STB inks two pacts to bring more Mice events to S'pore

More Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) events will land on Singapore's shores under two new agreements inked on Wednesday.

Comexposium, a leading global event organiser, is launching two anchor events in 2023 under its three-year memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

Silmo Singapore, a leading eyewear and lifestyle trade show, and Vinexpo Asia, a major wine and spirits exhibition, will join Comexposium's stable of existing events in Singapore, including Milipol Asia-Pacific, the Asia-Pacific's largest homeland security event.

Ms Elaine Chia, Asia-Pacific chief executive of Comexposium, said it looks upon Singapore as an excellent platform to serve the demands of the South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand markets.

Another big Mice player, Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), will establish its South-east Asian regional headquarters here by end-2023 and expand its business in the region under its three-year pact with STB.

IEG's international business development director Francesco Santa said the pact marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration with Singapore as the company expands globally.

STB's chief executive Keith Tan said: "As Singapore's Mice industry recovers strongly, our partnerships with IEG and Comexposium will boost the vibrancy of Singapore's business events calendar and create new opportunities for our Mice industry."

The Mice industry is a strong contributor to Singapore's economy, contributing 0.8 per cent to Singapore's gross domestic product and providing more than 34,000 jobs before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Singapore is on the recovery path for its Mice events after almost two years in which Covid-19 travel restrictions and safe management measures all but put a stop to them.

Mice events received a shot in the arm when the Republic hosted the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2022, just months after it reopened its borders and loosened its Covid-19 measures.

STB previously said more than 20 Mice events would be taking place around the F1 race period, including the inaugural edition of the Time100 Leadership Forum on Oct 2, the race day.

Mice events create jobs for Singaporeans such as conference producers and those in sales, operations and marketing and attract investment opportunities, said STB's executive director of exhibitions and conferences Poh Chi Chuan.

He added that business travellers to such events are also important to Singapore's long-term yield-driven tourism growth strategy, as they spend almost double that of leisure travellers to Singapore.

Ms Selena Ling, chief economist at OCBC Bank, said the Mice industry is likely to stage a more robust recovery and growth, given the events in the pipeline.

Based on the projects and trade shows coming to Singapore, local businesses like those in the food and beverage as well as eyewear sectors can participate in and leverage the events to showcase and promote their products and services to overseas markets, she added.

Meanwhile, to meet growing demand for sustainable business travel by reducing waste and the carbon footprint of exhibitions, STB on Wednesday also signed a partnership with six key players, including Informa Markets, the world's largest trade show organiser.

The alliance will explore new solutions for green events and leverage its global expertise in sustainable event planning to ensure that the events will adhere to local Mice sustainability standards being developed now.

It will also focus on industry education to increase awareness and adoption of green practices.