Asia 2026, and major events booked into the 2030s, such as the AIDA World Insurance Congress 2031 and World Conference for Non-Destructive Testing 2032.
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Building local capabilities and partnerships
To grow capabilities, STB is partnering with the Singapore Business Federation to help trade associations bid for and host world-class events.
A new Business Events Inspired programme – launched with SACEOS – will provide mentorship, consultancy, and seed funding to support local MICE organisers “to develop quality events, with the goal of growing them to become impactful international events”.
Other support schemes include the BEiS Build Foundation to defray business development costs; Kickstart Fund to support innovative home-grown MICE events; and MeetSG Mini-Programme on WeChat (in collaboration with WeMeet) to engage MICE organisers from China.
Navigating headwinds
As tariff uncertainty continues to roil the global market, Singapore is preparing for rougher skies.
“Following the imposition of US tariffs, we expect a more challenging global environment as countries revise their growth [forecasts] downwards; we expect consumer confidence to be adversely affected,” said Fu.
Ow echoed the cautious outlook. “This year, the global economic outlook appears more uncertain. We remain committed to intensifying efforts to engage our stakeholders, look for growth opportunities and press on in our efforts to drive quality tourism.”
When asked about the perception of Singapore being an expensive destination, Ow replied: “it's always value creation. When we think about destination Singapore, it's fundamentally about our strong attributes related to safety and trust and the fact that we are constantly able to deliver a certain quality of experience and services to our [visitors]. Our key attributes will remain a key distinguishing factor.”