Singapore Government to increase investment in tourism marketing

Bouyed by a revival of overseas visitor numbers in the first few months of 2016, the Singapore Government has announced that the tourism sector will get another S$700 million (US$511 million) boost over the next five years to improve innovation and growth.

With tourism numbers to the island nation down in 2015, the Singapore Government’s efforts to reverse the slump - which included a S$20 million (US$14.6 million) Golden Jubilee marketing campaign last year - appear to be paying off, with Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran announcing the funding to improve innovation and growth.

Visitor arrivals in the first two months of the year rose 12.3% year-on-year to reach 2.7 million visitors, Minister Iswaran said the intensified efforts by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have brought about “early and encouraging signs of improvement”.

The S$700 million, to be disbursed over the next five years, is the third tranche of the STB’s Tourism Development Fund. The latest phase will focus on the transformation of the tourism sector, using technology such as robotics to increase productivity, or data analytics to understand visitors better.

Investments will be channelled to niche sectors with “high growth potential”, such as the cruise industry, which generates significant spill-over economic benefits for ground handling services, bunkering and ship repair.

While economic uncertainty means periodic fluctuations for the tourism sector, Minister Iswaran stressed that there is also the “promise of significant long-term opportunities” and urged the industry to work collaboratively, adding “this partnership between (the) Government and industry stakeholders is essential to sustain not just these nascent improvements that we are seeing in the market but also to support the sector’s long-term development for opportunities that we need to seize.”.

STB Chief Executive Lionel Yeo said the statutory board will be “intensifying trade engagement and marketing efforts” to attract visitors from Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Australia and India.

These countries are Singapore’s top five source markets for tourism and remain important, according to Yeo.

To diversify Singapore’s source markets, Yeo said the Government will explore and enter newer markets such as Myanmar, as well as pursue more visitors from mature long-haul markets in Europe and the United States.

The Government will also be increasing support for local industry players through the Business Events in Singapore fund.

Images: Marina Bay Sands (top) and Resorts World Sentosa (below).

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