Singapore has once again maintained its position as Asia’s Top Convention City for 10 years running, according to the latest Global Rankings by the International Congress and Convention Association. In addition, Singapore has retained its spot as the only Asian city in the Top Five Convention Cities in the World alongside Vienna, Barcelona, Paris and Berlin, since 2006.

The accolade comes after a stellar year for Singapore tourism as the country welcomed a record high 13.2 million visitors, exceeding its forecast range of 12-13 million. The number of business visitors rose to 3.2 million, an increase of 2.6 percent from 2010, and forming 24 percent of total visitors to Singapore. Expenditure by these business visitors also rose by 4.1 percent to an estimated SGD5.6 billion, contributing approximately 25 percent of total tourism receipts.

There was also robust performance in the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry, which saw a 46 percent year-on-year growth in the number of conventions, conferences and trade shows in 2011. Key events also demonstrated strong growth with increased attendance and participation.

“Looking ahead, Singapore aims to continue leveraging the growing opportunities in Asia and our strong knowledge network to further strengthen our position as a preferred MICE destination," said Neeta Lachmandas, Assistant Chief Executive of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). “Singapore strives to differentiate itself by co-creating and developing a strong network of business events within Singapore’s key priority industries. Through close collaboration with professional industry partners and sustained efforts to develop the capabilities of Singapore’s key industry clusters such as biomedical and healthcare; infocomm technologies; environment and energy; and banking and finance, STB serves to attract and develop flagship MICE events of international standing that reinforce Singapore’s attractiveness as a leading MICE city.”

Source: Singapore Tourism Board

Image (CC) AndyLeo@Photography

I just put down my latest copy of Harvard Business Review and headed to the online version to get another bonus boost from their online-only content—I love reading their blogs especially. One caught my eye—as it should anyone in our niche. The title was "Why Face-to-Face Meetings Make All the Difference."

It was written by an executive who made his start as the founder of a global metal recycling company. The story is poignant and extremely relevant to today's market without borders. It's a fabulous success story and an extremely relevant message—one that you will undoubtedly see mirrored in future issues of One+.

Enjoy!

New research conducted by American Express Global Business Travel and the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Foundation benchmarks the travel spending U.S. businesses require to help support their growth. The study suggests that travel can be an overlooked means to gain competitive advantage.

The research analyzed business travel spending from a sample of nearly 900 public companies across the past decade of economic cycles. The findings indicate business travel is a contributing factor in helping companies drive revenue:

• To reach optimal revenue potential, keeping all other factors constant, the study indicates U.S. industries could increase business travel spending by an average of just over 4 percent.
• This translates to an average of just over US$70 dollars more per worker.
• The percentage of under-spend varies when looking at specific industry sectors--business services, entertainment and sports sectors typically already operate closer to optimal levels, while banking and finance, pharmaceutical and retail companies could likely benefit from greater business travel spending growth.
• The economy-wide average ROI to business travel spending is about 20-to-1, meaning that for every $1 strategically invested in business travel, businesses have seen an average of $20 in additional gross profit.

The key company characteristics for consideration when identifying optimal travel spending include, but are not limited to: size of the business, international presence, industry, how far the company's locations are from its supply chain and demand markets, corporate culture, the use of technology and how productive the firm is in managing its travel spending.

"This study further affirms the link between business travel spending and corporate growth, giving businesses a reason to think about travel as an essential investment and not just a bottom-line expense to incrementally reduce year after year," said Christa Degnan Manning, director, eXpert insights and Research, Advisory Services, American Express Global Business Travel. "Companies can use this study as a guidepost in evaluating optimal levels of spending appropriate for their business objectives based on corporate characteristics, as well as benchmarking themselves relative to their peers. Considering optimal spending within a managed travel program that also includes virtual meeting solutions is a key component to achieving a balanced, successful program."

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is more than just looking out for the environment—it's also about looking out for the economies and people of the local economies we become parts of during our meetings and events worldwide. 

The impact meetings and events have on local economies is huge. In last year's Meetings Deliver white paper, for example, it was reported that for every 10 percent of increase in business travel to these events, an increase of 1.5 percent will be seen in positive impact on the economy. 

Convention Centers worldwide are doing their due diligence in bringing the best meetings and events to their city, but it's the ones that take the extra mile to work with their clients on giving back to the community that truly make a positive mark on the world and are inspirations to us all. 

A great example of what I am talking about came to me in an email earlier today. It was from the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Known for providing an economic boost to the Central Florida community, the OCCC has also become a major source of donations for several of the area's charitable organizations.  

In 2010, it's estimated more than US$1.7 million in funds, goods and services were donated to local organizations by visiting conventions and tradeshows and their exhibitors and attendees.   More than three dozen visiting shows made donations that included nearly 250,000 pounds of food to local food banks, more than US$175,000 in educational supplies and grants and more than US$100,000 in building supplies.    

"We're very proud of all the conventions that choose to make a donation to one of our local charities," said Kathie Canning, the convention center's deputy general manager. "It's great to see our visitors are providing a positive economic impact to our community not only by spending locally, but also giving locally."   

As meeting professionals it's important to remember we have two clients every time we plan or host a meeting or event—the client and the city. The positive impact we have as an industry can not only open doorways for economic growth for our clients and the local communities, but can also open the eyes of lawmakers and business leaders to the importance our industry has to the successful growth of business. 

Thank you to Orange County Convention Center for leading by example!

Just my opinion, but the future of tradeshows is clear to me . . . the biggest ROI is in hosted buyer programs. Just look at the success that IMEX, EIBTM and even MPI have all had with hosted buyer programs in recent years. While other aspects of tradeshows have shown some decline since 2008, hosted buyer is on the rise. Why? Well, the proof is in the pudding as they say.

It's all about proving value. For the supplier the value is in knowing before the show even starts that the money spent on a booth is not going to waste because rather than standing around waiting for buyers to come to them, they have a list of pre-qualified buyers already on their schedule. One of the many values for buyers is time management—not having to roam around the tradeshow floor aimlessly looking for potential matches for their clients. Buyers and suppliers are pre-matched based on interests and needs so the one-on-one meetings create an entirely new definition of the business value of meetings.

Still not convinced? Well, as we reported in the October 2010 issue of One+, a great example of value from a hosted buyer meeting is the program MPI held at WEC 2010 in Vancouver, BC. Following the event, 88 percent of hosted buyers said they connected with suppliers who matched their needs and 97 percent said they planned to call on suppliers they met for future business.

More than US$450 million in business was contracted from the IMEX 2010 hosted buyer program in Frankfurt, and value is also seen in hosted buyer statistics from EIBTM in Barcelona. In 2009, EIBTM saw a 3 percent increase in attendance and a 4 percent increase in prescheduled appointments. The event just released its 2010 numbers today and reported increases in both categories again this year—a 5 percent increase in attendance and a 1.35% increase in prescheduled appointments.

I can tell you, while I was at EIBTM this past month, I did roam around the tradeshow floor periodically. You know what I saw? Business getting done. So often at tradeshows I see more people walking around picking up tchotchkes and I often wonder, there has to be a better way. Well, in my mind, the better way is clear. The ROI at tradeshows is participating in a hosted buyer program.

As hosted buyer programs grow in popularity around the globe, how will the concept change the dynamic of tradeshows? And even more important, many feel tradeshows are a dying breed. Are hosted buyer programs the saving grace? 

On a side note . . . If you're wondering about the strategic value of tradeshow tchotchkes, assistant editor Jessie States has a story for you too. Check it out in our November/December 2010 issue of One+.