THE Singapore Tourism Board (STB) yesterday introduced its new marketing campaign “Singapore. See where the world is heading” to encourage more Filipino travelers to visit.
The campaign, which is exclusively designed for the Philippine market, aims to encourage Filipinos to experience the “various innovative and world class experiences that Singapore offers.”
“Over the past years, we have been actively engaging the Filipino market to better understand their needs and preferences. By incorporating these insights into the marketing campaign, we are confident of being able to better curate and deliver offerings and experiences that are customized to the Filipino traveler in order to engage them at a deeper and more meaningful way,” said Sherina Chan, outgoing STB area director for Philippines and Brunei.
During her presentation before the media at the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, Chan said Singapore logged a 7.2 percent increase in international visitor arrivals last year with tourism receipts of Singapore $23.5 billion, up by 1.6 percent in 2012.
Forecast
According to Chan, tourism revenues is within the industry’s forecast range of Singapore $23.5 billion to Singapore $24.5 billion.
She said the Philippines remains a key source market for Singapore, which grew by four percent. Indonesia is the top source market for Singapore, followed by China, Malaysia, Australia, India and Japan, as of the third quarter 2013. Seventy-seven percent of international tourists to Singapore come from Asia.
Chan said they would do aggressive marketing promotions in the Philippines because it is a growing market in terms of tourism and travel.
“We are focusing our fine-tuning on efforts to cater to the needs of Filipinos,” said Chan. She said Filipino consumers today are becoming more deliberate in terms of planning and choosing their holiday destinations. Travel has also become an important lifestyle to the market.
Most Filipinos typically travel as families, barkada, or couples for sight-seeing, shopping and dining. They also seek entertainment when in Singapore.
Singapore aims to reach 16.8 million visitor arrivals this year, which is a growth of five to eight percent. It hopes to grow its tourism revenues by two to five percent or Singapore $23.8 billion to Singapore $24.6 billion.
New attractions
Some of the new attractions in Singapore include JetPack flight at SeaBreeze Water-Sports, River’s Safari, United Kingdom’s ‘War of the Roses’ at the Gardens by the Bay and the largest tulip-themed floral show Tulipmania; Ultimate Marine Encounters at the Adventure Cove Waterpark; and iFly.
STB also launched in the Philippines its digital campaign to reach out to more Filipino consumers. The campaign includes a microsite and consumer interactive digital platform called #TheCuriousTraveller at yoursingapore.com.ph and YourSingapore Planner, downloadable itinerary planner mobile application.
Users can opt to download the recommended itinerary or choose to create their own where there are 40 experiences to choose from. The app is available on Google Play or iTunes App Store.
Chan also introduced yesterday Adrian Kong, the incoming STB area director for Philippines and Brunei.