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The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced its forecasts for the tourism industry for 2010: 11.5 – 12.5 million in visitor arrivals and S$17.5 – S$18.5 billion in tourism receipts. The STB also announced the evolution of Singapore’s destination brand, from “Uniquely Singapore” to “YourSingapore”, at the Tourism Industry Conference 2010.
“YourSingapore” was unveiled by Senior Minster of State for Trade & Industry and Education, Mr S Iswaran, to close to 800 industry partners. Held at Resorts World Sentosa, the Tourism Industry Conference, themed Redesigning the Tourism Experience, served as a platform for STB to share its plans for 2010 and beyond, as well as to allow industry partners to jointly disucss how to tackle the challenges ahead and capitalise on growth opportunities for the industry.
Commenting on the outlook for the industry, Ms Aw Kah Peng, STB’s Chief Executive, said “Despite last year being an exceptionally challenging one, the tourism industry weathered it credibly. With the global travel industry expected to recover this year and with Singapore offering an even more compelling suite of tourism experiences, including the two Integrated Resorts (IRs) that open this
year, we are confident that the sector will be able to register its best performance to date.”
The optimistic forecasts for Singapore come on the back of a positive outlook for the tourism industry globally in 2010, with Asia expected to lead the growth1, as well as a rebound in the performance of Singapore’s tourism sector seen in the final quarter of 2009.
Re-designing the Tourism Experience
2010 will see the much anticipated opening of both the Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands that will raise the bar in terms of what visitors can experience in Singapore – ranging from attractions to accommodation, dining to retail options, and MICE venues to gaming. The two IRs will complement the exciting year round calendar of leisure and business events that includes new events such as the Asia Fashion Exchange, the Youth Olympic Games and LIVE! Singapore, to returning signature events such as the SINGTEL SINGAPORE FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX, F1 ROCKS and Singapore International Water Week. Collectively, they will enhance
Singapore’s stature as a vibrant global city with a distinctive lifestyle that draws repeat visitors.
“We have seen many initiatives undertaken in recent years that have contributed towards a more vibrant and diverse tourism landscape. With the exciting line up of tourism experiences that will be available this year, 2010 will be a milestone year for the tourism industry. For visitors, Singapore will be that much more differentiated. Their Singapore experience will be one that centres around them, with a wide array of choices to enjoy, bringing about a unique experience that is personalised to their individual preference,” said Ms Aw.
Singapore’s transformation, however, extends beyond 2010. Coming on stream in the next few years are other bold and original ideas such as the International Cruise Terminal, Gardens by the Bay, National Art Gallery, River Safari and Changi Motor Sports Hub that will add depth and breadth to its tourism offerings.
YourSingapore – Placing the Visitor at the Core
In tandem with the emphasis to redesign the tourism experience, the STB announced “YourSingapore”, an evolved destination brand that places the visitor at its core. “YourSingapore” is a response to the changing competitive and media landscape, building on Singapore’s unique attributes – its concentration of multifaceted offerings that are easily accessible, empowering travellers to personalise their own Singapore experience according to what they like, and how and when they want to experience it.
As a brand, “YourSingapore” positions the destination as one that is future-facing and inspiring; one where visitors are invited to make their virtual experience of Singapore a reality via an innovative and intelligent platform, www.yoursingapore.com. The platform allows travellers to conceptualise and plan their individual Singapore travel itinerary in a user-friendly manner. For industry partners, www.yoursingapore.com provides them an integrated tool to cross-share insights and information, as well as better reach out to consumers.
Sustaining Long-term Competitiveness
To ensure Singapore’s competitiveness and raise productivity in the coming years, the STB is also committed to working with the industry, to achieve a step-change in total enterprise-level productivity. In this regard the STB launched the $5 million iDigital Scheme to enable tourism businesses to be digitally-ready and build capabilities in e-commerce.
Apart from iDigital, there are other existing incentive schemes geared towards business excellence, transformation and innovation such as Tourism Development Assistance Scheme (TDAS) and Tourism Technology Fund or those related to human capital excellence such as TIP-iT Plus and WSQ In-house Adopter Scheme. Adopting this holistic enterprise approach, the STB, working hand-in-hand with other agencies like the WDA, will work with partners to raise the industry’s productivity through innovation and technology, talent development and good HR practices.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
