Singapore has received over six lakh visitors from India between January to May 2018, reporting a 17 per cent year-on-year increase from 2017. The year 2017 was a record year for STB as visitor arrivals from India had crossed the one million mark for the third time in a row, showcasing the highest growth rate at 16 per cent in comparison with all markets. India also continues to be the top source market for visitor arrivals in the cruise segment for Singapore. Last year, 127,000 cruise passengers from India sailed out of Singapore’s shores, showing a year-on-year increase of 25 per cent from 2016.
In 2017, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) undertook several initiatives to deepen its position in India. These included partnerships with airlines, launch of the Vegetarian Food Guide and unveiling of a new brand identity, Singapore: Passion made Possible, among others. This year, the STB has lined up a series of collaborative initiatives to entice and welcome more Indian travellers to Singapore in 2018. They embarked on an eight-city roadshow, from July 16-26, with close to 40 stakeholders to connect and grow their partnership with in-market travel agents. The eight cities were Trichy, Ludhiana, Kochi, Kolkata, Surat, Vizag, Coimbatore and Lucknow. This is part of STB’s ongoing efforts to take the ‘Passion Made Possible’ brand messaging forward and showcase Singapore’s diverse offerings to the target audience – families with kids, early and established careers, cruise travellers, meetings and incentive groups.
Themed, “With Passion, Forging New Possibilities”, the roadshows enable STB to present exciting, new offerings and familiar favourites to in-market travel agencies. Through the roadshows, STB plans to deepen its existing partnerships and foster new ones with the travel trade partners. Some of the new enhanced leisure offerings are – Maritime Experiential Museum, AJ Hackett Sentosa, Genting Dream, Singapore Sidecars tours, Rainforest Lumina at the Singapore Zoo, among others and upcoming events such as the Singapore Food Festival in July, Singapore Night Festival in August and Grand Prix Season Singapore in September.