Tag Archives: Singapore Tourism Board

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has partnered with a popular music channel to launch a music video, featuring both Indian and Singaporean talents. With this, STB becomes the first tourism board to come out with its own, cross-border collaborative English music video. India is a key traveller source market for Singapore and moved up a spot to become its third-largest visitor-arrival contributor in 2017. With an estimated 65 per cent of India’s population being 35 years and under having strong disposable income and increasingly travelling overseas, STB recognises the importance of reaching out to them. These young adults or working millennials seek immersive, unique and local experiences and Singapore presents a plethora of options. With this music video, STB forays into a different public space: the world of English music, pop culture and entertainment to connect with the young Indians, who are more adventurous and seek lifestyle experiences when travelling.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has appointed T&A Consulting as its official marketing representative agency for South India with effect from October 1, 2018. For the first time, India moved up a spot to become Singapore’s third-largest Visitor Arrival (VA) source market, with 1.27 million visitors in 2017 – a 16 per cent YoY growth, which made India the fastest-growing market for Singapore. Headquartered in New Delhi, T&A Consulting is a boutique advisory firm with an expertise in promoting India outbound tourism. As the official marketing representative of STB, T&A Consulting will be responsible for making Singapore as the preferred travel destination among consumers in South India, promoting quality tourism for leisure and business travel, increasing visitor arrivals and tourism spend as well as engaging with the travel trade. Adrian Kong, Area Director – South Asia, Singapore Tourism Board, said, “Singapore has consistently been ranked among the top most-visited destinations for families, honeymooners, cruisers, business travellers and incentive groups from India. The destination has received over 1 million visitors from India for three consecutive years, with South India being a significant visitor source market for us. With direct flights from nine cities and close travel proximity to Singapore, this region will continue to be an important visitor-ship driver.” According to Tarun Gupta, Co-founder and Managing Director, T&A Consulting, “Our role will be to enhance the positioning of Singapore as a favoured travel destination for travellers from South India. Our team aims to build more affinity for the destination through engagement with the travel trade fraternity and other relevant stakeholders”.

After successful shows in seven cities across the country, the concluding Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) of 2018 opened at JW Marriot Hotel Pune with over 600 attendees. The first day of the event was inaugrated by GB Srithar, Regional Director – South Asia & Middle East, Singapore Tourism Board; Sunil VA, Regional Vice President – ISC, Oman Air; Sanjay Rao, Aviation Consultant; Vishal Bhatia, Country Manager – India, VisitBritain and Dev Karvat, Founder – TrawellTag & CEO, Emerging Markets, Covermore Group.  

Singapore Tourism Board invites tenderers for the appointment of a Marketing Representative agency for South India (with offices in Bengaluru and Chennai) The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) India Regional Office invites bids from professional and well-connected marketing representative agencies, with strong in-market knowledge and travel trade networks to promote Destination Singapore and help grow visitor-ship from South India to Singapore. The appointment will be for one year, commencing September/October 2018, with an option to extend for an additional year. To receive the tender documents, please email mumbai@stb.gov.sg and quote reference number: STB/MUMD/18-19/LT2. Quotations will be accepted by email only. Please read the instructions indicated in the tender documents carefully. Opening date of the tender is May 31, 2018 (Thursday). The tender closes on June 18 (Monday) at 15:00 hours (3.00 PM) India Standard Time. Any enquiries regarding the specifications are to be made by email to mumbai@stb.gov.sg or via phone at (+91-22) 6608 3200.

Singapore-based cruise companies are reporting strong growth in footfall of Indian tourists, with some 127,000 of them having sailed on luxury liners last year, up 25 per cent from 2016. Industry players have also noted a jump in fly-cruise tourists from India. A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said the company believes the Indian market “has potential to grow at double-digit rates”. “We are seeing an increasing number of Indian tourists booking fly-cruise packages to Singapore as the island is a regional hub and port… From Singapore, the tourists are able to visit a number of other countries depending on the cruise package they have booked,” the spokesperson said. A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said the number of Indian guests taking its cruises has increased by 10 per cent to 20 per cent yearly, especially after the arrival of its Voyager Class ships to South-east Asia in 2013. Indian tourists like the convenience of packing for one trip but being able to travel to several countries at one time, the spokesperson added. In 2017, international visitor arrivals in Singapore increased by 6.2 per cent to 17.4 million, with those from India posting the highest growth rate of 16 per cent, according to Singapore Tourism Board.

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.  

India has moved up to the third position from the fourth in terms of visitor arrivals to Singapore along with a double digit growth of 17 per cent growth until October 2017, and continues to be the third largest tourism receipts generating market for Singapore. Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has organised a two-city roadshow in Mumbai and Jaipur to deepen this relationship with the Indian travel trade. G.B. Srithar, Regional Director–South Asia Middle East & Africa, STB said, “India has always been a key source market for Singapore. We are happy to have already crossed 2016’s full year 1.1 million visitor arrivals mark from India as end October 2017. We thank all our trade fraternity for their support in bringing our destination promotion messages to our audiences. Through our roadshows, we seek to renew our ties with the travel trade, entrench existing partnerships and forge new ones through creative promotions.” Year 2017 was a landmark year for STB with strategic associations with a Bollywood movie ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’, participation in cruise forums, travel trade conferences, partnerships with airlines, launch of the Vegetarian Food Guide, penetration in the regional markets such as Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, etc. and the unveiling of a new brand identity.’

The Singapore Tourism Board has unveiled to the Indian audiences the country’s unified brand, ‘Passion Made Possible’. This is the first time that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) have come together to develop a unified brand to market Singapore internationally for tourism and business purposes. The unified brand aims to communicate the country’s value proposition in addressing the needs of travellers and companies and help Singapore stand out on the international stage. G.B. Srithar, Regional Director – South Asia Middle East & Africa (SAMEA), STB, announced the official launch of the brand in India. He said, “With Passion Made Possible, STB and EDB are presenting a brand that can tell a fuller Singapore story beyond just tourism. The brand articulates what we stand for as a country and supports the telling of many stories about this destination and its people. It brings to the international audiences stories from Singapore through the voices of Singaporeans. We are happy and humbled by the fact that Singapore remains a highly popular travel destination among Indian travellers. We welcomed a record 1.1 million visitors from India in 2016. The unveiled brand will allow us to build a deeper and more personal connection between Singapore and our fans and friends in India, even when they are not actively thinking about travel. It is in line with Quality Tourism as it will appeal to the more sophisticated tourists who are seeking more aspirational value propositions in their travel.” The Passion Made Possible campaign in India Following its debut, Passion Made Possible will be unveiled in various cities worldwide through consumer launches, trade events, industry partnerships, and global marketing campaigns …

Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Airlines Group organised a six-city road show over 10 days across India and Colombo with participation from 39 Singapore stakeholders and over 800 in-market travel agents. India continues to be the fourth-largest source market in terms of visitor arrivals and third-largest tourism receipts generating market for Singapore. The roadshow in India commenced on July 10 in Pune followed by Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata and Hyderabad and concluded in Colombo on July21. Themed ‘Growing Tourism into Singapore, Together’, the delegation was led by G.B Srithar, Regional Director, South Asia Middle East & Africa, STB; Adrian Kong (Area Director, South Asia, Mumbai; and Yuemin Li-Misra, Area Director, South Asia, Delhi. The roadshows featured stakeholders from Singapore representing hotels, airlines, integrated resorts, attractions, Destination Management Companies (DMC) and cruise operators interacting and networking with STB’s travel and trade partners in India. There was also an update session on Singapore’s upcoming tourism offerings as well as Singapore Airlines Group’s range of cabin products and experiences. Srithar spoke about fostering collaborations with the travel trade partners especially from secondary cities across India. He said, “India has always been an important market for us. For the second time in a row, Singapore received more than one million Indian visitors in 2016. As the region’s middle-class becomes more affluent, there will be immense opportunities for international outbound travel and tourism, especially among families, working millennials and incentive movements. Through the roadshows, we seek to renew our ties with the travel trade, entrenching existing partnerships and forging new ones. Through these partnerships, we seek to bring Singapore’s tourism offerings to our target audiences through creative promotions, and in the process, ensuring meaningful results for …

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a US-based cruise industry trade association, in partnership with Singapore Tourism Board in India, has launched its accreditation programme that was developed over the last five years. It is currently being used in Australia, New Zealand, UK and the Europe markets. It is targeted at any travel agent or tour operator who sells cruise packages. Peter Kollar, Head, International Training & Development, CLIA, who was in Mumbai to announce the launch said, “We have opened our membership to the Indian travel trade and it is the first market in Asia that we have done this. We see India with a huge potential as a source market for cruising. The travel agents need to convince the travellers to cruise. For that to happen, they need to believe in cruising and be educated about the segment.” The accreditation, he adds, is comprehensive. “We start off with a general form of accreditation which is learning about basic skills and knowledge that one needs to sell cruising. It then evolves into a more senior level certification called Ambassadors and then a Masters. Its not just for training. Travel agents actually have to also experience cruising. We take them for ship inspections, engagement through events, etc.” Annie Chang, Director, Cruising, Policy & Planning Group, Singapore Tourism Board, added, “We approached CLIA to come to India and offer its membership and accreditation program. We have also worked on the module to customize it to the India market. We know the India market, they don’t. So we not only brought content to this module but also our expertise in the India’s cruising market.”