Speech by Ms Melissa Ow, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, at the Tourism Industry Conference 2025

Greetings

1. Good morning, Minister Grace Fu, partners and colleagues from the tourism sector. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Tourism Industry Conference 2025.

Growing to New Heights

2. In 2024, tourism receipts reached $29.8 billion, setting a new record for Singapore. Our international visitor arrivals reached 16.5 million, coming in at the upper bound of our annual forecast.

3. This is an achievement that we share with all our tourism sector partners and workers who put in a strong performance in their respective industries and sector.

4. Let me recap some of the highlights that have raised the profile of destination Singapore and contributed to our full year results. Last year:

   • a. Singapore welcomed a series of world-class blockbuster entertainment acts including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeren and Bruno Mars which brought their global fandom to Singapore.

   • b. We convened international chess masters at the FIDE World Chess Championship, held in Singapore for the first time and broadcasted to millions of chess enthusiasts around the world.

   • c. Significant MICE events such as the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders 20th Annual Summit, The Meetings Show Asia Pacific and the world’s first SuperAI 2024 conference continued to put Singapore on the world map.

   • d. New lifestyle offerings added to the overall vibrancy of our city. For example, Raffles Hotel welcomed:

     • i. Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet’s AP house, at the legendary Bar & Billiard Room and featuring the world’s first AP Café, and

     • ii. Les Jardins Secrets by Van Cleef and Arpels, a unique concept inspired by Singapore as a Garden City and features rotating exhibitions from the Maison’s heritage.

5. These are just some of the many novel concepts that were launched last year.

6. This year, the global economic outlook appears more uncertain. For now, it is too early for us to determine the impact on travel and tourism, and we will monitor these developments very closely. What is certain, is that we will intensify efforts to engage our stakeholders, look for growth opportunities and press on in our efforts to deliver and drive quality tourism.

Market Access

7. This year, we have seen growth in air capacity to our key source markets, enhancing our flight connectivity and strengthening our air hub status:

   • a. For example, seat capacities to Mainland China, Malaysia and Australia have returned to pre-pandemic levels, while India and South Korea have surpassed 2019 figures.

   • b. In the past six months, we forged new connections globally¹, with flights to Mainland China, Indonesia as well as Vietnam, and upcoming new connection to Austria that will boost our global hub ambition and unlock new opportunities for growth.

8. In February, we signed a tripartite agreement with Garuda Indonesia and the Changi Airport Group to promote travel to Singapore, through joint marketing efforts.

9. Beyond our key source markets, we will continue to identify new opportunities from emerging markets such as Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan to sustain a diverse and resilient visitor portfolio in the longer term.

   • a. My colleague Juliana will be sharing on market trends later this morning. I encourage you to join this session to exchange insights.

New Events and Offerings

10. Last year, we announced an additional $300 million injection into the Tourism Development Fund to anchor new tourism products and experiences, as well as support the rejuvenation of our industries.

11. I’m very pleased to share a few projects supported under the Tourism Development Fund which will be launched this year:

    • a. New Bahru will introduce exciting new offerings including a multi-brand concept showcasing local and international F&B and retail brands. The former Nan Chiau High School Hall will also be upgraded into a multi-purpose event venue.

    • b. Hidden Worlds, an immersive dining experience themed around ocean conservation, will open at Kallang Leisure Park later this year. Pre-registration for the experience begins today, and I encourage you to check them out.

12. The Tourism Development Fund also supported new events:

    • a. Families can look forward to the inaugural K!DZ POP CON 2025, featuring international IP such as Baby Shark, Peppa Pig and My Little Pony all under one roof.

    • b. Sports fans can expect an exciting line-up of events in 2025. Besides the NBA Rising Stars Invitational,

      • i. We will welcome the Singapore Festival of Football this July, the first of a three-edition² partnership with event organiser TEG. Fans can get up close with their favourite players from Arsenal, AC Milan and Newcastle.

      • ii. Moving from the pitch to the pool, World Aquatics Championships and World Aquatics Masters Championships will take place at the Singapore Sports Hub and Sentosa over the months of July and August, with over 40,000 international visitors expected.

      • iii. Following the success of the BLAST Premier World Finals last year, esports fans can look forward to the BLAST DOTA Slam this November that will bring together 10 of the world's top Dota 2 teams.

    • c. On the arts front, the world’s first Botero immersive experience will open in Singapore next January. The experience will also feature paintings and monumental sculptures from the renowned sculptor, as well as a themed café and retail offerings.

MICE

13. Minister Grace earlier shared our long-term MICE ambition and our collective efforts to grow this industry is already bearing fruit. This year we will welcome:

    • a. The prestigious World Robot Olympiad International Finals, which returns to Singapore after two decades. The event will spotlight robotics on the global stage, and see 7,000 delegates attending the championship.

    • b. C-suite semiconductor industry professionals will converge in Singapore for the 30th year edition of SEMICON Southeast Asia, with over 18,000 delegates expected.

Hotels

14. Singapore will welcome new hotels in 2025, including:

    • a. Resorts World Sentosa which will be introducing The Laurus, the first Luxury Collection Resort by Marriott International in Singapore, while Mama Shelter will be making its Asia debut. Both hotels will open in the third quarter, and will enhance our hospitality landscape.

Refreshed Experiences

15. Visitors can also look forward to refreshed experiences at existing attractions and precincts. For example:

    • a. ANDSOFORTH, a home-grown immersive dining theatre company in Jalan Besar will introduce expanded experiences at a new multi-concept venue later this year.

    • b. Gardens by the Bay will welcome a new Jurassic World Experience next month, featuring life-sized dinosaur animatronics, with interactive educational elements.

    • c. The refreshed Chinatown Heritage Centre reopened its doors in January, offering enhanced experiences including a recreation of a 1950s marketplace that provides a glimpse into the lives of Chinatown’s early residents.

    • d. The historic Smith Street on Chinatown has similarly undergone a transformation, and will feature more diverse experiences that celebrate Singapore’s heritage and culture, such as kebaya photo studio Elegance of Nanyang.

Telling a Great Singapore Story

16. Our product development efforts must be complemented by us Telling a Great Singapore Story to our global audiences to drive travel demand.

17. Building on the success of our World’s Best MICE City campaign launched last year, which has reached an audience of over 22 million,

    • a. This year, we will be launching a new global marketing effort targeted at the Early Careers visitor segment that will position Singapore as a must-visit destination, with exciting experiences that cater to their interests.

18. Tapping on the power of film, music, television and streaming has yielded positive results in our marketing of destination Singapore.

    • a. In February, Coldplay released their Man in the Moon music video, featuring iconic landmarks and hidden gems as part of our collaboration with Warner Music. The campaign has received over 150 million views across various platforms since its launch. Let’s hear what the band had to say.

    • b. Through our partnership with Netflix, Singapore was featured in a dedicated episode of the seventh season of Formula One: Drive to Survive docuseries. The episode tells the story of the Singapore Grand Prix, from the perspective of five drivers such as Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. Let’s take a look.

    • c. Last month, Mandopop band Mayday released a video based on their concert in Singapore, showcasing our vibrant cityscape. The video will be screened throughout their 2025 global tour.

    • d. We worked with Alipay to launch a video of local singer-songwriter Stefanie Sun as part of an Alipay+ spend campaign. Titled "拍我不如拍她" (Hanyu Pinyin: Pai Wo Bu Ru Pai Ta; Translated as Dont Snap Me), the video coincides with Stefanie’s 25th year in the music industry. Our partnership is timed with her tour to various Chinese cities, and the video features Stefanie experiencing the ease of using Alipay+ to transact in Singapore. Let’s take a look.

Partnerships for Growth

19. Partnerships remain a key thrust in our global marketing efforts. This year:

    • a. STB collaborated with social media agency Komodo for the world’s first gamified TikTok travel mini-series titled The Journey: Singapore. Six of Australia’s top content creators competed in interactive challenges in Singapore with the help of their TikTok fans.

    • b. In Vietnam, we are leveraging the popularity of blockbuster “Call Me by Fire” reality TV series. Leading cast members of the show were in Singapore last month to showcase the unexpected adventures, culture and connections that Singapore has to offer to millions of their fans.

    • c. In conjunction with the 60th anniversary of Singapore-India bilateral relations, STB and our partners launched a new “Just Between Us Friends” campaign. The campaign has already generated more than 130 million impressions since its launch earlier this year.

    • d. To boost travel consideration of Singapore amongst Chinese consumers, we worked with Xiaomi to develop 小爱同学 (Hanyu pinyin: Xiao Ai Tong Xue), a new end-to-end GenAI travel planner that can provide customised travel recommendations. Let’s take a look.

    • e. To anchor more quality MICE events in Singapore, we partnered with WeMeet in Mainland China to launch a new MeetSG mini programme on the WeChat super app, to provide our MICE players with handy information on event organisation in Singapore.

20. Closer to home, we have embarked on joint marketing and product development collaborations.

    • a. Today, we are very pleased to have renewed our partnership with Klook for another 3 years. Beyond expanding the geographical coverage of our joint marketing, we will identify emerging visitor segments and anchor more world-class experiences and events in Singapore.

    • b. I am also pleased to share that STB has entered a new 3-year partnership with CapitaLand to explore new concepts, event activations and promote the rejuvenation of attractions and lifestyle experiences across CapitaLand properties in Singapore.

    • c. We are also collaborating with South Korean lifestyle brand Wiggle Wiggle and the Singapore Flyer, to introduce thematic capsules, interactive experiences and exclusive retail offerings against the backdrop of the Singapore skyline.

21. Data and consumer insights power our product development and marketing strategies. We are intensifying efforts to collaborate with industry stakeholders to derive deeper insights of our visitors:

    • a. To this end, STB signed a new three-year partnership with Fever, a leading experience developer and ticketing platform.

    • b. We have also embarked on a pilot data collaboration with Mastercard to understand the spending behaviour and the choices of our international visitors to Singapore.

    • c. My colleague Kenneth will be sharing more on how we are harnessing data to refine our marketing strategies later this morning. Mastercard will also be sharing findings from our data pilot during this session. I encourage you to join us.

Tourism 2040: Setting the Stage for Long-Term Growth

22. While Singapore has done well, we must persevere in our efforts to address the competition, seize opportunities, and overcome challenges that could curtail our growth. Despite recent economic upheavals, we must not lose sight of the longer-term plan that we are hoping to build.

23. By 2040, we project that tourism receipts will reach between $47 to $50 billion, this is in line with our Quality Tourism efforts, where we expect Tourism Receipts to grow at a faster pace than international visitor arrivals.

24. Significant efforts will be required from the entire tourism sector.

25. Over the past year, we have engaged our industry stakeholders and members of the public extensively. We have heard your suggestions and greatly appreciate the ideas you have raised.

26. Our Tourism 2040 vision rests on three key pillars:

    • a. First, we will capture Demand from high potential growth opportunities, including growing MICE, and growing stopover conversion in tandem with the opening of Changi Airport Terminal 5.

    • b. Second, we will strengthen our Destination attractiveness through compelling tourism products and experiences that will motivate and induce visitors to come.

    • c. Third, we will Develop our tourism industries through investment promotion and capabilities development efforts.

Demand

Growing MICE Tourism

27. First, on Demand.

28. By 2040, we aim to triple MICE Tourism Receipts. MICE visitors are high spenders and will be a key driver of quality growth.

29. The MICE industry has significant economic impact beyond Tourism Receipts. Anchoring key MICE events and activities will further deepen our connection to priority industries, and enable us to grow our economic heft by convening influential actors and thought leaders in Singapore, thereby amplifying our status as the World’s Best MICE City.

30. The work starts now, and we have already begun laying the groundwork.

    • a. I am delighted to announce that we have secured Herbalife Asia Pacific Extravaganza 2026, which is expected to be Singapore’s largest Meeting & Incentive travel event yet, with an anticipated 25,000 visitor arrivals.

    • b. We have also secured a strong pipeline of events that will take place in the mid-term, including the AIDA World Insurance Congress in 2031, and the 22nd World Conference for Non-Destructive Testing 2032.

31. We will need to work closely with our tourism partners to accelerate MICE growth.

    • a. To build capabilities of our local trade associations and expand the pool of local hosts for Association Conferences, we have signed a partnership with the Singapore Business Federation. Through knowledge sharing platforms, we endeavour to scale up capabilities to bid and host world-class events in Singapore.

    • b. Together with the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS), we will introduce a new Business Events Inspired pilot programme that will catalyse and grow our pipeline of MICE events. We will provide mentorship access, events consultancy services, and seed funding to MICE organisers to develop quality events, with the goal of incubating them to become impactful international events.

    • c. We want to encourage local stakeholders to collaborate more closely as Team Singapore. To do so, STB will help defray their business development costs to pursue MICE leads under our Business Event in Singapore (BEiS) Build Foundation incentive scheme.

    • d. To further seed more home-grown events, we will also encourage MICE players to tap on Kickstart Fund, which provides marketing and production funding support for innovative MICE events.

Capitalising new opportunities from T5

32. Besides MICE, we see growth opportunities from the introduction of Changi Airport Terminal 5, which will inject more passenger movements to and through Singapore.

33. Transit and transfer segment currently makes up about a third of Changi Airport’s overall passenger traffic, and this presents a good opportunity for us.

34. Efforts to encourage stopover visits have already begun. In January, we launched a new stopover campaign together with the Changi Airport Group and Singapore Airlines. Titled “The Singapore Lounge”, the campaign showcases destination Singapore as the perfect lounge for visitors. Let’s take a look.

35. This is just one example of how we are working with our partners to drive stopovers, and we will continue to multiply and intensify efforts to pursue opportunities.

Continued importance of Leisure segment

36. Our Leisure visitors will remain important, even as we pursue new opportunities from the MICE and stopover segments. The leisure segment forms a critical base of visitors for us, and we expect leisure tourists to be major contributors of our overall arrivals in 2040.

Destination

37. We have identified several opportunities that can boost our destination attractiveness, to ensure our continued appeal to these visitors.

Attractions and Precincts

38. First, our data shows that Sightseeing and Attractions are the top reasons for travel amongst our leisure visitors. Singapore will need to deepen our efforts to anchor quality, world-class attractions to remain competitive.

39. We already have a robust pipeline of attractions over the next few years, including the Singapore Oceanarium opening later this year at Resorts World Sentosa, the Porsche Experience Centre and of course the new Science Centre in 2027.

40. Leading up to 2040, we will continue to pursue compelling concepts with strong visitor appeal. We welcome stakeholders who have interesting proposals to come connect with us.

41. Next, on sightseeing.

    • a. Orchard Road is one of the top places of interest amongst our visitors and generates the largest share of tourist shopping spend. Our rejuvenation efforts are already underway.

    • b. Somerset will become an energetic youth and entertainment hub, with exciting events to come with the opening of the Grange Road events space by Live Nation next year. We will create distinctive experiences in the other zones along Orchard.

42. Over the next few decades, new developments in Greater Sentosa will boost our ambitions to position Singapore as a leading destination. In the pipeline are potential new attractions, reimagined beach experiences and expanded heritage trails.

43. Additionally, the Changi East Urban District is envisioned to be a vibrant lifestyle and business centre at the doorstep of Changi Airport Terminal 5 and will give visitors and locals more to look forward to.

44. In addition to developing our key tourism precincts, we will also identify and intensify efforts to capture tourist footfall and spending in our lifestyle districts.

    • a. This year, STB will be embarking on a third precinct partnership with HSBC and Dempsey stakeholders to jointly promote the lifestyle and attraction businesses in Dempsey, through innovative marketing campaigns and activations to drive spend.

45. We invite precinct associations and businesses alike to reach out and work with us.

Cruise

46. Cruise demand is expected to grow steadily over the next few decades.

47. This year, we welcome a number of new cruise offerings providing differentiated offerings for visitors, including the much-anticipated Disney Adventure for our family visitors and introduction of Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection's Luminara will tap the luxury cruise segment.

48. As we work and look towards 2040, we will deepen efforts to pursue new and compelling cruise concepts, such as themed and wellness cruises. I urge all of our cruise lines to work with us to explore the development of such sailings from Singapore.

Wellness and Destination Hotels

49. Next, we observe growing salience for wellness tourism, with more than a billion wellness trips made in 2023 globally. Of this, close to 40% were to Asia-Pacific.

50. Singapore has a unique value proposition, as a city in nature offering urban wellness experiences safeguarded by high standards. The potential is immense and we will work to capitalise on this burgeoning segment.

    • a. Visitors today can already enjoy a variety of wellness options, such as the Klook Wellness Weekend that took place in February this year.

    • b. An integrated wellness centre by PowerMoves – featuring fitness classes, aesthetics and workshops – that opened in Dempsey earlier this week further expands our wellness experiences.

51. STB has identified potential areas in the wellness tourism space including:

    • a. Science-backed wellness and longevity experiences that enhance health span. These have significant tourism appeal, with sizeable visitor spend and opportunities to drive repeat visits.

    • b. We also see good opportunities from Wellness hotels, with visitors increasingly travelling to enjoy such hospitality experiences.

52. This follows a growing trend of what we call Destination Hotels. For example, the Mandai Rainforest Resort by Banyan Tree that opened last week could be a draw for nature-lovers around the world.

53. Properties are also increasingly building loyal fan bases who travel just to enjoy a hotel brand’s global properties, and STB will focus our efforts on pursuing hotel brands with strong appeal.

Leisure Events

54. Finally, Leisure Events are expected to be a key driver of growth. We have seen pent up demand for leisure events post-pandemic, with travellers keen to travel for sporting and live entertainment events³.

55. To realise our ambitions as Asia Pacific’s leading leisure events hub, STB will intensify our efforts to draw more world-class Sports, Lifestyle and Music events.

56. This year, music fans can look forward to electrifying performances from Elton John and G-Dragon at the Singapore Grand Prix. These performances join other exciting line-ups throughout the year by artistes including Lady Gaga and Gracie Abrams.

57. Several new event venues will open over the next few years, including the Immersive Media Based Theatre (IMBA) opening at Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands’ upcoming Arena, and a new indoor arena in Kallang.

Supporting our businesses to drive tourism investments

58. Our long-term Tourism 2040 ambition is shared by all our industry partners. Last year, tourism companies committed more than $3.2 billion in investments that will see the introduction of new products and experiences. This really underscores the commitment and more importantly, the confidence that our tourism businesses have in destination Singapore.

59. We are committed to supporting you, our tourism partners, to create more compelling products and build for the future. This includes efforts to boost our incentive toolkit as shared by Minister Grace earlier in her speech.

Industry Development

60. Next, on Industry Development. We need to continually reinvest and retool our tourism workforce.

    • a. STB worked with the industry to co-develop the Travel Agent Roadmap. To be launched in July, the roadmap will focus on raising capabilities of our travel agents to be “Curators of Travel that Inspire”. I urge our travel agents to join us on this transformation journey.

    • b. We have also been working with our tourism businesses through our Data Analytics Shift (DASH) programme, to upskill their digital capabilities. To date, more than 220 tourism companies have participated in this programme. Let’s see what some of our partners have to say.

61. We will need to accelerate productivity to meet our growth ambitions and to drive quality growth.

62. Through STB’s Tourism Accelerator programme:

    • a. Millennium Hotels and Resorts worked with Singaporean start-up Viatick to pilot a comprehensive asset tracking programme that reduced the time taken for staff to locate various assets on property.

    • b. Conrad Centennial Singapore leveraged local tech start-up Inside Technologies’ AI-powered smart scheduling to automate shift filing. This led to over 90% in time savings.

63. We will be launching the next run of the Singapore Tourism Accelerator in the second half of the year, and I invite you to join us to testbed viable tech solutions that could propel your business transformation.

Conclusion

64. There is much to be done. Work has already started, and we are putting in place the building blocks that will anchor our future as a world-class destination, a global hub and a home that we all proudly advocate for.

65. The Singapore Tourism Board is committed to partnering closely with our industry stakeholders as we journey together towards Tourism 2040, so that we can look to the future with confidence and pursue sustainable tourism growth.

66. As I wrap up, I invite you to imagine what Destination Singapore could look like in 2040 and more importantly to co-create the future with us. Thank you.

¹ Lhasa, Wenzhou and Yi Chang in Mainland China; Labuan Bajo and Padang in Indonesia; and Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam.

² Subsequent editions will take place in 2027 and 2029 respectively. More details for these editions will be shared closer to date.

³ American Express 2024 Global Travel Trends Report