Mohit Rathod – Mumbai
Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS); the holding company of Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and Singapore Zoo; is interacting with Indian outbound tour operators to promote its attractions through their inclusion in Singapore iteranaries and packages. Isabel Cheng, chief marketing officer, WRS, said, “WRS attractions are becoming more and more popular among tourists. Indians comprise of one of the largest segments of visitors to WRS attractions, hence India is one of the most important markets for us. At present, the India market is among the top three markets for WRS.”
WRS is targeting both leisure and MICE segments, however, leisure forms a larger proportion of visitors to WRS attractions. Alongside these two major segments, Cheng revealed that student groups are another important focus segments, which frequently visit WRS attractions for educational tours. Elaborating on Indian visitors to WRS, Cheng said that most Indians visit along with families, which often include three generations. She stated, “Considering this trend, we make sure that we have something to offer to all the three generations. We also provide utility services such as wheel chairs for elderly people.”
WRS aims to promote its offerings primarily in the leisure market, through its participation in Singapore Tourism Board (STB) road shows in India, whilst organising product training sessions for the Indian travel fraternity. “Indian travel trade seems excited and we have got positive response from them. Many tour operators have included WRS attractions in their packages, alongside our own packages. Our focus cities are Mumbai and Delhi. We work in sync with Singapore Tourism Board for further strengthening our marketing efforts,” commented Cheng. WRS is currently also working in coordination with Cox & Kings and Make My Trip.
In order to cater to MICE groups, WRS banks on team building activities, educational programmes, camping among others. Night Safari and Jubong Bird Park are the most popular attractions among Indian visitors. WRS, a self-funded organisation, also works for wildlife conservation as part of its CSR programmes to promote sustainable tourism. Cheng added, “We are also part of animal exhange programmes with several wildlife reserves in India. We do breeding of endangered species and are active in wildlife awareness. Singapore Zoo ranks No 1 in Asia and third globally.”
