Business travel, especially to Singapore, brings plenty of benefits for you and your company. Singapore is one of the leading business hubs in the world and it’s quite easy to expand your professional network there.

However, as with many other business trips to different countries, traveling to Singapore also presents its concerns. Fortunately, there are now new ways to maximize your trip and get the most out of it.

Here are some tips that’ll make your business trip to this highly-urbanized city-state in Southeast Asia more productive.

1. Plan your Trip in Advance

As with all other things, planning your business travel to Singapore must be done in advance. Before your scheduled flight date, you should organize your itinerary. This includes your transport, transfers, accommodations, and schedules for your meetings and important events to attend. It can also help you save money if you make your bookings in advance.

2. Stick to your Schedule

Planning your whole itinerary may be helpful, but it’s going to be useless if you don’t stick to it. You should see to it that you’re able to keep up with the schedules you created for yourself.

Don’t worry about delays because they are always bound to happen no matter how you avoid them. What you need to do is to factor in these delays and always provide a leeway time for each of your schedules.

3. Pack only the Essentials

It’s always best to pack only what you need when traveling for business. Bringing more luggage to carry can only make your travel more inconvenient and stressful.

If you only bring what’s necessary such as clothes, toiletries, and formal footwear, you can save a lot of time when it comes to finding the ones you’re going to wear or use for your appointments.

Aside from your clothing and toiletries, make sure that your travel documents such as passport, IDs, plane tickets, and hotel booking information are all stored together in one place that’s easy to reach. Also, ensure that you bring chargers or adapters for all the electronic devices you’re bringing on your travel.

4. Be Familiar with Singapore

You should check out where you’ll be staying and what’s nearby in Singapore before your arrival. Is the hotel near where your business meetings are going to be held? If not, what kind of transportation you’ll use and how long it’ll take to get to the area? You might also want to check the nearest restaurants if your clients want to go to dinner.

Although English is widely spoken in the country, it’s still a good idea to develop some basic language skills like speaking in Japanese, especially if you’re going to meet clients from Japan.

Knowing more about Singapore before you arrive can save you a lot of time once you get there. Instead of worrying about where to go and how to get there, you can focus on preparing for your meetings and other appointments.

5. Get Enough Sleep & Rest

If you’re traveling for business to Singapore, you should know the importance of having a good sleep. It’s hard to stay focused and alert if you don’t have enough sleep and rest.

Make sure that you have ample time to rest after every meeting. This is especially important if you’re traveling to Singapore which sits in a different time zone. You need to adapt to the new time zone as soon as you can and try to sleep at your usual time. It might be difficult at first, but your body will soon adjust to the new time zone.

6. Make New Connections as much as Possible

While you’re in Singapore, you should make an effort to establish new connections for your business. The country provides ample opportunity for your business to expand its network. When meeting with new clients, be sure to invite them for dinner or lunch as a way of getting to know more with each other. After attending a business conference, take some time to talk with the speakers and other important people.

Traveling to Singapore provides wonderful opportunities for your business to expand its network. But your trip to this country won’t do you any good if you spend the whole trip stressing yourself about where to stay and where to go. Create a plan in advance and focus on what you want to achieve on your business travel. By doing so, you can return home excited about the new possibilities you’ve discovered during your business trip to Singapore.