The Singapore Tourism Board on October 21 launched a comprehensive suite of digital and mobile services for the Chinese market. Chinese travellers form a large volume of inbound tourism for Singapore and thus it is a significant market for them. The new services will make it easier for the Chinese travellers to look up information about Singapore. To do so, STB has joined hands with four different partners, online travel services Alitrip and Tuniu, and social review websites Mafengwo and Dianping. These partners will curate and distribute compelling content about Singapore to promote Singapore as a destination among Chinese travellers.
(From left) Mr Edward Chew, STB; Mr Anson Ling, Baidu; Mr Donald Yu, Tuniu; Mr Lionel Yeo, STB; Mr Lu Gang, Mafengwo; Mr Tony Duan, Alitrip; Mr Leong Yue Kheong, STB; Mr Tang Hao, DianPing; Mr Quek Choon Yang, STB and Ms Low See Peng, STB
(Image credits: Singapore Tourism Board)
WeChat is very popular in China and a large number of brands use the service to engage with their audience. To cater to the Chinese travellers, STB has also launched a YourSingapore WeChat account. Baidu also offers services similar to WeChat with Baidu Connect. STB will use it along with WeChat so that the travellers can have real time location based services on their smartphones.
Mr Lionel Yeo, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board said: “The digital and mobile revolution has drastically changed the way visitors research for and consume travel products, and underscores how we much stay ahead of the curve to adapt to the changing needs of our visitors. Only by doing so, we are able to ensure Singapore remains top of mind as a destination. Visitor centric experiences and marketing are both integral to our drive towards quality tourism; this expansion of digital services for China is a strong illustration of our commitment.”
The new partnerships and marketing activities won’t affect the existing channels. STB will continue to conduct its regular trade marketing workshops with the local industry to give digital platforms a boost.
With this new partnership with Alitrip, Singapore will have a dedicated Alitrip microsite. Leveraging Alibaba’s eco-system and big data, Alitrip will be able to curate the best offerings for the travellers thus allowing them to select products that best suit their preferences.
The MOU signing took place during the ITB Asia which is a part of TravelRave. You can find more stories from TravelRave here.
