For a second-straight year, Singapore has championed UIA’s latest ranking of top international meetings cities and countries for having hosted 952 meetings in 2012, up from 919 in 2011.
On the 2012 top meeting cities chart, Singapore is followed by Brussels, 547 meetings; Vienna, 326; Paris, 276; Seoul, 253; Tokyo, 225; Barcelona, 150; Copenhagen, 150; Madrid, 149; and London, 119.
The news comes as one of Singapore’s primary venues, the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, recently reopened for business after a year-long, multi-million dollar renovation.
“Our first event could not have gone better,” said Arun Madhok, CEO, Suntec Singapore. “It is very rewarding to see people enjoying themselves the way they are tonight. We have been working very hard over the past year for this moment, and it is a great feeling to welcome visitors.”
Suntec Singapore’s $147 million modernization program was completed in May. The center’s reopened to host the Special Olympics Singapore National Games’ closing ceremony on June 3.
Upgraded facilities include 36 flexible meeting spaces, a more than 32,000-square-foot, column-free exhibition hall and six halls with more than 38,000 square feet of combined exhibition space. Free Wi-Fi capable of handling up to 6,000 devices at any moment also is available.
While exhibition halls like the Suntec Centre help to maintain Singapore’s status atop the UIA listings, the United States has slipped among rankings of international meetings hosts.
Japan overtook the United States to claim second spot on the country chart with 731 meetings to an undisclosed number in the U.S. Japan hosted 598 meetings in 2011, which placed it in third position. South Korea and Australia, with 563 and 287 meetings, respectively, are the only other Asian countries in the top-10 collection. South Korea took the fifth spot, up from sixth last year, while Australia held the 10th position.
