Singapore chosen as Asian anchor for several international names such as HealthTechX. Photo Credit: HealthTechX Asia
The MICE industry played a key role in underpinning Singapore’s tourism performance in 2025, contributing to higher-value visitor spending and reinforcing the city-state’s reputation as a global business events hub.
While official MICE-specific figures for 2025 were not released at press time, the Minister for Trade and Industry last year observed Singapore’s MICE visitor arrivals showing a strong upward trajectory – with around 560,000 MICE visitors recorded in the first half of the year alone. This built on 830,000 arrivals in 2023 and 1.1 million in 2024, and surpassed pre-Covid-19 levels of 730,000 in 2019.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has emphasised the strength of the segment, noting that MICE visitors typically spend about twice as much as leisure tourists, underscoring the sector’s outsized economic impact relative to its share of total arrivals.
MICE props up record tourism receipts in 2025
STB yesterday reported that Singapore's tourism receipts (TR) hit at a record high for the January to September period. The destination recorded S$23.9 billion (US$18.8 billion) in TR in first three quarters, a 6.5% increase from 2024, and the highest TR recorded for this period. Extrapolating this number to the full year puts the destination on track to exceed its projections of S$29.0 to S$30.5 billion for 2025.
MICE activity has been identified as one of the key drivers, with more than 30,000 delegates attending marquee events such as Asia Tech x Singapore and the Rotary International Convention.
The year also saw several established international events anchor their Asia editions in Singapore. This includes HealthTechX Asia 2025 and LSI Asia 2025. Milken Institute also committed to anchor their Asia Summit in Singapore from 2026 to 2028. Notable incentive travel included the Sun Pharma Star Club Awards 2025 with 6,100 participants, representing the largest meeting and incentive movement from India.
The significance of the sector to Singapore’s strength was also reflected in global rankings, with Singapore ranking third worldwide and first in Asia-Pacific by the International Congress and Convention Association, and second in Asia-Pacific in the Global Destination Sustainability Index.
Related: Inside Singapore’s grand plan to triple MICE revenue by 2040
2040 vision guides growth
Looking ahead, STB has reaffirmed ambitious long-term goals under its Tourism 2040 roadmap, aiming to triple MICE tourism receipts by 2040 as part of efforts to grow the tourism sector’s total receipts to between S$47 billion and S$50 billion.
To support this vision, Singapore is studying the development of a new MICE hub in its downtown core and expanding its pipeline of international events, including conferences and summits expected to draw thousands of delegates through 2026 and beyond.
Singapore has also exceeded sustainability targets on multiple fronts. The hospitality industry continued to lead in sustainability practices, with over 73% of hotel room stock achieving internationally recognised sustainability certification, exceeding the 60% target set for December 2025.
All six purpose-built MICE venues also obtained certification, while over 80% of Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) members achieved sustainability certification, exceeding the target set for December 2025. The tourism sector’s commitment was further strengthened with the launch of the Attractions Sustainability Roadmap in partnership with the Association of Singapore Attractions to drive industry-wide adoption.