Pushing Singapore

Travel Tourism

Posted on 05:34 PM, March 27, 2014

By Zsarlene B. Chua, Reporter

“SEE WHERE the world is heading” indeed.

Singapore’s Formula One Grand Prix night race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit — www.wikipedia.org/chensiyuan

With a 7.7% increase in tourist arrivals — an estimated 15.5 million people visited Singapore in 2013 (Q1-Q3) — it seemed a bit modest to say that it remains “an attractive tourist destination,” especially in the Philippines which is the 7th largest tourist market for the city-state Singapore tourism, clocking in at 506,000 visitors during that same period, which is a 4% increase from the previous year.

“In the tourism receipts, we saw a 1.6% increase. So visitors to Singapore [spent] about 23.5 billion [Singapore] dollars,” said Singapore Tourism Board’s outgoing area director for Philippines and Brunei, Sherina Chan, during a press conference on March 18.

And these numbers will only go up from there according to the forecast of the Singapore Tourism Board.

“The forecast for 2014 is we hope to see 16.8 million visitor arrivals. This is a 5% to 8% increase from this year and we [hope to see] 23.8-24.6 billion [Singapore] dollars [in revenue],” she added.

SPECIAL CAMPAIGN, APP
“We launched [the ‘see where the world is heading’ campaign] solely for the Philippines. It [was] a campaign meant for this market,” Ms. Chan said, explaining that a lot of thought was given both to the campaign and its tagline, unveiled last February after one and a half years of market research.

“We wanted to understand [what] Filipino travelers [today] are looking out for,” she said. “Two things came out strongly [after our research], one: they are looking for fresh, innovative experiences they can’t find here in the Philippines [and]; two: whatever and whichever destination they go to, they are actually looking for a bonding moment with their [family, friends and loved ones].”

Singapore — she said — has become a place where people can “experience the pulse of the world” without needing to travel for hours.

“You don’t need to travel for 12 hours to catch a Broadway musical [or] travel 16 hours to Europe to [experience] Europe because everything can be found in Singapore,” she said.

Considering families are their biggest market to date, she was proud to note that Singapore is the kind of country that caters to the needs of tourists groups — families, friends, and couples.

In line with that, they launched the YourSingapore Planner app last February where people touring in groups can follow a pre-selected itinerary depending on the kind of group they are traveling with (family, friends and couples) or create their own itinerary and choose from 40 different experiences.

“This app is solely for the Philippine market,” she said.

“The fact that everyone finds something that suits their needs, suits their lifestyle preferences is something we — as a destination — feel proud of [as] we can cater to everyone,” she said while showing the different print ads that were launched directed at different groups of tourists.

NEW EXPERIENCES
Following on the heels of a successful year, the Singapore Tourism Board announced several new experiences and events that are in store for the summer — ranging from the River Safari’s new “Amazon River Quest Boat Ride” where visitor can get up close and personal with over 5,000 animal species and 150 plant species from eight river zones from the Nile to the Amazon, to the “Ultimate Drive” where Formula 1 enthusiasts and wannabes can get a chance to drive a Ferrari F430 F1 Spider or a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder on the Singapore F1 circuit — just to home in the point (in case one remains unconvinced) that Singapore truly is where the world is heading.

“Whatever the reason for traveling — romantic getaway, barkada trip, or relaxing family vacation, the Singapore Tourism Board is dedicated to making sure Filipinos have the ultimate differentiated bonding experience the whole year round,” Ms. Chan said.

For more information visit YourSingapore.com/PH.

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Pushing Singapore