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News SACEOS & Industry Guru to publish First Exhibition Book SINGAPORE - SACEOS and industry Guru, Mr Thomas Khoo signed a joint venture agreement to co-publish the fi rst book known as "A Practical Guide For Professional Exhibition Organising (ProXO) for the MICE industry in August 2011 to be offi cially launched in the 4th quarter of this year. Written by Thomas Khoo of Interfama Fairs & Exhibitions, known by industry players as the 'Father of the industry in Singapore and Asia', ProXO is the fi rst book of its kind in Singapore, probably in Asia and the world. The concept of the book is to focus on the exhibition segment of the MICE industry. It covers the three key segments that a professional organiser needs to know, namely *Know the industry, *Know the exhibition organising business and *Know-how on executing the exhibition professionally. The other three supplementary segments in the ProXO book are *Practical and Commercial Samples, *Educational Topics on the exhibition industry and *Enhancement Topics. "SACEOS is proud and pleased to have this opportunity to work with the founder, Thomas Khoo in this project to co-publish the ProXO Book which will be timely used as resource training materials for the Professional Exhibition Management Courses which SACEOS is organising since 1990. There is no reference book of this kind in the region and SACEOS fi nds it an opportune time to be able to co-publish the book to support the industry need to train/ upgrade more people for the growing Exhibitions industry", said Rosalind Ng, President of SACEOS. "There is clearly a need for more well-organised practical guidance from leading practitioners to meet the increasing demands on exhibition industry education programme. Thomas Khoo is one of the pioneers of this business in Asia and writes with great authority of well over 30 years of hands-on experience building trade fairs from scratch. His book is timely and the prospect from Southeast Asia, one of the world's most exciting prospects for new events, will be tremendously benefi cial for those engaged in raising the professional standards of our industry", said Mr Paul Woodward, Managing Director UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. Global spontaneous and tacit endorsements from global MICE players from US, Europe and Asia have given the ProXO book a thumb's up and the promise of a hot seller of its kind. The ProXO book is targeted to be launched towards the end of the year, probably in conjunction with a major MICE event. The fi rst limited edition will be distributed to Pre-Launch buyers like Polytechnics, ITEs or tertiary institutions, direct order avenues both locally and overseas. The next phase of distribution will be via bookshops and fi nally Online. A market survey is being conducted to evaluate desirable and affordable pricing for the book before it is published. Events Singapore Reigns As Asia's Top Convention City For The Ninth Consecutive Year SINGAPORE - Singapore has retained its position as Asia's Top Convention City for close to a decade, according to the latest Global Rankings by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). In addition, Singapore has maintained its spot as one of the Top Five Convention Cities alongside Vienna, Barcelona, Paris and Berlin. On this win, ICCA's Chief Executive Offi cer, Mr. Martin Sirk congratulated Singapore on hosting the most rotating association meetings amongst all Asia-Pacifi c destinations in 2010. "Singapore has been proactively targeting this sector as part of a clear strategy for many years, and was probably the fi rst destination in the world to so closely align this meetings strategy with the economic development goals of the country." Given that the ICCA Global Rankings focuses on meetings that rotate regularly between at least three countries, this accolade serves to intensify Singapore's appeal as a destination for not only new but also returning events. According to this qualifying criterion, 136 rotating events were held in Singapore in 2010, representing more than 14 per cent growth over the events that qualifi ed in 2009. Notable events that contributed to these numbers include the 20th Annual Conference of the Inter-Pacifi c Bar Association, World Conference on Continuing Engineering Education 2010, International Conference of the International Bartenders Association 2010, 77th World Congress of the UFI - The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, World Congress of Biomechanics 2010, World Congress of Bioethics 2010, RoboCup 2010 and the World Green Building Council International Congress 2010. According to Mr. Martin Sirk, "it's no great surprise to me to see this continued success, since this is a sector where long-term vision and consistency are required. But it still takes great marketing effort in what are becoming ever-more competitive regional and global marketplaces, and the continued investment in great new facilities and human capital, so I applaud the hard work and creativity of all our Singaporean members." "The ICCA Global Rankings have always been a well regarded industry indicator and this continued win underscores Singapore's strong track record as the business destination of choice. Our success is in no small part due to our sound business fundamentals, ease of doing business and the relentless commitment of our MICE industry partners," commented Ms. Melissa Ow, Assistant Chief Executive, Industry Development (II) Group, Singapore Tourism Board (STB). "What's more, our constant re- invention and ever-changing skyline make for compelling reasons to return to Singapore and experience the richness we have to offer both as a business and leisure destination. Looking ahead, the future is replete with many exciting developments such as the lush new Gardens by the Bay, the International Cruise Terminal and the world's fi rst River Safari." In 2010, Singapore attracted 3.1 million business travellers, which accounted for 27 per cent of all visitors to Singapore, spending about $ 5.4 billion Singapore dollars. This signifi es growths where it matters most - 19.2 per cent and 28.6 per cent respectively over 2009.1 Singapore's Business Travel, and Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry looks set for greater heights as evidenced by more event wins. Within the fi rst half of 2011 alone, there were 12 new World Congresses secured to add to Singapore's line up of events from 2012 to 2016 – in comparison, 14 were secured within the whole of 2010. Events 3 September 2011