HICAP 2026 Singapore, the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific, opens on Tuesday 20 October 2026 and runs to Thursday 22 October. The three-day programme is built for the people who decide where hotel capital goes in the region, and it is 19 days away.

The venue is the Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford, both at 2 Stamford Road, Singapore 178882, according to Greenberg Traurig’s event listing. Hospitality Net’s event listing says the audience covers investors, owners, developers, hotel chains, investment bankers, lenders, advisors, architects and government tourism officials.

For a travel-tech vendor, that is a room full of buyers and the people who fund them. Here is why you should not miss it.

1. Day one sets the numbers for the year

The opening day, 20 October, is plenary only. According to HICAP’s programme page, the four sessions are Economic Outlook; The Numbers, covering hotel performance, markets and outlook; Travel & Tourism Outlook; and Views from the Boardroom, Round One. Operators and owners who plan 2027 budgets will hear the market read in a single morning.

2. Three regional sessions at HICAP 2026 cover the markets investors ask about

The programme includes Spotlight on India, Japan Investment Insights and Greater China Investment Insights. Greenberg Traurig’s Joel Rothstein moderates the China session. Elias Hayek sits on the panel Acquisitions: Hospitality vs. Real Estate, which asks whether the yield premium is still there. Those two panel titles frame the question every owner is asking about buying hotels against buying property.

3. A technology session written for owners

The technology slot is Tech Edit LIVE: 10 Trends in 10 Minutes, The Owners & Investors Brief. The format is ten trends, ten minutes, aimed at the people who sign off technology spend rather than the people who run the systems. Vendors selling property management, revenue or guest-experience tools to owners get a clear view of what that audience is being told to look at.

4. The awards show which deals set the pace

HICAP presents six awards: Lifetime Achievement, the Reggie Shiu Development of the Year, the Sustainable Hotel Awards, Single Asset Transaction of the Year, Merger & Acquisition of the Year and the Rising Star Award Asia Pacific. The two transaction awards name the deals the industry itself rates highest in the year. The development and sustainability awards show what kind of property wins recognition.

5. A stage for the next generation of dealmakers

The Rising Star Award Asia Pacific is run by ISHC and HICAP. As Hotel Online reported, it is for people aged 35 or under with at least five years in hotel development or investment. Nominations closed on 14 August 2026, and the 2025 winner was Karan Mahesh. The award shows who is moving up in Asia-Pacific hotel investment, and who a vendor or adviser should meet early.

For organisers

HICAP gives technology ten minutes per trend in a programme otherwise built around capital, markets and law. Events that serve owners and investors can add a travel-tech and AI view from India, where hotel groups and platforms are building at speed, and the Spotlight on India session already shows the audience is looking there.

Key takeaway

Hotel owners and investors should be in Singapore for all three days, and day one on 20 October is the one not to miss for the market outlook. Travel-tech founders selling to hotel owners should arrive for the Tech Edit LIVE session and stay for the regional panels. We would plan meetings around the India, Japan and China sessions, because that is where the buyers will be gathered.

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“Africa has a big market of 1.2 billion people which we must exploit to our advantage by increasing intra-trade and intra-travel among us,” – said President Yoweri Museveni in POATE 2020.

The 5th edition of the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) commenced on 4th Feb 2020 for 3 days in Speke Resort (Munyonyo, Kampala) with the unique theme – “Promoting Intra-Africa Travel”. The theme focused on raising awareness about the untapped potential presented by emerging African travel markets.

POATE2020

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was addressed by Rt. Hon. Gen (Rtd.) Moses Ali the First Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business in Parliament, on behalf of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Along with Hon. Moses Ali, Hon. Tom Butime – Minister of Tourism, Wildlife & Antiquities; Hon. Godfrey Kiwanda – The Minister of State for Tourism Wildlife & Antiquities, Alain St. Ange – President of African Tourism Board; Ms. Pearl Hoareau – President Uganda Tourism Association; Hon. Daudi Migereko – UTB Chairman; Mrs. Lilly Ajarova – the CEO of Uganda Tourism Board; members of Parliament, and officials from Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities were present.

Uganda’s First Deputy Prime Minister: Hon. Moses Ali

In a speech read by Rt. Hon. Moses Ali, President Yoweri Museveni thanked Uganda Tourism Board for organizing the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo, saying that it would go a long way in “expanding business opportunities in the tourism sector in Uganda and the entire East African region.” He also added – “Since the Ugandan government had achieved commendable progress in addressing some of the strategic bottlenecks which hindered Uganda’s prosperity, it was time to focus on intra-African business.”.

Uganda Tourism Board CEO, Lilly Ajarova

The CEO of the Uganda Tourism Board – Mrs. Lilly Ajarova, in her opening remarks, revealed that Tourism in Uganda contributes nearly 8% to GDP, employs over 667,000 Ugandans; which is over 6.7% of Uganda’s total employment. Additionally, the sector also contributes USD1.6b in foreign exchange earnings.

“It is now easier to get into Uganda by air from virtually anywhere around the world with 32,735 flights in and out of Uganda in FY18/19. With Uganda Airlines, there will be faster and more convenient direct routes especially from Africa.” – said Mrs. Lilly by bringing into attention the ease of accessibility.

In a speech, Board Chairman of UTB, Daudi Migereko said POATE is an opportunity to interact and bring in more business for travel industry in Uganda. He also mentioned about the positive growth trajectory of Ugandan tourism industry where visitor numbers (arrivals) have grown by 19% in last five years and the number of leisure visitors has grown twice by 38%. Mr. Daudi also welcomed the investment opportunities in the hospitality sector and promised positive returns.

MOU signed between Uganda Airlines and Uganda Tourism Board.

During the opening ceremony – Mr. Ikechi Uko presented Mrs. Lilly with the “Top 100 Tourism Personalities award”. In addition, the MOU was signed between Uganda’s National Carrier – Uganda Airlines and Uganda Tourism Board.

POATE 2020 made a strong case for investment in the Uganda tourism sector by revealing following statistics:

• Forex earnings from the sector have grown by 22% over the last 5 years from USD1.31 billion to USD1.6 billion an average growth of 4% per year;
• The sector in 2018, contributed USHS8.3 trillion worth of GDP – equivalent of 7.7% of Uganda’s GDP;
• The sector created 670,000 jobs in 2018 (6.7% of total employment) – 90% of these jobs are in the hospitality sector which employs 58% females and 77% youths (18-30 years);
• The 2019 World Economic Forum, Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ranked Uganda as the No.1 most price competitive destination in the East African region and the 39th out of 140 countries in the world.

For more information on POATE, please visit: https://poate.co.ug/
For more information on UTB, please visit: https://www.visituganda.com/

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The MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry is one of the major drivers within the tourism industry and has experienced tremendous growth in the past years. The understanding of what’s driving MICE travellers and how to attract them in future can give companies a competitive advantage and drive millions in revenues for them.

As most meeting planners and event organisers know, technological disruption is one crucial factor that has brought profound changes to the MICE industry. Digital tools are becoming an integral part of strategic event management, given their proven ability to reap substantial benefits, such as cost savings, and better exposure and image building. Linked to this is the fact that digitization has created a direct connection between the organisation and management of events and the field of user experience.Conferences, meetings, trade fairs, seminars, and similar events rely on deep networks and meaningful connections to prosper. This is where companies like EVINTRA facilitate the emergence of communities and play a role in keeping them alive, enabling meaningful conversations between all parties involved.

Born from a simple idea of connecting buyers and suppliers, Andreas Thölken founded EVINTRA in Germany in 2011, which stands for EVents, INcentive and TRavel. The company is focused on destination management through an impressive online platform offering businesses to find and also be found with a one-click approach based on search parameters. This platform strives to connect the event industry worldwide providing transparency and quality for agencies, DMC’s tourism boards, businesses and more who are looking to hold an event in a different destination.

EVINTRA also developed the GMCS – Global MICE certification standard ensuring high-level quality across all companies listed on the database. The certification is run by real industry experts providing each company listed with a score and ranking on the platform.

Learn more from CEO Andreas Thölken, about the company’s vision, its plans of launching a dedicated premium profiles website and the key trends that will dominate the MICE industry in 2018, in this video –

The company currently has a huge database of 53,000 subscribers, close to 3000 registered public profiles, 16,000 buyers, across 180+ countries. With a sharp focus on DMCs, EVINTRA is growing with around 10-20 companies joining the network every day. The company has partnered with many MICE and tourism exhibitions worldwide to deliver high quality buyer programs, and believes in providing transparency and quality for the global MICE business. It provides a quick gateway for connecting different service providers from all around the world, so they can get together for events of highest quality and service standards.

The company’s revenue channels include buyers programmes, fam trips, media marketing, premium profiles and lead generation services, among others. Its buyer network consists of over thousands of corporate agency contacts that they have been developing and forming since 2003.

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