As both a country and a city, Singapore lays claim to a number of superlatives. In a survey of more than half a million readers conducted by Conde Nast Traveler, they’ve been named “World’s Best City” two years in a row—2022 and 2023.
Singapore also has climbed in the rankings of sustainable destinations, recently being named a Certified Sustainable Destination by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), whose criteria reflect certification standards, indicators and best practices from different cultural and geo-political contexts around the world in tourism.
“It took a lot of work to achieve,” notes Juliana Kua, Assistant Chief Executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, International Group. “It really helped us to rally the Singapore tourism industry as well. Still, a lot of work needs to go into what we do as an industry. We’ve rolled out a roadmap of deliverables and target goals, and we’re pretty much on track to deliver them.”
Among the target goals met is a healthy lineup of both global and Asia-Pacific meetings and conventions in 2024, including the Worldchefs Congress & Expo—which will feature Singapore’s first-ever Global Chefs Challenge Finals, showcasing the top 72 chefs from 25 countries and an expected turnout of over 40,000 attendees.
In addition, the country is looking forward to March’s World Congress of Anesthesiologists, the first WCA to be held in person since 2016; and the 2024 Rotary International Convention, coming to Singapore in May.
When it comes to group type or number of attendees, the bureau has only one preference: “We want as many delegates as possible,” Kua says, pointing to Singapore’s 70,000 total hotel rooms, with more on the way, including an investment in luxury properties.
“The investment climate in Singapore is quite healthy. In 2023, we added a few thousand hotel rooms in the four- and five-star category, including a Mondrian,” she says, referring to the Mondrian Singapore Duxton, which opened this past June.
Incentive travel is an important part of the equation when factoring in Singapore’s group business. Indeed, a getaway to this island measuring 31x27 miles reveals an astonishing urban center whose centerpiece is the oft-photographed Marina Bay Sands Hotel with its famed rooftop infinity pool. There’s no average view here—guests overlook the sea, the skyline or the awe-inspiring Gardens by the Bay, home to a diverse collection of more than 1.5 million plants from every continent on earth except Antarctica.
“It’s like our Central Park,” Kua says, “and it’s a great events venue.”
No incentive itinerary would be complete without a visit to the famed Singapore Botanic Gardens, the country’s first UNESCO World Heritage site and the first and only tropical botanic garden on the World Heritage list. This lush sanctuary in the heart of the city features orchid and ginger gardens, a learning forest, wetlands, an arboretum and a botanical art gallery.
Once the sun sets, though, guests are treated to the electric side of Singapore when the city’s dining and nightlife scene takes over.
“We have so many different types of Asian cuisine, from Korean to Japanese, and even Korean and Indian fusion. For many years, Singapore has been a microcosm of Asian and international food, from Michelin-star restaurants to street hawkers,” Kua says, referencing the city’s street food vendors, so excellent and culturally ingrained that they’ve earned their own UNESCO World Heritage site ranking.
Singapore bars are also regularly among the top 50 of several “best bars in the world” lists, including Bon Appetit, which ranked Singapore’s Jigger & Pony at number 14 for 2023, Sago House at number 32 and Atlas at number 48.
“If you want to do a group bar crawl, Singapore is the place,” Kua notes. —Laurel Herman
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