GGRAsia – Singapore govt in fresh steps to boost tourism, economy

Singapore govt in fresh steps to boost tourism, economy

Sep 18, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Singapore, Top of the deck

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced several partnerships to support local business and boost the city’s tourism industry, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The tourism board said in a Thursday release it had signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with digital-payments brand Visa Inc, to help small and medium-sized Singapore tourism and “lifestyle” firms cope with the Covid-19 downturn.

The tie-up will cover joint research and analytics, and marketing partnerships.

Under the research heading, the two will “combine proprietary data, as well as research and analytical capabilities, to derive insights on how Covid-19 has changed domestic and international consumer behaviour,” said the press release.

On the marketing front, the partners will “develop a domestic marketing campaign to raise awareness of local SMEs, while driving domestic consumption through Visa cardholder promotions”.

In the second phase, “when international travel resumes,” both organisations will launch international marketing campaigns, “to increase awareness of local brands and experiences in Singapore”.

The release quoted STB chief executive Keith Tan as saying: “Local tourism and lifestyle businesses contribute significantly to the vibrancy of a city like Singapore. STB and Visa both want to help such businesses to survive and succeed in the new environment.”

Singapore’s borders mostly remain closed to foreign visitors. In the interim, the city-state has been working to stimulate domestic tourism.

A September 14 press release from the tourism board, said it had formed a “SGD2-million partnership” – equivalent to about US$1.5 million – with Klook, an online travel agency, to promote domestic tourism and local businesses, as part of the country’s “SingapoRediscovers” campaign to stimulate consumption, post lockdown.

In July, the Singapore Tourism Board said that it, and two other government agencies, had set aside SGD45 million to encourage domestic tourism.

The hotel facilities of the city-state’s two casino complexes – Resorts World Sentosa, run by Genting Singapore Ltd; and Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp – had reopened in mid-July, after their respective casinos had relaunched to Singapore nationals and residents and other select customers at the start of that month.

On Friday, essential business and official travel for residents of Singapore and of Japan, was due to restart between those countries, according to a September 11 announcement of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to a notice on the website of Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the country currently has certain easing on inbound travel arrangements – mostly only for official and business purposes, and with conditions attached – with Brunei, six regions of mainland China, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Korea.