Tag Archives: Regional Director (SAMEA)

For the third time in a row, visitor arrivals from India to Singapore has crossed the 1 million mark in 2017, reinforcing it as one of the most preferred destinations for Indian travellers. Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced that India has recorded the highest growth rate of 16 per cent among all markets. While Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore continue to remain their top VA source cities, STB’s efforts to engage travellers from Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Pune have resulted in double-digit VA growth. GB Srithar, Regional Director – SAMEA, Singapore Tourism Board, said “We thank the Indian travellers and our travel trade partners for the record 1.27 million Indian visitors to our country in 2017. We are happy that Singapore continues to be perceived as one of the must-visit destinations. This year, STB will focus on expanding partnership with travel trade partners and promoting our new brand creatively. India continued to be the top source market for VA in the cruise segment for Singapore. 127,000 cruise passengers from India sailed out of Singapore’s shores in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 25 per cent from 2016. 2017 was a landmark year for STB as it unveiled the country’s new, unified brand identity ‘Passion made Possible’ in August.  

Continuing with its agenda to promote cruising from Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board in India will conduct a second edition of its ‘India Cruise Forum’ on March 30, 2017 in Mumbai. Revealing this is G.B. Srithar, Regional Director (SAMEA), International Group, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), who says, “The format will remain more or less the same as last year. We will get the main cruise lines operating out of Singapore together with cruise industry veterans. The day-long forum will also have panel discussions that will talk about cruising in general, trends, insights into the workings of the Indian cruise industry and opportunities with key players across the value chain. India is Singapore’s number one international source market for cruising.” Dream Cruises has announced that its inaugural vessel, Genting Dream, will be home ported year-round in Singapore starting from December 3, 2017. This marks a first for Singapore to host a brand-new and large-scale 151,300-tonne cruise ship year-round.