ITB Asia News 2019 Day 2 Edition

2 NEWS
PREFACE
Richard Barnes
Editor-in-chief
Welcome to Singapore –
Asia’s thriving events hub
Yesterday’s yet again strong
participation by Singapore’s
leading political and DMO
figures in the opening ceremony
of ITB Asia underlined the
nation’s determination to foster
major events here.
And what better time to launch
a bespoke MICE event at ITB
Asia than when more and more
eyes are turning to Singapore
as a stable, safe place to host a
global event.
Singapore welcomed over
2.9 million MICE visitors in
2018, a growth of 12.1% from
the previous year. Over the
same period, tourism receipts
rose 7.2% to reach USD3.41
bn in 2018. The city state is
set to host notable events and
meetings such as Vidcon Asia,
Home Delivery Asia, Deloitte
All Hands Meeting and Bentley
Systems Year in Infrastructure
Conference in 2019. Vidcon is
the largest event for the global
community of online content
creators and will host the
inaugural Asia edition of the
show in Singapore.
The CWT Meeting & Events
Trends Report 2019 expects
global demand for meetings
and events to increase between
5-10% as events are considered
a key channel to facilitate
face-to-face engagement,
discussions, conversations and
networking. Together with local
businesses in Singapore, the
Singapore Tourism Board has
curated a selection of group
experiences under the new
“INSPIRE” programme. These
range from dining to social
networking, from attractions
to thematic tours, as well as
unforgettable team building
experiences, all tailored with the
MICE visitors’ profile in mind.
These incentives have been
designed to complement groups’
itineraries and provide exclusive
experiences that showcase the
best of what Singapore has to
offer.
It’s just one more reason to enjoy
your stay here in this incredible
Asian “garden state” as part of
your “ITB Asia experience”.
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(from left to right) Michael Müller, The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Federal
Republic of Germany, Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State, Ministry
of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Education, Republic of Singapore,
and Dr Christian Göke, CEO of Messe Berlin, touring the show floor
after the opening press conference
ITB Asia 2019:
tourism at the heart
of world peace and
freedom
The 2019 edition of ITB Asia kicked
off with a press conference at the
Marina Bay Sands, at which the
importance of tourism for peace
and freedom were underlined.
Michael Müller, The Governing
Mayor of Berlin, Federal Republic
of Germany, and Chee Hong Tat,
Senior Minister of State, Ministry
of Trade and Industry & Ministry of
Education, Republic of Singapore,
were guests of honour for the
official opening conference,
ceremony and stand tour.
Dr Christian Göke, CEO of Messe
Berlin, organisers of the event,
thanked Mr Chee for the support,
hospitality and cooperation the
Singapore government has shown
for the past decade: “I can say
that we feel at home here, we feel
welcome here, and you truly make
doing business a very passionate
affair.”
The Minister outlined major moves
by Singapore’s tourism authority
in moving the industry forward,
and that Singapore was looking
for opportunities to develop and
optimise twinning strategies with
cities in the region as part of efforts
to attract new sources of tourists:
“It is not a zero-sum game with
cities in the region. We are not
just competing with each other for
tourists; what we actually can do is
to win together and offer tourists
who come to Southeast Asia
multiple destinations that they can
visit,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Chee said the
state’s initiative to introduce
“Passion Made Possible Privileges”
(PMPP) with Alipay this year has
resulted in a major rise in spending
by Chinese tourists in Singapore.
“Based on early results, tourists
using PMPP spend three times
more than the average Alipay user
in Singapore.”
The Governing Mayor of Berlin
spoke about the importance of
tourism as an industry to his
city, and to the world at large.
With his city celebrating the 30th
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin
Wall, he underlined the importance
of freedom of speech and freedom
of travel as key civil liberties, and
the fact that the people of Berlin
fought to gain back these rights
and to keep them into the future
ITB ASIA NEWS • Thursday 17 October 2019
www.itb-asia-news.com