TravTalk India Online Magazine
India has been ranked the second-largest tourist market for Singapore in 2022. During the year, the island nation received 686,000 visitors from the country, nearly half of the pre-pandemic levels. Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Airlines (SIA), and Scoot recently organised an ‘Industry Appreciation Gala Night’ in New Delhi to thank the travel trade for their support.
Janice Alyosius
Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Airlines (SIA), and Scoot recently organised an ‘Industry Appreciation Gala Night’ in New Delhi to recognise the contribution of their travel partners in the strong recovery of Indian visitors to Singapore in 2022.
Raymond Lim, Area Director, New Delhi, Singapore Tourism Board, praised the travel partners for their support in reviving the Singapore’s tourism industry. He said that Singapore received 686,000 Indian visitors, which is nearly half of the 1.4 million Indian visitors received in 2019. “This is a very good result, and it is only possible because all of you are rooting for the Singapore destination and helping us in achieving a very good and strong recovery in tourism,” he added.
Lim believes that the cruise segment contributed significantly to the tourism revival in Singapore, particularly in the last two quarters of 2022. “In the months of May and December. We saw nearly a 36 per cent recovery of cruise passengers that we achieved in 2022, first with Royal Caribbean and then with Resorts World Cruises. The trend provided us with a second win of tourists from India,” he said.
Speaking of the MICE segment, Singapore did exceptionally well, and in September, the country received two “very large” groups of MICE, and it sent a strong message that the traffic from India is back. “We are very happy to know that small, medium, and large groups are all lining up for 2023. We have a very good and healthy pipeline of M&I groups coming to Singapore in 2023 despite the fact that the year did not begin on a very positive note because of the requirement of RT PCR for people returning from Singapore to India. But I believe that is something that we can all manage, and we have managed that very well over the last few years. So, this should not derail our progress in 2023,” he added.
Kelvin Kwan, Manager – Northern and Eastern India, Singapore Airlines, said, “I believe Singapore Airlines is very confident because of the continued efforts that we have made during the pandemic years into the product and services that we have had despite the
challenges that we have faced. So, we are hoping that 2023 will be another successful year for us
as a company.”
He added, “We have spent a lot of time ensuring that capacity is restored to India. And when it comes to Singapore Airlines as a company, and as a global network, India was one of the first to receive the capacity injection that we requested. And henceforth, India continues to remain at the forefront of Singapore Airlines.”
Brian Torrey, General Manager, Scoot India, thanked the trade partners for their support and said, “The pandemic tested the entire aviation industry, but we emerged stronger because of our loyal partners. Scoot does not operate to Delhi currently, but provided the support the company would leverage the opportunity of pioneering a new market or go to a second-tier city. In the future, we hope to expand to newer destinations and start operations from more Indian gateways. Scoot has remained an affordable way to travel without compromising safety and comfort over the years. We hope that 2023 will be a fantastic year for all of you.”
Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Airlines (SIA), and Scoot awarded the travel partners in different segments. MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip won the top tech partner award, Zeith Holidays and JTB India won the top MICE partner award, DPauls Travel and Tours and Yoker Holidays Services won the top leisure partner award, Yatra for business and Ebix Travel and Holidays won the top business travel partner awards and FSR Travels and Trackbudget Travel Services won the Emerging Star award.
