Singapore bets on MICE, cruise projects to fuel tourism, but race to stay ahead won’t be easy

SINGAPORE – Singapore is looking to cement its position as a heavyweight in the cruise and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) space with new and ambitious tourism infrastructural projects.

But in the race to stay ahead, the Republic needs more than just square footage. It must also contend with increasingly stiff competition from other regional players.

Two major upcoming projects were highlighted by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) at its annual Tourism Industry Conference earlier in May – alongside a record-breaking haul of $32.8 billion in tourism receipts in 2025.

Straits View, an undeveloped part of Marina Bay near the waterfront, has been earmarked as a potential site for a downtown MICE hub, as well as an integrated cruise and ferry terminal.

Within a 3km radius of other major MICE venues such as Marina Bay Sands and Suntec City, the hub – plans for which were first made public in 2025 – is expected to be completed by the mid-2030s.

The Government is also assessing the feasibility of a cruise and ferry terminal. The plan is to have three cruise berths and up to 10 ferry berths, or a passenger capacity around 1.5 times that of the adjacent Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (MBCCS), and twice that of the HarbourFront Passenger Terminal.

Lucrative sectors

Both the MICE and cruise sectors have been lucrative for Singapore thus far and have yielded returns.

Receipts from MICE – considered a high-value pillar of the Republic’s tourism growth – climbed 35 per cent from $1.7 billion in 2024 to $2.3 billion in 2025. This puts the country at the halfway mark of its goal to triple MICE receipts from $1.9 billion in 2019 to $4.5 billion by 2040.

On the cruise front, Singapore is the region’s leading cruise hub, driving nearly half of the 3.9 million passenger visits to the region in 2024. It also garnered the largest share of the industry’s economic output in the region at US$3.6 billion (S$4.61 billion) that year.

The addition of a MICE hub and cruise terminal in close proximity to each other appears to be more than just a play to increase capacity to meet future growth. It will also set Singapore up to stay competitive.

Straits View a strategic choice

Experts said the choice of Straits View for both projects reveals considered, larger ambitions and is a strategic choice that supports long-term planning and flexibility.

“The area offers rare contiguous land within the downtown core, which is increasingly difficult to secure,” said Dr Samer El Hajjar, senior lecturer in marketing at NUS Business School, noting the area’s proximity to existing infrastructure such as MRT lines and its strong potential for connectivity.

As an undeveloped area, this is a site that can be planned holistically from the outset instead of retrofitting new infrastructure into an already-dense urban area.

Mr Chen Bao, managing director for EHL Campus (Singapore), a hospitality and business education provider, said it has the potential to be an integrated precinct, where cruise, ferry, MICE, hospitality, retail, dining and leisure experiences are connected by design.

“The future of tourism infrastructure is not only about capacity, but about how smoothly visitors move between different parts of the experience,” said Mr Chen, adding that the area can become a more seamless arrival and experience gateway.

The real value will come from designing the precinct around the full visitor journey, he said, one where infrastructure brings people in, but experience design – which aims to balance user needs such as customer experience with business goals – determines whether they stay longer and spend more.

Connectivity a key factor

Connectivity between venues, transport links, hotel and lifestyle amenities will directly affect the delegate experience and determine outcomes such as attendance and how effectively programmes can be delivered, noted Ms Karen Ng, deputy managing director of Kingsmen Exhibits.

The company has partnered with event organisers to build and design major exhibitions and events over the last five decades.

“A downtown hub allows Singapore to host multiple international events in parallel by drawing on a shared network of venues, hotels and supporting infrastructure... the key advantage is flexibility, (where) organisers can design programmes across different spaces within the city, while maintaining a seamless and coherent attendee journey,” added Ms Ng.

It was a sentiment mirrored by Mr Richard Ireland, president of the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS), who said: “The hub will complement existing venues by providing additional flexibility and capacity for organisers, including the ability to host mega conventions and exhibitions, while accommodating spillover demand during peak periods.”

Existing MICE venues in the city range from Raffles City Convention Centre, with around 10,100 sqm of event space, to Suntec Singapore, which has more than 22,000 sqm of exhibition space and 15,000 sqm of flexible meeting spaces.

Sands Expo & Convention Centre has one of the largest capacities, with 120,000 sqm of event space. The venue can host conventions of up to 45,000 delegates, support 2,000 exhibition booths and accommodate 250 meeting rooms. 

With the upcoming downtown MICE hub’s proximity to the cruise terminal, this could also create more seamless experiences for “bleisure”, or business-leisure, travellers who are combining work and leisure trips, noted Mr Ireland.

An increased berth capacity at the cruise terminal will not only reduce congestion and increase efficiency at the other cruise terminals during peak periods, but also allow Singapore to accommodate a broader spectrum of vessels, including larger cruise ships as well as more regional ferry operators, said Dr Samer.

“As a result, Singapore can attract both long-haul cruise tourists and short-haul regional travellers, strengthening its role as a multimodal maritime hub,” he added.

MBCCS can handle 11,700 passengers following a $40 million facelift completed in October 2025.

If this co-location of the MICE hub and cruise terminal is executed well, Singapore’s competitive advantage regionally and globally could be strenghtened.

For cruise operators, too, this could mean homeporting more ships here – where Singapore is the start and end point for cruise itineraries – and even increasing sailings.

StarDream Cruises president Michael Goh said: “As additional infrastructure capacity becomes available in the future, it could create opportunities for us to further strengthen our presence here, including the potential to increase sailings and expand destination offerings.”

Keeping an eye on the region

The global MICE market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate – or a mean annual growth rate – of 7.2 per cent from 2024 to 2032.

STB said Singapore has already secured major events until 2032, such as the Lions Clubs International Convention 2028 and the World Conference for Non-Destructive Testing 2032.

“The growing calendar of events reflects the continued demand for, and confidence in, Singapore as a global business events destination,” said the statutory board.

The cruise sector, too, is gearing up for future demand. Global cruise passengers are projected to grow to 42.1 million passengers in 2029, according to Cruise Lines International Association’s State of the Cruise Industry Report 2026.

Singapore will have to play to its advantages if it wants to enhance its standing as a global hub for cruise and MICE, but it will also have to keep an eye on the rest of the region.

Neighbouring countries are also looking to get a slice of the pie and capitalising on natural resources Singapore does not possess – vast amounts of land to build on, and natural landscapes.

Malaysia is expanding convention infrastructure in Kuala Lumpur to be able to handle mega events, while East Malaysia and states such as Sabah are becoming a major destination for incentive travel and business events, leveraging its unique ecotourism.

Thailand continues strengthening business tourism through cities such as Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai, where conferences and incentive travel remain major contributors to the country’s tourism economy.

The Philippines, too, has thrown its hat into the ring, with plans to increase its annual MICE revenue from US$95 million in 2025 to US$420 million by 2030. Earlier in 2026, it launched a MICE guidebook laying out venues, accommodations and service providers across seven key cities including Manila, Boracay, Cebu and Davao.

Meanwhile, Indonesia and Vietnam are also rapidly developing their MICE capabilities via infrastructural investments in established locations such as Jakarta, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and emerging destinations like Phu Quoc and Nha Trang.

Such cities are proving popular for incentive trips, where team-building activities are combined with cultural experiences and visits to attractions, or even as destinations for corporate retreats, where executive meetings are coupled with luxury stays at beachfront resorts with amenities such as golf courses.

But with its upcoming mega projects, Singapore has a unique opportunity to create an integrated visitor economy.

“The two sectors can reinforce each other through incentive travel, cruise-linked conferences, corporate retreats, exhibitions, regional ferry tourism and bleisure itineraries,” said EHL’s Mr Chen.

But beyond infrastructure, said SACEOS’ Mr Ireland, Singapore must also continue to invest in sustainability capabilities, digital and hybrid event technologies, talent development, strong connectivity and seamless visitor experiences.

Mr Chen added that other elements, such as service excellence and even pricing strategy, will also come into play.

With its limited land mass, Singapore is already putting the pieces in place to maximise space and expand MICE and cruise square footage.

But the challenge will be in extracting as much out of every inch, such as keeping a steady pipeline of events flowing amid growing competition, and giving delegates and visitors a memorable experience.

“Singapore needs to optimise economic return per square foot and improve total spending per trip per participant,” added Mr Chen.

“This means the new hub should be designed to support higher-yield events, stronger business outcomes and richer visitor experiences.”