SUNTEC Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre has turned in impressive results since reopening in June following yearlong major renovations.
In the space of merely three months, the convention centre has hosted a total of 96 events and welcomed 650,000 visitors through its new doors. It also boasts a back-to-back calendar lined up for the rest of 2013 and beyond, with returning customers like Spikes Asia and new customers like IFLA.
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of the soft opening of Suntec City Phase 1 yesterday, Suntec Singapore CEO, Arun Madhok, revealed that about 60 to 70 per cent of the bookings in the last three months were made by returning customers, and that occupancy for October has reached about 80 per cent.
He added that while the convention centre is seeking a healthy mix of local and international events across different industries, it is targeting to attract more medical and IT events.
“Medical events are a growing market, and they typically comprise the hybrid of a conference and an exhibition, which Suntec Singapore can cater to very well with its new offering of space convertibility.”
Since June, the convention centre has hosted five to six medical events, apart from a number of consumer fairs and other trade events. In November, it will host the major IT trade event, CloudAsia, among others.
Last week, the convention centre invited a team from Marina Bay Sands to visit its new premises. Madhok believes in contributing to the high standards of the meetings business in Singapore and is unafraid to share on Suntec Singapore’s new product offerings with its competitors.
“The key in this business is to be the leader of change, rather than its follower. Competitors may wish to emulate us but it would take them a number of years to do what we have done. By then, we would have moved on to something new,” he explained.
When asked how long Suntec Singapore expects to take to recover the huge investment sum that went into its “modernisation” programme, Madhok declined to provide the specifics, but revealed instead that the convention centre is “way ahead of its business plan for 2014 and beyond”.
