Two Asian countries with stellar destination marketing practices


By Kristie Thong on 12/10/2016


What do Malaysia and Singapore have in common in the way they market themselves and stay ahead as business event destinations?

Singapore: A focus on best practices and strategic marketing

Singapore focuses on best practices that have successfully achieved repeat patronage of business events, including:

  • Pushing local agencies: Some properties or venues will give an edge to a Singaporean-based agency over a foreign one. This supports the local agencies and investment in the market. Giving local planners an edge is a very smart way to keep developing the industry, as it drives the demand from within the market and incentivises the whole industry. 
  • Driving innovation and attractiveness: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) launches contests encouraging local agencies to create new experiences and activities, while supporting their ultimate goal of keeping the destination relevant and new. 
  • Targeted markets: Singapore is doing a great job at understanding the needs of different cultures, and does not segment their marketing axis solely based on the type of event you would organise but on the profile of the visitors. One example is a recent focus made on the Korean market.

"Thinking out of the box is important when it comes to destination marketing because delegates are becoming more selective and have higher expectations of the events they attend," says Geraldine Yeo, Director, Industry Marketing of STB. 

Singapore has launched campaigns – specifically targeted at the BTMICE (Business Travel and MICE) audience – to position the garden city as a destination of choice. 

“We recently collaborated with CNN, Bloomberg, The Economist, and other online platforms to establish Singapore as a premier MICE hub anchored on thought leadership and business opportunities, and also to inspire business travellers to extend their stay or return to Singapore for leisure visits,” says Yeo.

The campaign with Bloomberg comprised a custom content hub and television vignettes featuring business leaders received positive viewership response, based on an independent post-campaign survey conducted. 

Malaysia: Industry collaboration proves effective against adversity  

Malaysia has faced significant challenges over the past few years, but resilience is part of the country’s ongoing efforts to market Malaysia as a leading business events destination. 

Despite adversity, the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) continued to invest in marketing campaigns such as “Malaysia Like Never Before” and successfully refreshed product offerings in five key Malaysian destinations across print and digital platforms.

Strong industry relationships keep the bureau focused on its goals. The success of secured event bids has been attributed to MyCEB’s very own conference ambassador programme “Kesatria”, which complements Malaysia’s winning factors: cultural diversity, gastronomical delights, shopping, and natural attractions.

“Leveraging on the Kesatria’s success stories has helped to build Malaysia’s track record in hosting international conferences for the association and convention business,” said Ho Yoke Ping, General Manager Business Events of MyCEB.

MyCEB data showed Malaysia welcoming more than 43,500 Corporate Meeting and Incentive (C&I) participants in the first half of 2016, an increase of 15 percent from 2015.



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