Organisers must commit resources

GB Srithar, Regional Director (India, Middle East, and South Asia), Singapore Tourism Board, speaks about Singapore’s preparedness for the safe resumption of M!CE events. He also highlights the role that technology, as well as the government, plays in this effort.

Hazel Jain

What is the significance of successfully holding the Joint Leadership Summit in Singapore?

The Joint Leadership Summit, held from October 5 to 7, convened regional government representatives, major global organisers, and trade association leaders on an action plan for the safe reopening of the business events industry in the region. They discussed the need to re-open inter-and intra-regional travel routes while ensuring the safety of travellers. Accordingly, the leaders are calling on the authorities to put into place clear policies and common operating protocols across the region.

The Summit witnessed the signing of MoU by the Association of Event Organisers, Singapore Association for Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers, Society for Independent Show Organizers, Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and Singapore Tourism Board (STB). The MoU showcases the commitment to revitalize the regional exhibition industry and strengthens Singapore’s long-standing position as a safe and trusted Global Asia hub for business events.

What role does technology play in making safe hybrid events a reality?

Experimentation with event formats is an up-coming trend, with organisers trailing events in virtual or hybrid models. In terms of innovation, this is the most fertile period in our industry’s history, and we have seized this by piloting and scaling many new solutions.

For instance, AR content for our visitors. We will be creating a repository of high-quality AR content that our industry stakeholders can leverage to enrich their digital platforms and will guide them on deployment of this technology.

STB has also launched TCube (Tourism Technology Transformation Cube), which provides a holistic suite of tools to guide tourism businesses in Singapore to build capabilities for the digital age. We partnered with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research to conduct simulation studies by measuring air flow, fomite, and air transmission. This ensured our approach to running safe business events is academically sound and scientifically proven, and to give delegates peace of mind.

What kind of push is Singapore’s M!CE segment seeing from the government?

M!CE and business travel are strategic industries, which bring about significant benefits to the country’s overall economy. This approach continues to be refined, as Singapore resumes larger-scale events, such as TravelRevive in 2020 and Geo Connect Asia 2021, where stark protocols were trialled. STB has worked with the M!CE industry to become more COVID resilient through the adoption of new business models and technologies. Beyond encouraging event organisers to organise hybrid events, STB has collaborated with organisers on ways to better extract value from and monetise the data that they collect. The SACEOS became the first MICE industry association worldwide to launch a set of technical references for the exhibition industry and partnered with local institutions to develop formal avenues for training and upskilling.

What is the Safe Business Events Risk Management Framework about?

In July 2020, STB developed the Safe Business Events (SBE) framework, considering the event risk profile and the
readiness of event organisers and event venues to mitigate these risks.

Under STB’s SBE Framework, EOs must achieve five outcomes, that are, Infection control measures for every stage of an event attendee’s journey,

How is Singapore forging ahead in M!CE recovery?

STB is constantly engaging our intermediary and corporate stakeholders across our key markets, including India. We have also stepped up marketing Singapore as a M!CE destination, through media partnerships, digital and social channels. In India, our recent engagement session with 30 corporate decision makers from various industry sectors provided useful takeaways that will help us chart our pathway towards M!CE recovery from India to Singapore  .