New cruise and ferry terminal, exhibition hub in the works near Marina South

SINGAPORE – Two new projects aimed at bolstering Singapore’s position as a global hub are being planned near Marina South – an integrated cruise and ferry terminal and an exhibition hub are on the cards for the 2030s.

Speaking at the Tourism Industry Conference 2026, Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu said the Government is assessing the feasibility of locating the cruise and ferry terminal next to the existing Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore, as part of the development of the Greater Southern Waterfront.

Ms Fu, who is also Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, said the new terminal could support three cruise berths and up to 10 ferry berths. The authorities have also identified an area near Marina Bay MRT station as the potential location of a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) hub, she said. It will complement other MICE venues in the city such as Raffles City, Suntec City and Marina Bay Sands.

The new terminal and exhibition hub will be located in Straits View, a largely undeveloped area of about 110ha that includes Marina South Pier, the existing cruise centre, Marina South Pier MRT station and another MRT station not yet in service.

The hub “is envisioned as an integrated development, offering MICE facilities, accommodation, dining and retail, entertainment and attractions”, said Ms Fu at the conference, held at the Resorts World Convention Centre.

“Its proximity to the potential new cruise terminal will also create exciting new possibilities,” she said. The hub, added Ms Fu, will allow Singapore to host more and bigger events downtown, and run complementary ones concurrently at other city-centre venues.

Visuals provided at the conference show that the planned cruise centre will be built on a piece of land that will be reclaimed. This is part of broader plans to add around 213ha of land to Singapore’s southern coastline, revealed on April 8 by the Housing Board, the Government’s agent for the reclamation project.

Ms Fu said the new terminal will have a combined capacity that is 1½ times that of the existing Marina Bay terminal’s 11,700 passengers and twice that of the existing HarbourFront Passenger Terminal.

“This represents not only a significant increase in international cruise capacity, but also greater regional connectivity,” she said.

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) chief executive Melissa Ow said at the conference that Singapore recorded 375 cruise ship calls in 2025, with passenger numbers exceeding two million.

The new terminal has been several years in the making. In 2022, STB called for a study on the need for new cruise and ferry infrastructure to capture growing demand in the medium to long term.

Singapore’s two existing cruise terminals will be consolidated in the coming years, with the cruise centre at HarbourFront set to move so that a continuous promenade can be established as part of the Greater Southern Waterfront.

STB assistant chief executive for experience development Jean Ng said the proposed new terminal will complement the existing Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore, which has two berths. In the shorter term, the terminal at HarbourFront is set to be relocated, as HarbourFront Centre, where it is currently located, is slated for redevelopment.

Ms Ow said the terminal will move to a new, purpose-built facility – called Singapore Cruise Centre (HarbourFront) – next to its current location. It is set to open on July 15, with key upgrades such as a dedicated VIP lounge and an automated baggage-handling system.

Planning for the new terminal at Straits View comes on the back of a different study, which showed that Singapore’s share of the cruise industry’s economic output was the largest in South-east Asia in 2024, at US$3.6 billion (S$4.6 billion).

This study found that Singapore captured 48 per cent of the 3.9 million cruise passenger visits to the region that year.

Since 2025, Singapore has diversified its cruise options, with new ships making the Republic their home port. The most high-profile of the lot was Asia’s first Disney cruise ship, the Disney Adventure, which set sail on its maiden voyage on March 10.

As for the exhibition hub, it comes as Singapore increasingly positions MICE as a high-value pillar of its tourism economy.

Ms Ow said Singapore’s business events industry continues to demonstrate robust growth, with MICE tourism receipts growing by more than 35 per cent from 2024 to reach $2.3 billion in 2025. STB aims to bring that figure to $4.5 billion by 2040.

The board intends to launch a request for proposal in 2027 to appoint a master developer and MICE operator for the new downtown hub. Interested developers will be required to partner MICE players to make joint submissions.

STB will hold a networking session on May 15 for developers and MICE players to meet.

Ms Fu said having the planned MICE hub and other MICE venues within 3km of one another will create “a vibrant MICE cluster that blends work and play”.

She noted that delegates attending events at the MICE hub can enjoy various leisure offerings, including the upcoming Therme Singapore wellness facility and a redeveloped section of Gardens by the Bay, adding that Singapore’s MICE portfolio will grow through strategic industry tie-ups.

For instance, STB has established a two-year partnership with the Academy of Medicine Singapore that will create “opportunities to host more best-in-class conferences that serve the medical community’s professional development”.

She also said 22 hotels have come together to launch the Singapore Hotels Incentives for Business Events initiative. These hotels cover a quarter of the country’s hotel room stock, and the initiative offers attractive accommodation packages to meeting organisers, improving Singapore’s competitiveness for larger MICE bids, she said.

In 2024, Singapore received about 1.1 million MICE visitors, who generated $1.7 billion in tourism receipts – surpassing pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when 730,000 MICE travellers contributed $1.4 billion.

Business travellers are typically among the tourism sector’s biggest spenders, often contributing significantly more per trip than leisure travellers through accommodation, dining and corporate entertainment. STB estimates that they spend around twice as much as leisure visitors. MICE visitors are also closely tied to industries that Singapore is seeking to grow, including technology, healthcare, sustainability and finance.

The downtown exhibition hub will be a welcome addition to Singapore’s MICE landscape as demand for more multifunctional event spaces rises, said Mr Richard Ireland, president of the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers, on the sidelines of the conference.