Singapore Tourism Board opens year with travel trade engagement in Chennai, unveils focus areas for 2020
- Themed “Growing Connections, Achieving Together”, the roadshow in Chennai connected close to 50 Singapore tourism stakeholders with travel trade partners in the city
Chennai,
January 6, 2020: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) started its
travel trade outreach for this year in Chennai. Based on the theme, “Growing
Connections, Achieving Together”, the trade engagement roadshow is aimed at
deepening the STB’s and tourism stakeholders’ existing partnerships and foster
new ones with the local travel trade fraternity.
During
the roadshow, the STB presented on its schemes for MICE and Cruise to partner
the tourism sector in harnessing growth opportunities, as well as, latest and
upcoming developments in Singapore’s tourism landscape such as expansion plans
for Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World, redevelopment of Sentosa together with
Pulau Brani as part of a landmark Master Plan and the Mandai eco-tourism hub
etc. The STB also unveiled two new focus areas for the India market in 2020 –positioning
Singapore as an international wedding destination and re-establishing the
destination’s attractiveness for Overseas School Trips (OST).
 |
| (L to R) Chin Sak Hin, Asst Chief Executive & Chief Financial Officer, Sentosa Development Corporation; G.B.Sridhar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, Singpore Tourism Board; Lim Si Tang, Area Director, India & South Asia, Singpore Tourism Board |
The
roadshow included close to 50 key stakeholders from Singapore representing
hotels, airlines, integrated resorts, attractions, Destination Management
Companies (DMC) and cruise operators. The delegation was led by the Singapore
Tourism Board’s- Mr. G.B Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South
Asia and Ms. Lim Si Ting, Area Director, India &South Asia – Mumbai.
While speaking about STB’s efforts to showcase Singapore as
a destination of choice among Indian travellers, GB Srithar said, “India is the
third most important visitor arrival source market for Singapore and we have
been steadfastly engaging travellers through the travel trade, media partnerships
and various marketing initiatives. We are happy to kick off our 2020 trade
engagement activities in Chennai today. With nine (9)
South Indian cities (Bengaluru,
Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Madurai, Trichy, Trivandrum and Vizag) having direct
flights to Singapore and the city within about four hours’ flight duration, we
hope to achieve a higher number of Indian visitors from this region with the
trade support in 2020. Through these outreach efforts, we continue to deepen the emotional
connect and strengthen the affinity many Indian consumers have towards
Destination Singapore.”
Also
present at the roadshow was Mr. Chin SakHin, Assistant Chief Executive &
Chief Financial Officer, Sentosa Development Corporation who said, “As a key
player in the international leisure and tourism industry, it is important that
we continue to enhance Sentosa’s appeal as a world-class holiday destination so
that we remain top-of-mind for both locals and tourists. With a slew of long-,
mid-, and near-term developments in our pipeline, guests will have something
new to look forward to each time they visit and return to Sentosa. We are heartened that India continues to be Sentosa’s top inbound
market. We will however not rest on our laurels, and will continue to deepen
our engagement with our international audiences so as to ensure Sentosa remains
an essential part of the Singapore experience.”
Among
various new offerings in Sentosa’s pipeline are free interactive night
attractions, Magical Shores, which will make its home on the vibrant Siloso
Beach from 23 January 2020, as well as Stacks at Siloso, a novel mixed use
container development at Siloso Beach, which will be launched by mid-2020.
These offerings are part of SDC’s broader push to strengthen Sentosa’s position
as a night destination, and come just months after SDC unveiled exciting
possibilities for two islands - Sentosa and the adjacent Pulau Brani, which
currently houses a port - as part of a landmark Master Plan to redevelop the
islands into a game-changing leisure and tourism destination.
Singapore
welcomed 1.44 million visitors from India in 2018, making it the third largest
visitor arrivals (VA) source market for Singapore. As of end October 2019,
Singapore has received 1,190,000 visitors from India. This is the 5th year in a
row Singapore has welcomed more than one million Indian travellers to
experience itsdiverse offerings.
2019 was
an eventful year for STB in the Indian market. The STB promoted the destination
brand “Passion Made Possible” vigorously and embarked on several creative
consumer engagement initiatives, like the Singapore Weekender 2.0 in Delhi,
Singapore Experience Zone in Zomaland and launch of Nasi and Mee in Mumbai (a
restaurant specialising in Singapore food offerings). Engagement with the
consumers also included content collaborations, like Voice of legends project with
musical maestros S.P Balasubramaniyam and K.J. Yesudas, collaboration with
Tripoto for a travel-based webisode series, a partnership with Momspresso
promoting Mommy-daughter holiday in Singapore, collaboration with celebrity
chef Saransh Goila & Voot for a web series titled #CheatWeek in Singapore highlighting
the culinary offerings of the city. The Board also undertook intensive travel trade
outreach efforts across more than 30 cities in India to connect with travel
intermediaries promoting Singapore as both a business and leisure destination.
The
Singapore Tourism Board will be a part of SATTE 2020 from January 8th
to 10th in New Delhi and will be present at upcoming Zomaland events
in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
About
Singapore Tourism Board: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is the lead
development agency for tourism, one of Singapore’s key economic sectors.
Together with industry partners and the community, we shape a dynamic Singapore
tourism landscape. We bring the Passion Made Possible brand to life by
differentiating Singapore as a vibrant destination that inspires people to
share and deepen their passions. For more information, visit www.stb.gov.sg or
www.visitsingapore.com or follow us on Twitter @STB_sg (https://twitter.com/stb_sg).
💥💥💥
.jpg)
