PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS
TOURISM INDUSTRY CONFERENCE 2017
MINISTER, CHAIRMAN,
INDUSTRY PARTNERS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
OPENING
1.
A very good morning to all and welcome to this year’s Tourism
Industry Conference.
2.
Each year, at TIC, I use the opportunity to discuss our drive for
Quality Tourism. Quality Tourism is our model of tourism
development, one which is based on Singapore’s unique
attributes. One which contributes to economic growth, and does
so in ways which raises productivity, promotes innovation,
creates good jobs, raises our skills levels and generates local
support.
3.
We have discussed the growth opportunities for businesses as
we embark on this journey towards Quality Tourism. Most
recently, we touched on how to sharpen our strategies amidst a
challenging business environment last year.
4.
In spite of an uncertain global economic outlook as well as the
Zika outbreak which dampened travel demand, our tourism
performance exceeded all expectations. I want to thank YOU,
our industry partners, for your support in making 2016 a record
year for Singapore tourism.
5.
This year, I want to focus on “Partnering for Success”. I want to
highlight how STB and industry have partnered each other to
achieve tourism success, and how deepening that partnership is
vital to reach new heights.
6.
In particular, I will discuss how STB and industry have partnered
to build capabilities, how we work together to reach out to
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attract visitors and drive spend, and how we come together to
enhance the visitor experience and make our destination more
competitive.
Part I: Working together to build capabilities
7.
I would like to start with how STB is partnering industry to build
skills and capabilities that we need to achieve tourism success.
8.
To support the Hotel Industry Transformation Map, we have
used the Business Improvement Fund to support over 70
projects where hotels tap on the fund to implement manpowerlean solutions in areas such as housekeeping, front office and
F&B.
9.
In addition, a time limited Hotel Retrofitting Grant was also
introduced last year to help hotels with legacy building
constraints to unlock productivity gains through retrofitting
works.
10.
For example, we are supporting Shangri-La on a project to
retrofit the hotel’s kitchen and Horizon Club Lounge, which are
located at opposite ends of the building.
11.
As a result of the retrofitting, Shangri-La expects to cut down on
staff movements between the kitchen and the Lounge, and also
be able to offer self-service options for guests. This will reduce
the overall staffing required to serve the Lounge by almost half.
12.
[Call to Action] We are currently in discussions with a few more
hotels looking to tap on this grant for their retrofitting works. I
would like to encourage industry stakeholders who are
interested to submit your applications before 30 June 2018.
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13.
To develop new solutions through innovation, STB is partnering
SHA’s Hotel Innovation Committee to launch an innovation
challenge later this year.
14.
In addition, Hotels can also work with the Hotel Productivity
Centre to prototype new technologies or find new applications
for solutions that have gone through the proof of concept stage.
You may recall that last year at TIC, there was a robot who
delivered a bottle of water to me on stage. I’m happy to
announce that it has found a new job at M Social. AURA the
robot has been contracted to deliver amenities to guest rooms,
following the successful partnership between HPC and the
vendor customizing the solution for hotels.
15.
To support building a strong pipeline of talent in the hotel
industry, STB has been promoting the SkillsFuture Earn and
Learn Programme (ELP) for the hotel industry. As of 31
December 2016, a total of 65 students from Polytechnics and ITE
have been employed by 53 different hotels across Singapore in
the ELP.
16.
Here we have a Hui Ying, a Nanyang Polytechnic graduate who
pursued a Diploma in Hospitality Tourism Management as part
of the ELP. She is now with ParkRoyal Pickering. She tells us that
she has benefitted from the comprehensive training programme
that her employer has developed for her. [quote on slide]
17.
We also spoke to her boss, Mr Gino Tan, Area General Manager
of Singapore for Pan Pacific Hotels Group and General Manager
of Pan Pacific Singapore. He tells us that the ELP participants
have been enthusiastic contributors and learners at work. I know
Gino speaks for many hoteliers when he says that he would like
to have more ELP participants. STB will work with hotels and
unions to strengthen the value proposition and attract even
more graduates to take up the ELP. [quote on slide]
18.
Aside from the Hotel ITM, we are also building capabilities for
the other industries of Travel Agents, Tourist Guides, and MICE.
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19.
For example, to ensure our Travel Agent industry stays relevant
amidst the evolving business landscape, we partnered the
industry to launch the Travel Agent Road Map in August last
year, which covers Business Transformation, Technology and
Manpower issues.
20.
In the area of business transformation, the National Association
of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) has partnered with SIMTech
to conduct a training and mentorship programme by SIMTech
called OMNI-LITE, which helps members to revise and update
their business processes. Later this year, STB and NATAS will also
introduce a Business Transformation Playbook that will help
travel agents understand different business models and seek
ways to improve their own.
21.
Similar to the hotel industry, travel agents will also have a
Travel Agent Innovation Challenge later this year to catalyse new
technology solutions for the industry. In preparation for the
Challenge, STB and NATAS consulted close to 20 travel agents
and 250 consumers, through a design thinking project, to
identify key problems that travel agents face today. These will
then be channeled into the Innovation Challenge to uncover
potential technology solutions.
22.
On the manpower front, the Manpower Committee in NATAS
has worked with STB to promote skills upgrading and better HR
practices. For example, STB and NATAS have developed an
Onboarding Guide that Travel Agents can use to help new hires
and interns ease into the industry.
23.
Put together, these initiatives are meant to enhance the
capabilities of our travel agents, with the vision of empowering
our industry to go beyond ticketing and order-taking, to become
designers of travel experiences.
24.
On the Tourist Guides front, STB worked with 12 training
providers to develop new Professional Development Courses
(PDC) for tourist guides. In just the first quarter of 2017, the
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PDCs have seen close to 800 attendees, more than double the
number last year.
25.
On the MICE front, STB continues to work closely with the
Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers
and Suppliers (SACEOS) to build capabilities. For example, STB
provides support for SACEOS Secretariat and Ex-Co members to
attend the Professional Convention Management Association
(PCMA) Convening Leaders event, which is an annual education
event aimed at equipping MICE industry members with industry
insights and trends. I joined MICE industry colleagues at the
January 2017 edition in Austin and came away convinced that
our professionals working in MICE and our overall MICE industry
will be able to significantly raise their games by participating in
such programmes. You can pick up valuable ideas about how to
deliver engaging and impactful business events for your clients.
26.
In addition to working with each of our tourism industries, STB is
building two platforms that would harness technology and data
to support future growth.
27.
The first platform is an information and services hub, efficiently
connecting tourism product owners and suppliers with global
distributors, to support the sharing and exchanging of their
offerings to a much wider audience. Let me show you how this
works [video clip plays]
28.
[Video Clip ends] The launch of TIH by the end of this year will
create a powerful B2B exchange that not only benefits our
tourism businesses, but also ultimately benefit consumers that
use apps or websites powered by it.
29.
Last year, we also discussed the potential of data analytics in
tourism. The second platform that STB is investing in is all about
data – slicing and dicing it, visualising it, and drawing fresh
insights from it. We have just launched the Singapore Tourism
Analytics Network, or Stan in short, for our own staff. But Stan
will eventually be rolled out to industry partners as well.
30.
Let me give you an example to illustrate the potential. STB is
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interested in the movement of tourists in Singapore – where do
they go, where do they stay and how long do they dwell in a
location? So we have worked with telcos to examine aggregated
visitor geo-location data.
31.
In the course of looking at the data, the team discovered that
around 10% of our visitors switched hotels during their stay. For
those who stayed 6 days or more, 30% of them switched hotels
during their stay.
32.
Among the top markets which switched hotels, South Koreans
switched to higher tier hotels towards the end of their trip,
which often included a stay at the Integrated Resorts. Visitors
from India and the Philippines on the other hand, were more
likely to switch within similar tier hotels.
33.
Now, if you are a hotelier, I’m sure you’d want to study these
types of patterns and think about how to entice these visitors to
stay longer and spend more at your hotel per trip. If you are a
travel agent, you may be thinking about the type of itineraries
that have more traction with your main source markets.
34.
We can derive interesting insights about our visitors with just a
single data source such as geo-location. We can do a lot more
with multiple data sources. We would like to invite you to share
other relevant data with us which could enrich our geo-location
insights and make them even more actionable.
Part II: Reaching out Together
35.
On that note, I would like to move on to the second area of
partnerships where we come together to reach out to trade
partners and customers in our source markets.
36.
First, I am happy to report that STB, Changi Airport Group and
Singapore Airlines are renewing a joint partnership, which saw
the three parties coming together to invest $20 million over the
last two years to market Destination Singapore. This partnership
produced good results by raising destination awareness,
enhancing post-arrival experience and driving visitor traffic to
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Singapore. We will continue to invest in marketing activities, and
work together to enhance Singapore’s value proposition as a
destination for both leisure and business/MICE travellers. We
will announce more details on this next week.
37.
STB is also active in building partnerships overseas that benefit
you.
In Japan, STB signed an MOU with JTB Corporation in February
2017. This was the first time that JTB Corporation has signed an
MOU with an overseas NTO. Tourism enterprises will benefit
from added exposure as a result of being part of the nation-wide
JTB destination campaign. In addition, enterprises who are part
of JTB’s packages will see increased market penetration of their
products, as the package will be sold at over 5,800 retail outlets
across Japan. Singapore is also the first destination in Asia where
JTB Corporation has chosen to film their annual television
commercial (TVC). Let us take a look at the TVC, which was
recently filmed in Singapore. It is helmed by Emi Takei, a popular
Japanese actress. [TVC plays] [TVC ends]
38.
In Australia, STB signed an MOU with Flight Centre Travel Group,
which is the largest retail travel outlet in Australia and has
presence internationally. This partnership is active across five
markets, namely Australia, UK, US, Canada and New Zealand.
Specifically, in Australia for 2017, STB will work with the Group’s
brands such as Flight Centre, Escape Travel, Cruiseabout and
Travel Associates to develop campaigns for 700 retail outlets
across Australia.
39.
In China, if you recall, STB had embarked on digital partnerships
with key Chinese players to expand our digital footprint inmarket, such as WeChat, Tencent, Dianping and Mafengwo. For
example, STB had launched a YourSingapore WeChat service
account last year to provide consumers with real-time location7
based services via their mobile to explore Singapore with ease.
Chinese visitors can download an audio guide of 5 of Singapore’s
attractions and precincts, namely Gardens by the Bay, River
Safari, Singapore Zoo, Orchard Road and Chinatown, through this
WeChat service account. As of end 2016, Chinese visitors utilized
the audio guides more than 120,000 times.
40.
In Indonesia, STB will continue to strengthen our foothold in
secondary cities, which saw an 8% increase in visitor arrivals last
year. Last year, we had reached out to over 200,000 consumers
in 6 cities --Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, Pekanbaru
and Palembang. It helped that our Tourism Ambassadors for the
Indonesian market – famous celebrity couple Titi Kamal and
Christian Sugiono, were present at these roadshows, in addition
to fronting our marketing campaigns. Tourism enterprises who
were part of this roadshow saw over S$2.2 million in sales at the
travel fairs. We will continue this series of roadshows to further
extend our presence in these secondary cities. Riding on this
positive momentum, we will be opening up STB regional office
number 21 in Surabaya by the end of 2017. Surabaya generated
the second highest number of visitors to Singapore after Jakarta.
41.
In India, STB partnered some of you to feature Singapore in a
major Bollywood movie Badrinath Ki Dulhania. The movie
featured Singapore stakeholders such as Resorts World Sentosa,
amongst others. SilkAir was brought on board as an airline
partner and was featured prominently in the film, with the lead
character playing the role of a SilkAir stewardess trainee. Let me
show you a short clip. [video clip plays]
[Video clip ends] Since its release on 10th March, the movie has
grossed over S$40 million and is considered a box office super
hit. In addition, STB India partnered a key online travel agent,
Make My Trip, for marketing promotions around the movie.
Make My Trip has reported double digit growth in holiday
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bookings to Singapore in this short span of time. We look
forward to more branded content opportunities where STB can
partner Singapore and in-market stakeholders to market our
destination creatively.
42.
If you would like to hear more about what STB is doing in these
markets, please join us at the break-out sessions later.
43.
Aside from STB’s efforts, I am pleased to see that industry is also
collaborating with each other to drive outreach efforts overseas.
For example, Hong Thai Travel Services is one of a group of six
travel agents who have come together to expand their reach in
China. Let us hear from Mr Alex Chan, Director of Hong Thai
Travel Services. [Video clip plays]
44.
[Video clip ends] We are also glad to see that in the MICE
business, such partnerships strengthen our destination
proposition to events organizers. For example, the Tax-Free
World Association (TFWA) bid alliance was formed to present a
more compelling package to TFWA. This bid alliance consisted of
STB, a PEO (Experia), a venue provider (MBS), stand contractor
(Kingsmen), logistics provider (Agility), housing agent (Pacific
World) and social events agent (American Express). [Kingsmen
quote on slide] The hotels in the Marina Bay area have also
worked with the alliance to offer attractive rates to delegates. By
coming together, STB and industry was able to offer a more
holistic and competitive package to TFWA. The event is expected
to bring close to $10 million in Tourism Receipts per edition and
has been secured till 2019. We will continue to partner our MICE
stakeholders to build a healthy pipeline of business events.
45.
At TIC last year, we mentioned that we were putting together a
marketing innovation fund to push the boundaries of marketing,
in line with our strategic thrust of “Enhancing delivery” under
the Marketing Strategy 2020.
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46.
When it comes to marketing Singapore, STB wants to support
industry efforts which help to promote the Singapore brand. We
also want to encourage creative story-telling. So today, I am
happy to announce the launch of our Marketing Innovative
Programme where we have set aside S$1 million in funds to
amplify and broaden the reach of your marketing efforts in 2017.
All brands with creative and innovative marketing campaigns
that also feature a great Singapore story are welcome to apply
for the Programme. Do join my marketing colleagues at the
break-out session, “Rethinking Destination Marketing” in the
afternoon to find out more.
47.
To tell the Singapore story authentically and in a way that piques
the interest of overseas audience, I had announced last year at
TIC that STB would be reviewing our destination brand,
YourSingapore.
48.
One major shift in this review was a decision that we would like
our destination brand to encompass a fuller Singapore story, one
that goes beyond tourism. We therefore partnered with EDB to
develop a brand that will be championed by both agencies. We
believe that this will maximize our brand impact and send a
consistent message to our international audience. One that we,
as residents of Singapore, can all rally behind too, because it
derives its qualities from the inside-out.
49.
This review has now concluded and STB will be launching a new
destination brand in the second half of 2017. My team is
finalizing the corresponding global campaign, to deliver a
distinct and singular positioning across markets and audiences,
while allowing for local nuances. We look forward to partnering
all of you in telling the Singapore brand story to the world.
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Part III: Enhancing the Visitor Experience
50.
Our destination brand comes alive through the visitor
experience. Thus, in the third and final segment, I wish to
discuss how we can work together to enhance Singapore’s value
proposition to visitors at the enterprise level, at the precinct
level, and through our events.
51.
At the enterprise level, many industry players are working on
catering to the constantly evolving needs of our discerning
visitors. I want to share with you the story of Grand Park City Hall
and their transformation into a Smart hotel. [Video clip plays]
52.
[Video clip ends] STB is happy to support this effort and we
would like to see more enterprises embark on similar journeys to
make their products and experiences more visitor-centric.
53.
Beyond individual enterprises, there is work to be done at a
precinct level. As Minister Iswaran mentioned, STB has been
working with URA, LTA and the private sector to explore ways of
enlivening Orchard Road into a vibrant lifestyle and shopping
destination with a signature street experience in a city garden. In
the longer term, we can also explore the possibility of a fully
pedestrianized Orchard Road to achieve this vision.
54.
The identity, heritage and character of Orchard Road is a multifaceted one. The precinct has developed over time to take on
unique characteristics across four zones. Working with
stakeholders we can do much more to bring this out so that
Orchard Road visitors can enjoy the different faces of this great
street as they travel down the stretch.
55.
For a start, we are going to make streetscape improvements that
will make the precinct more pedestrian-friendly and walkable,
and bring more life and activities to the streets. We are studying
the reclamation of one lane along Orchard Road to improve the
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pedestrian experience and support more activations.
In
response to stakeholder feedback about the attractiveness of
scramble-crossings such as those in Japanese cities, we intend to
trial a scramble walk at a major junction along Orchard Road.
We will explore enhancing pedestrian connectivity by minimising
the visual and physical barriers along Orchard Road that divide
one side from the other.
56.
The physical plan for Orchard Road must be complemented by
experiential elements. We want to encourage new experiential
concepts and more street-level pop-up activations. This can be
done by allowing the temporary use of existing vacant sites such
as the open air car parks at Grange Road and Angullia Park. We
can also review guidelines for temporary structures and uses
within the public realm.
57.
Put together, these efforts to improve the streetscape will allow
us to have greater flexibility when working with partners like
Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA) to enhance the
precinct’s signature event, Christmas on a Great Street, as well
as other programming along Orchard Road.
58.
In addition, we are working with private stakeholders to enhance
the retail diversity in Orchard Road. As mentioned by Minister
Iswaran, STB, SPRING and JTC will launch a Design Incubator at
Orchard Green by end 2018. It will house a retail showcase as
well as incubation space for local design talents. The retail
showcase will present over 40 local brands on a rotational basis,
with a focus on new-to-market and emerging designers ranging
from fashion and accessories to small home furnishings and
souvenirs. In addition, visitors can look forward to a regular lineup of in-store events that will showcase the work of our local
design community as well as outdoor events held in conjunction
with key leisure events in Singapore.
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59.
We also want to work with precinct partners when a Major
Event is in town. For example, STB worked with Clarke Quay to
curate Music after 7s during the inaugural Rugby7s last year.
There were performances by local bands and special discounts
and benefits at F&B establishments. The festival proved very
popular with visiting and local fans, with footfall that was 17%
higher than the average Friday to Sunday period. This was a winwin partnership as Rugby fans celebrated with a great afterparty while some Clarke Quay tenants reported the highest
revenue ever generated for a weekend. Riding on that success,
Clarke Quay will once again host the after party for Rugby 7s
taking place this weekend.
60.
In addition, our collaboration with Disney that Minister Iswaran
had mentioned, will provide more opportunities for precinct
partners and event organizers to come together. This three-year
partnership between STB and The Walt Disney Company
Southeast Asia is the first-of-its-kind between Disney and a
national tourism organisation in Southeast Asia and will enable
Singapore to host an array of Disney brands across a diverse
genre of events and activations.
61.
For this first year, in celebration of Star Wars’ 40th anniversary,
Singapore will be the destination in Southeast Asia to play host
to some of the most exciting Star Wars related experiences. See
if you can spot the lightsaber activation at the Star Wars Day
May the 4th Be With You Festival, held at Gardens by the Bay.
And for those participating in Singapore’s first ever Star Wars
Run, may the Force be with you.
62.
In subsequent years, we have secured the Marvel, Disney
Animation and Disney Pixar brands. We welcome your creative
event concepts and ideas to co-create an exciting line-up of
branded entertainment content with strong tourism appeal.
With sufficient lead time for marketing, we can attract fans from
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the region to come participate in these events. This partnership
brings about many opportunities for tourism stakeholders to get
involved and add to the festivities.
63.
As we mature as a tourism city, Singapore will come to rely more
on events and lifestyle offerings to attract a steady growth of
discerning visitors seeking to indulge in their favourite passions
and brands. Let’s take a look at how we have grown our events
calendar.
64.
In terms of major sporting events, we have leveraged the
success of the Singapore Grand Prix to attract premium offerings
in tennis, golf, rugby, and now football and MMA.
65.
Quality mass participation sports events are also able to attract
quality visitors and Singapore has the potential to build on such
events we already have on our calendar.
66.
ZoukOut has been a successful major leisure event for over a
decade, and we have now developed a wide range of major arts
and entertainment events throughout the year.
67.
Dining and lifestyle festivals add colour and flavour to our
calendar.
And with your help, STB wants to add even more to this mix.
68.
69.
Let me show you one final video clip to convey the energy and
excitement that events and global entertainment brands can
bring to our destination. [Video clip plays] [Video clip ends]
70.
We are delivering on our Events Strategy. Taken all together,
Singapore has an always-on buzz in terms of business and leisure
events that can draw a diverse and growing stream of visitors to
our shores.
Closing
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71.
This year’s theme for TIC is Partnering for Success.
The journey towards Quality Tourism is one that carries
enormous significance to Singapore. Tourism development has
always been an important component of our overall national
and economic development. It is not just one way (out of many
in our diversified economy) in which we earn a living in this
world. It is also a key way in which we build the best home for
Singaporeans, one that has wonderful leisure options and
provides good jobs for Singaporeans.
72.
Let us partner for success. Let us work together to enhance the
Singapore experience; to reach out to international markets and
tell a great Singapore story; and to develop skilled Singaporeans
who will work in and run productive and innovative tourism
enterprises.
73.
Thank you.
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