The Tourism Academy @ Sentosa got off to a flying start in 2009, playing host to three MICE industry leaders. Covering topics such as logistics, organising and stand-building, the speakers shared their vast wealth of wisdom and experience with final semester students and lecturers.
Mr Kwa Eng Kiat, Managing Director of Agility Fairs and Events, flagged off the engaging session with his take on the “Exhibition Industry Pyramid”. In a comprehensive yet simple manner, he painted an overview of the exhibition industry’s stakeholders and players. Mr Kwa added that despite the specificity of roles that exhibitors, organisers and freight-forwarders play in creating a successful event, often times they had to perform out of their own role so as to allow the show to go on; for e.g. at a major event, organisers and suppliers all chipped in to ensure that the VIP car-parking area was cleared of a “mountain of debris” to enable the Official Ceremony to proceed with pomp and decorum. Next to speak was the Director of Singapore Airshow and Events, Mr Lloyd Tan. Tapping on the Singapore International Water Week that took place last year, Mr Tan expounded on the challenges and demands needed to make the event a success. His advice to aspiring event organisers was to create value in their events so as to give exhibitors more reasons to join and return in future. Mr Tan also gave his take on the current economic “tsunami” that is being experienced the world over. Speaking with confidence, he highlighted Asia’s resilience as a key factor in enabling Singapore to quickly ride out the storm. Finally, Mr Benedict Soh, Executive Chairman of Kingsmen Creatives Ltd, guided the audience on the importance of ‘face-to-face’ marketing communications. In a time where technology had already had resulted in far-reaching effects on the way businesses are conducted, marketing had also evolved into a near virtual act. Regardless, events and exhibitions allowed visitors to adapt their sensory perceptions and engage in in-depth discussions before making decisions. Mr Soh believed that face-to-face “correspondence” was a vital and irreplaceable part of marketing communications. At the panel discussion, students posed questions ranging from the economic downturn to the two Integrated Resort (IR) developments coming up in Singapore. On the whole, the students found it an enriching and enlightening experience as they got to hear from industry experts about how MICE had come a long way in Singapore since its inception in the 1980s and it is only expected to expand further with the opening of Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World at Sentosa. Contributed by final semester student Jonathan Ong Zhi Jian, 12 Jan 2009 | 
