Singapore Tourism Board will have a new regional director for Europe, including the Nordic and Baltic area. Tan Yen Nee will take over the London office July 1.
It will be a tough job as the numbers of visitors has gone down the latest years.
The Singapore Tourism Board has spent the last few years emphasizing the cultural and creative aspects of the destination to add a new layer to the overall brand story. Still the figures of visits are down. Is any new strategy on the way and which tools do you prepare to use?
“Our marketing strategy is a medium-term strategy, formulated to better meet the challenges that we are facing the next five years or so. Its main focus is about collaborating with our partners to position ourselves for long-term sustainable growth.
Having said that, we hope to see results soon by us focusing on a more refined set of customer segments and expanding into more Tier 2 cities in top markets and diversifying beyond Asia. We would also like to see greater visitor satisfaction and hopefully spending through greater use of innovative technology to offer truly personalised, seamless and compelling experiences.
We remain committed towards Quality Tourism and the need for marketing to be targeted at more quality visitors over time.”
“Will there be special tools and strategy for the market, you will be responsible for?”
“We will continue to target the leisure and business travellers in several markets in both Western and Eastern Europe as well as Nordic markets like Denmark and Sweden.”
“For leisure travellers, we will continue to position Singapore as a must visit destination in their long haul trips to Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. We also hope to continue growing the Cruise interest in Singapore and Southeast Asia. STB will continue engaging leisure trade partners across the value chain to raise destination awareness of Singapore and drive bookings. We will further create and facilitate inspiring destination content too.”
“ For business travellers, we will continue to position Singapore as a compelling and top-of-mind destination for MICE events in Asia through key tradeshows and networking events as well as business development and marketing. In fact, we recently extended the In Singapore Incentives & Rewards (INSPIRE) programme to corporate meeting and incentive travel groups from Europe and North America. Conceptualised in partnership with Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport Group, the pilot Western edition of the rewards programme will feature cocktail experiences and thematic business tours alongside attractive group airfares to complement business trips.”
“Inside-Out- concept was last year in three cities like London and New York, was really invented in Stockholm more than 10 years ago. Will it come to the Nordic and Baltic area again?”
“We will need to assess SG:IO’s success and outcomes to determine future plans. However, our objective remains that we want to profile our local talents and open new doors of opportunities for them to collaborate with international players in the creative field.“
