In the UIA's International Meetings Statistics report, the city leapfrogged two notches to clinch the top position, beating perennial favourites Paris (ranked 2nd) and Vienna (3rd).

For the first time in history, Singapore has been ranked the "Top International Meeting City" in 2007 in the Union of International Associations (UIA) 2007 Global Rankings.

"The UIA congratulates Singapore on the steady growth in the number of international meetings it has hosted over the past few years, a growth that results from and reflects the focus, quality and creativity of the Singapore meetings industry," said Mr Jacques de Mevius, Secretary-General, UIA.

Pitted against the best of the best from around the region, Singapore also topped the rankings in Asia, as Asia's top country and city for meetings, a position it has held for the last 24 consecutive years for the latter. As a destination, Singapore accounted for 22.5 per cent of the meetings held in the continent in 2007. Over the past ten years, Singapore has also seen a whopping 256 per cent growth in international meetings staged here.

Mr Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board said, "The strong showing by Singapore reflects its strengths and sustained popularity as a leading business destination. In clinching the top position of the world's top city for meetings, Singapore cements its position as the preferred destination globally for business travellers to congregate."

"In celebrating our success, we want to express our deepest appreciation to our industry partners for their immense efforts, unwavering support and contributions. We look forward to strengthening our partnership even further to deliver memorable experiences to business travellers and event organizers as we transform Singapore's tourism landscape with new tourism developments such as the Integrated Resorts, the Marina Bay Sands™ and Resorts World at Sentosa; the Marina Bay Financial Centre, and the first phase of Gardens by the Bay come 2010," he added.
 
Mr Richard Holmes, International Director of Meetings of the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the International League Against Epilepsy, feels that the main factor accounting for Singapore's strategic strengths as a MICE destination is the uniqueness of its East meets West culture. "The blend of culture and history ensures that every visitor to Singapore feels welcomed. This was the first time in 20 years that the International Epilepsy Congress was held in Asia so not only was Singapore showcasing its own city but it was also representing the region too, and it passed with flying colours."

"The support that the Singapore Tourism Board offers to congress organisers is superb – from the moment an initial enquiry is made right through the event and beyond. Additionally, Suntec as a convention centre has world-class facilities and an excellent strategic location. The professionalism of all personnel, be it from the convention centre, hotels or enlisted suppliers, was first-rate," he added.

Cityscape Asia, a property investment and development event, similarly chose to stage its event in Singapore because of its world-class infrastructure, good transportation and telecommunications systems, strategic location in Asia, safe environment, transparent business environment and an English-speaking workforce. 

"We are very pleased that the event attracted more than 3,600 trade buyers with more than 28 per cent coming from overseas. This is particularly encouraging when you consider that Singapore has limited space for property projects and yet was able to attract high net worth individuals, property developers and investors to this neutral hub for business networking," said Ms Rosalind Ng, Managing Director (Asia), IIR Exhibitions Pte Ltd.

According to Professor Jae-Hoon Song, President of the International Symposium on Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance (ISAAR), what drew the organising committee to stage the 6th ISAAR for the first time outside Korea is Singapore's organisational capabilities, excellent meeting facilities and a wide range of accommodation options. "The selection of Singapore signifies the host organisation's confidence in the organisational capability of the Society of Infectious Disease (Singapore) as well as Singapore's ability to attract delegates from Asia Pacific and beyond." The event attracted over 1,200 delegates from 47 countries.

Last year saw Singapore hosting 465 international meetings that met UIA's qualifying criteria, representing a significant 56 per cent growth over 2006. Most notable among these were The 3rd Hague International Model of United Nations, the 27th International Epilepsy Congress, the 2nd World Glaucoma Congress & Exhibition, the 18th Wonca World Conference 2007 and International Bar Association Conference 2007 which cumulatively drew close to 12,700 delegates to converge in Singapore.

Another addition to the growing list of accolades is a prestigious award conferred by Business Traveller Asia Pacific. For the tenth consecutive year, Singapore was voted by discerning readers of this reputable publication as the "Best Business City in the World". Singapore also picked up the top honours as the "Best Business City in Southeast Asia" at the Business Traveller Asia Pacific Awards 2008 ceremony held at Conrad Hong Kong today.

"Singapore continues to play a significant role in bringing industry standards to the highest degree of excellence through relentless innovation and determination to exceed the expectations of travellers. Through the years, it has built up a reputation not only for providing quality service but also for the ability to surprise," said Ms Peggy Teo, Group Publisher and Managing Director (Asia), Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.

Celebrating exemplary achievements in the tourism industry, the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards was established to recognise the finest service in the travel industry. The winners were chosen by the public through the magazine print survey and online voting process which attracted close to 8,000 votes this year.

Singapore also maintained its ranking as the easiest place in the world to do business for the third year running in the latest World Bank Report, and edged out New Zealand and the United States in the "Doing Business 2009" ranking by the World Bank.

As cities around the world ramp up their efforts to capture a slice of the growing BTMICE market, the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB) has laid the foundation to surge ahead in this area. Two years ago, SECB launched a new business strategy to foster an even closer partnership with other Singapore government agencies in growing, attracting and creating business events that are centred on Singapore's key economic clusters such as Biomedical Sciences, Infocomm Technology and Digital Media, Environment and Water Technologies, and Banking and Finance.

To strengthen its competitiveness, a SGD $170 million ‘BE in Singapore' or ‘Business Events in Singapore' incentive scheme was introduced in 2006 to enable the industry to bid for, attract and anchor a critical mass of business events to sustain a robust business pipeline.

"Through this new business approach, we have been able to support, attract and anchor some 450 business events. This has translated into a bumper year of high-calibre business events in 2007, including Cityscape Asia, BioMedical Asia, Carbon Forum Asia and the inaugural Singapore International Water Week. Last year, business and MICE visitors accounted for close to 3 million of total Visitor Arrivals, and contributed over $5 billion or 40 per cent of our total Tourism Receipts – a new record for Singapore," said Mr Aloysius Arlando, Assistant Chief Executive (Business Travel and MICE Group), STB.

The business events industry in Singapore is supported by a vibrant ecosystem of professional and world-class players that are vital partners of the SECB in the development and hosting of events in the city.

Said Mr Stephen Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd and organiser of CommunicAsia2007 which attracted over 25,000 overseas attendees, believes that Singapore's success as a business travel and MICE venue is due to its "excellent organisational and hospitality skills."

"As a result of this, events organizers trust that meetings and conventions held here will be fruitful. The opening of the integrated resorts will play a significant part in maintaining our leadership position as they will provide an increase in variety of activities and entertainment venues for social functions for event organizers and visitors. This will make

For more information on the UIA International Meeting Statistics, please refer to:  www.uia.be/sites/uia.be/files/documents/statistics/press/press08.pdf