Held at Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore on April 16 and 17, the event comprised an exhibition with scheduled buyer-seller appointments and knowledge sessions.
Organised by Northstar Travel Group, TMS APAC 2025 was co-located with the inaugural Business Travel Show Asia Pacific (BTS APAC), targeted at corporate travel professionals, senior buyers and leading suppliers.
“This year’s TMS APAC has demonstrated just how vital and vibrant the MICE industry is in this part of the world,” said David Blansfield, executive vice president of international and meetings at Northstar Travel Group, citing the big increase in buyer participation and industry engagement.
While TMS occupied more show space and had about 80 per cent of the exhibitors, BTS had a high 3:1 ratio of buyers to sellers.
The combined shows drew 1,773 attendees from more than 72 countries, including 347 hosted buyers. There were almost 300 exhibitors. The 60 per cent international participation reinforced the organisers’ belief that travel is “more essential than ever before”.
Both shows had strong educational programs discussing topical issues and trends, including the latest regional and global industry research.
Besides Singapore, other big exhibitors at TMS APAC were Macao-Hengqin, Sarawak, New Zealand, Gyeonggi and IHG Hotels and Resorts.
For Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), the exhibition was a great opportunity to continue raising its profile among conference and event decision-makers in the region.
“Tourism New Zealand exhibited alongside 10 New Zealand business events partners on the 100% Pure New Zealand stand – we enjoyed a lot of positive conversations and made lots of new connections to help generate business in the future,” said Penelope Ryan, TNZ’s global manager for business events.
Refreshment stands drew a steady stream of visitors, such as Marina Bay Sands’ lifestyle bar and Business Events Sarawak’s kiosk serving savouries and tuak (rice wine) concoctions.
“TMS APAC has proven to be the ideal anchor platform for us to position Sarawak as the legacy capital for business events in Borneo and Malaysia,” said Business Events Sarawak CEO Amelia Roziman.
Macao teamed up with neighbouring Hengqin and their destination presentations got a good turnout.
Smaller teams such as New World Hotels & Resorts Vietnam showcased their Hoiana, Phu Quoc and Saigon properties.
Pham Thu Phuong, assistant director of sales for New World Phu Quoc Resort, said the property attracted strong interest from buyers and trade visitors, with demand from Southeast Asia, the US, Europe, India, Hong Kong and Australia.
“Buyers recognised Phu Quoc as an emerging destination for both incentive travel and conferences, opening exciting new MICE opportunities,” she said.
Hosted buyer Kenrick Lin, training and development coordinator at the Australia-based Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, said: “The overall meeting and conference experience was great. I managed to meet potential sellers from across the APAC region, which was beneficial for my search for event venues.”
