Singapore received top marks for being the world's best meeting venue in 2007 by the international non-profit Union of International Associations, overtaking previous favorites Paris and Vienna, The Strait Times reported Wednesday.
The Asian city-state topped the rankings of meeting, exhibition and convention of the year and also won in the categories of best business event venue and business ambassador., the paper said.
Minister of State for Trade and Tourism, S Iswaran, said that business travel and meeting visitors accounted for three million arrivals, a 30-per-cent increase, and brought in
40 per cent Singapore's tourism income last year.
Earnings in the business travel and events tourism sector shot to 5 billion Singapore dollars (3.4 US billion dollars) in 2007, an increase by 1 billion Singapore dollars compared with the previous year.
While the international travel industry expected a slowdown due to the global economic downturn, Singapore had been "proactive in bringing in world-class events, such as the Formula One and the Youth Olympics," Edward Liu, the president of the Singapore Association of Conventions, Exhibitions and Suppliers said.
He expected a lot more tourism arrivals and recommended "bringing back past trade shows and wooing more mega events" to Singapore.
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