The Singapore Tourism Board recently began offering curated packages for Chinese incentive travellers
To pull in Chinese incentive votes, Singapore’s tourism pushes past resting on traditional methods to develop new creative solutions as well, writes Paige Lee Pei Qi
According to Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) latest statistics, Chinese arrivals to Singapore from January to November last year recorded an impressive year-on-year increase of 21.6 per cent to over 1.93 million visitors.
While STB does not keep track of MICE arrivals according to countries, Low See Peng, regional director, Greater China, STB, said: “Singapore continued to be regarded as an exciting destination for Chinese MICE groups in 2015, attracting various incentive groups from Greater China.
“These include new incentive groups such as Mafengwo, as well as returning groups New Era Health Industry Group and Nanshan Insurance (Taiwan),” she elaborated.
Sharing similar positive sentiments, Linda Low, manager, strategic partnership and product marketing, Pacific World, said the number of Chinese MICE groups visiting Singapore in the first eight months of 2015 surpassed the total in 2014.
She said: “The extension of multiple journey visas to Chinese nationals has opened up opportunities for the Singapore tourism sector and has made it easier for Chinese business travellers to Singapore.”
In addition, she pointed out that STB’s partnerships with Chinese online and media platforms have also helped to reach out to Chinese travellers.
To better connect with the growing wave of mobile-savvy travellers emerging from China, STB forged new partnerships with four major Chinese digital players last year and launched two products with existing partners in the space.
The agreement will see first-time partners – Chinese OTAs Alitrip and Tuniu and social review sites Dianping and Mafengwo – curate and distribute content on Singapore to their users over two to three years.
Applauding these new partnerships, Joseph Sze, director of China from Siam Express, said: “This (initiative) gives Singapore the first-mover advantage in this aspect because (STB) is the first NTO that has done something so major.
“Chinese travellers are very dependent on their mobile devices and they will (appreciate) the convenience of real-time information on the travel destinations provided by these digital services,” he said.
STB’s Low said: “This provides us with additional touchpoints to business travellers, enabling us to make relevant content such as leisure and dining options easily available through technology, and further helps visitors to customise and maximise their time in Singapore.”
Apart from that, STB also launched the Singapore Incentives & Rewards (INSPIRE) 2.0 programme for the Greater China market last September. INSPIRE 2.0 aims to promote Singapore’s unique attractions by packaging curated itineraries that cater to Chinese incentive travellers.
For example, Resorts World Sentosa could provide welcome cocktails with a meet-and-greet session with movie characters at the Universal Studios Singapore.
To further boost Chinese arrivals, STB’s Low highlighted how the new Chongqing Connectivity Initiative between Singapore and China, launched in January 2016, will help bring both destinations closer. With that, West Air has since launched its inaugural international flight from Chongqing to Singapore, a thrice-weekly service.
While Low admitted that they expect macroeconomic factors to continue to have an impact on business traffic and expenditure from China, she expressed optimism for 2016.
She said: “We believe Singapore remains a vibrant and attractive destination for business travellers, as 2016 brings a variety of key exhibitions such as the Singapore Airshow and Food & Hotel Asia, where we (can) see a healthy percentage of Chinese business travellers (in attendance).”
Pacific World’s Low remarked: “Singapore continues to face strong competition worldwide (in capturing China’s market) as countries constantly roll out new and refreshe
d initiatives to capture a bigger share of the pie.”
Nevertheless, Low said Singapore’s winning factor is the ease of language and visa facilitation – both key considerations for any business traveller.
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{Insider}
Arun Madhok, CEO of Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre
Indulge in food paradise
Singapore is well-known for its food culture, and rightly so. Great food can be found everywhere, from hawker centres in the heartlands to fancy restaurants in the heart of town. With so many food options, deciding on what to eat suddenly becomes a good problem to have.
My go-to option is definitely local hawker fare including chicken rice, satay and also my all-time favourite – crispy carrot cake from Chomp Chomp Food Centre in Serangoon Gardens. If not in the mood for local food, I can also easily find decent restaurants serving up a variety of cuisines that suit different palates. Some of my favourite restaurants include db Bistro & Oyster Bar, and the Joël Robuchon Restaurant which specialises in the very best of French haute cuisine.
Drink up Singapore’s nightlife scene
For a small city like ours, Singapore’s exhilarating nightlife scene offers a myriad of choices that caters to everyone. Throughout the week, the array of bars, pubs and clubs in the heart of the city serves up drinks and great music into the wee hours. Be it the partygoers or the casual drinkers, no one should pass up the chance of immersing themselves in Singapore’s thriving nightlife!
When I’m looking for a good night out, I’ll head down to my favourite microbreweries like Red Dot and Brewerkz to enjoy their wide selection of premium handcrafted beers. After a long day’s work, I also enjoy unwinding over drinks at the al fresco rooftop Sky Garden at Suntec City, which offers a plethora of dining options from the classic Western at Dallas to the exciting Indo-Chine outlets with live bands.
Immerse in Singapore’s vibrant arts scene
Singapore is a diverse melting pot of cultures with a colourful arts scene to match. On any given week, local and international acts entertain large audiences in the numerous world-class performing arts venues in Singapore. The diversity in the arts scene makes it an ideal platform for people to discover and learn about the country while also being exposed to other cultures. Since moving here, I’ve been an ardent fan of the quality productions by local theatre company Pangdemonium and I’m definitely looking forward to the Les Misérables musical coming to Singapore for the first time in two decades!
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Hotel Vagabond
Impress your delegates by transporting them out of the stiff concrete jungle, and hosting them in the glamorous salon in Hotel Vagabond, Singapore’s first experience-driven luxury boutique hotel tucked in the eclectic neighbourhood of Little India and Kampong Glam.
Opened last year, this is the first and only hotel in Asia to feature interiors by the renowned French designer Jacques Garcia, who pays due homage to art. Upon entering the 41-room luxury boutique hotel, guests step into a brand new world that is bathed in lush crimson and gold.
The Vagabond Salon, which takes on a modern interpretation of a retro-Parisian salon, spreads across 464.5m2 and allows up to 300 guests in a standing cocktail setting, 40 pax in a roundtable setting or 100 pax in a theatre setting.
According to the hotel’s general manager and co-founder of Garcha Hotels, Harpreet Bedi, space utilisation there is demarcated by red velvet ropes and thick red velvet curtains, adding on to the Parisian salon vibe. Meeting facilities there include acoustics and sound systems, an in-built projector as well as a dropdown screen.
Bedi said: “Private events of butler passed canapes or sitdown lunch or dinner would be ideal in such an atmosphere.”
Hence he proposed that suitable events could include a special product launch, celebration of a brand anniversary or global team retreat, where the host is able to privatise the whole venue by booking all 41 guest rooms.
