SAYONI BHADURI – Mumbai
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| Chang Chee Pey |
Constant reinvention has been core at Singapore’s success as a destination. Continuing with this trend Singapore is now looking at luring Indian travellers to the city state through sports events. Chang Chee Pey, executive director, South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) elaborated, “WTA Championships will be held in Singapore from 2014 to 2018 making it a potential to draw tourists. We also have races at the Turf Club and even the F1. We once had a cricket match in Singapore as well and would love to have one again; it will be a definite draw for Indians.”
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Singapore recently opened Gardens by the Bay which is part of Marina Bay. It has the best international standards and applies cutting-edge innovations in environmentally-friendly technology and sustainable natural resource management. Wildlife Reserves Singapore has also introduced River Safari, a river-themed wildlife park. Chee Pey added, “Singapore understands the need to constantly evolve and develop the tourism landscape, offering an ever changing slew of experiences to Indian travellers. Visitor preferences and travel habits are changing. We believe that the experiences offered in Singapore will continue to resonate strongly with the Indian travellers and draw them for repeated trips to Singapore.”
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G B Srithar
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To cater to this clientele they have initiated a new campaign ‘Singapore – The Holiday You Take Home With You’ and have tied up with two new travel companies – Yatra.com and Travel Tours – in India for joint promotions. They will continue with the previous joint promotions association with Thomas Cook, Kuoni, Mercury Travels and MakeMyTrip. Chee Pey informed that they have seen a renewed interest in Singapore post these promotional activities. “With the increase in costs, travellers are back to opting for short haul destinations. Singapore sees 70-75 per cent repeat travellers and even though India is a mature market for Singapore we see 60-65 per cent first time leisure travellers,” he added.
G B Srithar, area director, South Asia, marketing, STB said that Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru still remain to be the key source markets from India. There has been activity coming in from cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, Trivandrum and Chandigarh. Beyond the current summer season, Singapore Tourism Board is preparing to promote the destination as a winter destination as well as tapping the Diwali holidays. Chee Pey discussed that five years ago Singapore Tourism Board promoted the destination as a weekend destination with a focus on south India – Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi – with Unique Singapore Weekend. They are considering revisiting this programme again with better connectivity to from south India into Singapore.
