Tag Archives: Singapore

Diwali-inspired MRT trains in Singapore

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA), in collaboration with the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association (LISHA), has launched a Diwali-themed train that will run on the city’s famous Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. The train is on the city’s North-East line, that includes a stop at the Little India station, from where one could go and take in the festive lights that decorate the main artery road of Little India. The train is decorated with colourful, Rangoli and Indian garlands-inspired designs, lotus and peacocks, symbolizing good luck. The train was launched on October 15, 2016, by Singapore’s Minister for Transport, Khaw Boon Wan and will run through mid-November. GB Srithar, Regional Director, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Singapore Tourism Board, invited Indian travelers to visit Singapore, saying “Singapore is a year-round festive city. During the Festival of Lights, the whole Little India area comes alive with lighted up streets, Diwali bazaars, eateries serving great food and much music in the air. I can say, in a candid festive spirit, it’s a great time to visit the city where even the train gets dressed up for Diwali.”

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Rajasthan-Singapore MoUs to boost tourism and infrastructure

In order to boost tourism facilities in Rajasthan, the Government of Rajasthan has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore. “Singapore has been a close friend and partner of Rajasthan in infrastructure and tourism development. With these MoUs, we aim to deepen this association and develop the state as a world-class, global tourist destination with advanced urban infrastructure,” said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The MoU seeks to aggregate Singapore’s expertise through tripartite collaboration between the government, tourism institutions and industry partners to strengthen Rajasthan’s ‘knowledge capabilities.’ Rajasthan is also seeking to utilise Singapore’s public and private sector proficiency in the development of tourism. The otheragreement focuses on enhancing Rajasthan’s international appeal and connectivity, facilitation of private sector participation in a bid to rejuvenate the state’s heritage areas and critical urban and smart solutions. The MoU will also train 100 Rajasthan tourism officials. The 36-month programme is supported by the Temasek Foundation International with a $484,000 grant, and co-funded by the Rajasthan tourism department. Singapore will also share expertise in areas like inter-modal transport integration, waste management solutions and affordable wireless connection.

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G.B. Srithar returns to India as Regional Director for Singapore Tourism

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced the appointment of GB Srithar as Regional Director for South Asia, Middle East & Africa (SAMEA) to be based in Mumbai. Srithar is well acquainted with the Indian markets having worked in India between April 2010 and December 2013 as Area Director, South Asia. Prior to his appointment as Regional Director, he headed the Brand Campaigns team at STB’s HQ’s Marketing Group. One of his key responsibilities will be to oversee the STB’s leisure and BT MICE travel promotions, marketing and developmental efforts in the SAMEA region; and his office will work closely with travel trade and non-trade partners to promote Singapore as the destination of choice among Indian travellers. Talking about his appointment and vision for the Indian market, Srithar said, “I am happy to assume a wider role and be back in Mumbai, a place that I have enjoyed working and living in. India is a key market for Singapore. In 2015, India registered a growth of over seven per cent in Visitor Arrivals at 1,013,777 arrivals, having crossed the 1-million mark for the first time. We have also observed a consistent growth in visitor arrivals in India over the last five years. I seek to extend STB’s hands in partnership to our friends in the travel fraternity across, not only in the key metros but also in the Tier II and III cities, which will contribute increasingly to the rise of the international visitorship for Singapore.”

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India is 3rd biggest source market for Singapore

A total of 573,010 Indians visited Singapore in the first six months of 2016 recording a 10.1 per cent growth compared to the same period last year. India has now become the third largest source of international visitors to Singapore, having overtaken Malaysia. In total, international arrivals to Singapore jumped 12.5 per cent to 8.17 million in the first half of 2016. China is the country’s number one source market with 1.47m Chinese visitors while Indonesia ranks second largest market with 1.41 million visitors (growth of 7.3 per cent) Overall visitation from South Asia to Singapore climbed 9.0 per cent to 701,830 in the first half, including increased traffic from Sri Lanka (+3.3% to 45,801) and Bangladesh (+2.2% to 60,367).

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Scoot connects Jaipur-Singapore from Oct 2

Scoot will commence its Jaipur–Singapore flight from October 2. Scoot has named its first plane landing in Jaipur ‘KamaScootra’ taking inspiration from the ancient Indian text. With this, India becomes the second country after Singapore to inspire an aircraft name after it for Scoot Airlines. The plane will have 335 seats, including 21 premium economy. There will be three flights every week from Jaipur to Singapore till October 29 and afterwards, the frequency will be increased to four. Bharath Mahadevan, Country Head, India, Scoot, says, “At this point, our focus in India is building guest awareness on our propositions – value, choices, innovation, and service with Scootitude–and getting them to experience why Scoot has been ranked Asia-Pacific’s top LCC for two years running. With Jaipur, we take another step towards the target of steadily increasing our operations in India.” The Singapore Airline Group will offer affordable fares from Jaipur to Singapore and other destinations like Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Bangkok. The fares will range from Rs. 4,699 onwards. The sale period starts on September 01 and ends on September 11, 2016.

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HeyBnb enters India across 17 cities

HeyBnb (HeyBednBreakfast), a global company in the short stay accommodation space, has announced its entry into India with presence in cities like New Delhi, Bengaluru, Goa and Cochin. Headquartered in Singapore, the company works on the concept of shared economy of home sharing concept. It provides an online marketplace connecting hosts who want to make their extra rooms available and travelers who are looking for comfortable yet affordable short-term accommodations. Commenting on this, Kenny Blatt, Co-Founder, Head strategy, HeyBnb said, “We at HeyBnb are bullish about our expansion plans and we want to rope in as many guests & hosts as possible. We are focusing largely on key cities across Asia, Europe, US and Australia. In India alone, we started our operations this year with 17 cities and expect to increase our room count to 60,000 by end-October. The global size of the vacation stay market is expected to reach $170 billion by 2019, out of which five players own less than 10 per cent share, namely Home Away, Airbnb, VRBO, One Fine Stay and Tujian.”

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Banyan Tree Lifestyle Services launches in India

Singapore based international hospitality brand, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has launched its new vertical Banyan Tree Lifestyle Services (BTLS) to cater to the growing demand of luxury products and services in the Indian market. BTLS encompasses the entire portfolio of hotels, resorts, residences and related services under the Banyan Tree Group. Currently, the Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts portfolio is grouped under four brands – Angsana, Banyan Tree, Cassia and Dhawa; and covers the different segment of evolved discerning travellers and thereby covers the A,B,C,D of segmented hotel portfolio. BTLS has 3 key offerings— Bespoke concierge service, Banyan Tree Private Collection and Banyan Tree Group Residences sales and owners club. BTLS will be promoted by recruiting independent consultants that have prior experience in luxury realty, in high ticket investments and are well connected  with HNI in the upscale segment that values the exclusive lifestyle benefits. They will also be conducting seminars and consumer connect events to educate the membership benefits and uniqueness to the potential consumers. It also entails visit and experience of various Banyan Tree locations so that the consumers can choose the right services and become a part of the growing Banyan Tree brands’ family.

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India among top five markets for medical tourism

The Medical Tourism Index (MTI), released by Visa and Oxford Economics, shows that India’s medical tourism sector is among the top five markets in the world with affordable yet high-quality of healthcare. Canada, the UK, Israel, Singapore, Germany, France, South Korea, Italy and Colombia are some of the other top markets included in the list. Globally, the sector is worth an impressive US$439 billion, and could soar to a staggering US$3 trillion by 2025. The new report forecasts an annual growth rate of up to 25 per cent over the next decade given that 3-4 per cent of the world’s population will travel internationally for medical treatments in the coming decade. “The borders to quality healthcare access have begun to disintegrate,” MTI’s co-authors, Renée-Marie Stephano, president of the Medical Tourism Association, and Mark Fetscherin, associate professor of international business & marketing at Rollins College, said a joint statement. “Speculation about the medical tourism industry as a ‘phenomenon’ is over. This report and the rankings of the Medical Tourism Index provide a unique opportunity for investors seeking new ventures to make smart choices in destinations driving patient travel.” The report also predicts that China will overtake the US as the world’s largest outbound medical tourism market within the next 10 years.

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Tigerair offers free ticket to Singapore on round trip

Singapore-based budget carrier Tigerair has announced a special ‘Fly to Singapore for free’ offer for Indian travellers on booking a round-trip fare that allows flyers to fly out of India to Singapore at discounted rates. The special round-trip fares have been announced for five Indian routes: Bengaluru (Rs 10999), Kochi (Rs 8,999), Hyderabad (Rs 9,999), Tiruchirappalli (Rs 9,999) and Lucknow (Rs 10,999). The offer is valid from 30 May, 2016 till 8 June, 2016. The applicable travel period for the offer is from 11 July, 2016 to 30 September, 2016. Commenting on the offer Leslie Thng, Chief Commercial Officer, Tigerair and Scoot said, “We are pleased to add on to the monsoon cheers in India and host our passengers. This offer is an example of how we strive to provide an added value for money to passengers through such promotions which makes their international trips more affordable. It reaffirms Tigerair as the most valuable airline of choice to fly to Singapore and across our vast network.”

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Fly Scoot from Amritsar to Singapore at Rs 4700

Spreading its wings to India, Scoot launches services from Singapore to Amritsar (fares starting Rs 4700) and Singapore to Chennai (fares starting Rs 5700). Scoot’s service to Amritsar commences three times weekly and will increase frequency with an additional Monday service from July, restarting the Singapore-Amritsar route for the SIA Group. The airline takes over the Singapore-Chennai daily service from Tigerair, expanding capacity to Chennai for the SIA Group with its new and spacious Boeing 787 Dreamliner as the world’s first all-787 operator. Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot and Tigerair, Leslie Thng, said, “India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and Scoot is excited to present exceptional value, an empowering selection of customisation options including inflight connectivity and in-seat power, as well as service with Scootitude to guests flying into and out of India.” “Guests from India can now fly to amazing destinations in our Asia-Pacific network through the Singapore hub, as well as onward with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Tigerair in the SIA Group portfolio,” he added. Scoot will also commence Singapore-Jaipur services four times weekly from October. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) , India is projected to be the world’s third largest air passenger market by 2031 with a total of 367 million passengers by 2034, an extra 266 million annual passengers compared to today.

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