STB unveils mobile planner for Chinese MICE travellers on WeChat

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched the?MeetSG WeChat Mini Program (MeetSG) to target?Chinese MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) travellers.?With MeetSG, a library of information about Singapore as a MICE destination, business events and meetings community, as well as the city?s offerings, will be made available to over one billion monthly active users on WeChat, in their native language.

MeetSG will enable MICE event organisers to connect with their Chinese attendees in a "more direct and immersive way", the press statement said. Besides offering key information including event schedules and venue, news and push notifications, MeetSG also allows Chinese MICE travellers to access up-to-date leisure information and curated offers. This includes suggested places to eat and shop, as well as options to purchase tickets to tours and entertainment at partner venues such as Gardens by the Bay, Sports Hub, Sentosa and Faber Peak Singapore.

Meet SG?complements the first MICE WeChat Mini Program developed by STB?s Greater China office in 2018, which functions as a mobile planner guide for travel intermediaries and corporates. It is launched in partnership with WeChat and the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS).?In 2018, China was Singapore?s top visitor arrival market. It grew by 6% year-on-year to record more than 3.4 million Chinese arrivals into Singapore. In terms of tourism receipts, Chinese visitors were also top spenders in Singapore in 2018, contributing over SG$3.9 billion.

STB?deputy chief executive Melissa Ow said China is an important visitor market and STB is always looking for innovative and impactful ways to improve the visitor experience for Chinese MICE visitors. She said: "We believe this initiative will also give us invaluable insights into the Chinese MICE visitors, which will in turn enable us to continually engage with them and enrich their consumer experience.?

Meanwhile, WeChat said the global adoption of WeChat-enabled services by the larger tourism industry will enhance the quality of experience for Chinese outbound business visitors. Juliet Zhu, GM and Head of WeChat Marketing said the partnership empowers Singapore as the world?s first country destination to have a comprehensive digital solution not only for leisure tourists, but also business and MICE travellers on WeChat. "Working with STB and SACEOS has created a unique way for WeChat to serve the fast growing business travel market and work more closely with the local partners to provide more versatile services to our users," she added.

SACEOS President Aloysius Arlando said SACEOS aims to inspire the industry by taking the lead in technology adoption. Through the partnership with STB and WeChat, the organisation hopes to pool their strengths together with a longer term goal to enable a digitally- and future-ready MICE industry. It also aims to spur industry partners to further leverage technologies to the benefit of MICE visitors, and come on board with SACEOS to grow the MeetSG together.

To introduce the MeetSG to stakeholders from Singapore?s business events industry, STB will be unveiling the WeChat Go Workshop on 12 November in partnership with Suntec and the mini program partner, WeMeet.?As a start, the MeetSG will be piloted with a few upcoming business events in Singapore which attract a significant proportion of Chinese MICE delegates to their shows. They include:

• Singapore FinTech Festival x Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SFF x SWITCH), in Nov 2019
• Asia TV Forum & Market, in Dec 2019
• Singapore Airshow, in Feb 2020
• Asia Pacific Maritime, in Mar 2020
• Food & Hotel Asia ? Hotel, Restaurant and Caf? (FHA-HoReCa) and Food & Beverage (FHA F&B), held in Mar and Apr 2020

The workshop aims to demonstrate how business opportunities can be created through better engagement with Chinese MICE travellers.

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