62 Mr Raj Joshua Thomas asked the Minister for Trade and Industry following the relaxation of safe management measures and travel restrictions, what are the Singapore Tourism Board's plans to revive and rejuvenate the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) sector.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been working closely with our tourism sector, to help it build resilience and position it for recovery and growth when travel resumes. For example, in the face of global travel restrictions due to the pandemic, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) launched the SingapoRediscovers campaign and SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV) scheme to encourage Singaporeans to support our tourism operators, guides and businesses. Nearly S$300 million in SRV transactions were recorded, contributing directly to the top lines of our tourism establishments. SRV also spurred tourism establishments to enhance the variety and quality of our tourism offerings.

STB also launched the Safe Business Event Framework in July 2020, to guide the industry in the implementation of COVID-19-safe approaches for MICE events. Last year, we trialled the resumption of large-scale events, such as the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Gamescom Asia and Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific. These successful events demonstrated Singapore's capability to conduct large-scale international MICE events safely, paving the way for us to host other globally significant events, such as the Singapore Airshow this February, which saw a strong turnout of close to 13,000 participants.

Last month, I announced that the Government has earmarked close to half a billion dollars to support our tourism sector, including the MICE industry. We will continue to support the sector to develop its strategic manpower capabilities and accelerate our recovery plans. This support will continue even with the recent relaxation of travel restrictions, to help our tourism sector emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have also launched initiatives to attract international travellers as travel rebounds. This includes SingapoReimagine, our international recovery campaign to drive bookings to Singapore. Through the campaign, STB will partner our tourism sector to enhance the overall visitor experience for travel to Singapore.

We have also secured a robust pipeline of MICE events this year, including Asia Tech x Singapore, Global Health Security Conference, Seafood Expo Asia, FIND: Design Fair Asia, Food & Hotel Asia and ITB Asia. These events will collectively gather around 140,000 attendees in Singapore from now till the end of the year. We will also continue to host major sporting events, such as the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, which we have extended for seven years until 2028.

We are also ramping up our efforts to capture new traveller segments like sustainability and urban wellness. We launched the Tourism Sustainability Programme last month to help tourism businesses embark on, or expand, their sustainability efforts. We will also launch the inaugural Wellness Festival Singapore in June, which will bring together a suite of wellness offerings across Singapore.

With these efforts, our tourism sector is well-positioned for recovery as we emerge from the pandemic. We will continue to monitor developments in the tourism sector and will adjust our support measures and initiatives, based on the needs of the sector.