TravTalk India Online Magazine
As the world adjusts to the new normal of managing with COVID-19, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) organized a webinar titled “Singapore Tourism Connects – Panel Discussion and Product Update” on 29 May 2020 to share the various initiatives and efforts in Singapore.
Hazel Jain
Attracting 1,200 participants, the webinar provided an update on the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, the measures taken, upcoming tourism developments and the support schemes for the tourism industry. As part of its “Growing Connections, Achieving Together” trade engagement theme, the webinar also featured panelists from STB India, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and Sentosa Development Corporation.
To support tourism businesses and partners during these challenging times, ‘The Tourism Recovery Action Task Force’ (TRAC) was started to develop and implement strategies to aid the tourism industry and position Singapore for recovery.
In addition, the STB rolled out the “SG Clean” campaign, which provides reassurance that the local businesses maintain high standards of cleanliness and sanitisation. More than 13,000 SG Clean certificates have been issued so far.
Opening the panel discussion was GB Srithar, STB’s Regional Director for India, Middle East & South Asia, who said, “India continues to be the third largest source market for Singapore, having crossed the one millionth mark for Visitor Arrivals into Singapore for the fifth consecutive year in 2019. Since January 2020, STB India has undertaken the #UnitedWeStand trade engagement initiative and ramped up our trade outreach efforts through a series of communications, update sessions to raise product knowledge of Singapore’s offerings for both leisure and business travellers. This webinar, conducted in partnership with TravTalk was an effective way of reaching out to travel agents across India.”
On-ground realities
The COVID-19 situation is an evolving one. Singapore is gradually reopening its borders in a progressive and calibrated manner for Singaporeans and residents to conduct essential activities overseas while allowing foreigners to enter Singapore in limited numbers, with the necessary safeguards in place to ensure public health considerations are addressed.
As part of the plans to reopen the economy in a safe and gradual manner, tourism businesses in Singapore will be permitted to resume operations in stages from 1 July, beginning with 13 attractions . As a precautionary measure, most attractions will be restricted to no more than 25% of their operating capacity at any one time, for a start. STB will also allow domestic tour operators to begin submitting their applications to resume operations.
GB Srithar says, “Tourism is re-opening in a safe and gradual manner, in tandem with the rest of the economy. We are not rushing to re-open, as we want our visitors to have peace of mind when they are here. Our businesses have to adhere to rigorous standards of safe management. Many are also being certified under SG Clean, our national mark of excellence for safety and hygiene.”
The STB India has also ramped up consumer engagement efforts through various interesting initiatives. An online six-part edutainment series “Try this at home, Tips from Singapore” which features Singaporean personalities from sneaker artist Mark Ong to cook, food writer and television host Sarah Huang Benjamin, was launched on STB’s social media platforms. Through these videos, STB hopes to inspire viewers to explore and develop their passions.
“While our international friends cannot travel to Singapore just yet, we will continue to bring Singapore to them. STB embarked on a digital initiative with Zomato for “Zomaland@home during the first two weekends of June, featuring Singapore artistes and their collaborations with Indian talents, showcasing their passions across food, music, stand–up comedy and more. STB also partnered popular nightclub Zouk, to bring three virtual parties to our international audiences in May 2020.”
Sentosa prepares for the restart of Tourism
Health and safety is high on the priority list for Sentosa Development Corporation (Sentosa) because it receives so many visitors. Jacqueline Low, Director of Sales, Business and Channel Development, Sentosa Development Corporation, says, “We like to think that in every crisis there are always new opportunities to be discovered. We are now thinking about how business can be done differently. At Sentosa we align our recovery with Singapore’s phased recovery too. In the early stages, we actively engage our trade partners and guests with interesting and differentiated virtual content as they are unable to physically visit us. In the current and subsequent stages, we begin to welcome guests to the island with good programs and campaigns.”
She explains that Sentosa has been very strict about safety measures to ensure the wellbeing of guests, such as cleanliness and regular maintenance of common areas. The island is easily accessible to the general public and hence there are temperature checks at entry points to all establishments within Sentosa. “All premises on Sentosa have also implemented SafeEntry, a nation-wide check-in system that facilitates contact tracing. This is apart from the safe-distancing measures in queues, restaurants, intra-island transport, attractions, hotels, among other diverse offerings. For our guests’ peace of mind, the majority of our Island Partners , including Resorts World Sentosa and Madame Tussauds Singapore, have already been awarded the SG Clean quality mark, as with all SDC-owned premises,” Low adds.
With the gradual re-opening of the economy, we look forward to resuming some of our operations and welcoming guests back to the island.
SDC has also continuously engaged its partners in India. “India has been our top source market for more than 10 years now. We have also updated our Preferred Partners scheme in light of the current situation. We had earlier announced our Sentosa-Brani Masterplan and we are also looking at the Smart Sentosa project,” Low says. The first milestone of the Sentosa-Brani Masterplan is the Sentosa Sensoryscape, a 30,000sqm multi-sensory walkway. The S$90 million walkway is expected to be completed in 2022, which is Sentosa’s jubilee year celebration.
WRS’s promise
Meanwhile, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) is ready to re-open its three day parks – Jurong Bird Park, River Safari and Singapore Zoo – in Phase 2 of the country’s gradual transition from the lockdown. To allow the organisation to focus on its day-time operations first, Night Safari will be re-opened at a later date, subject to approval.
A key aspect of WRS’ re-opening strategy is to maintain high standards of hygiene and cleanliness. All its wildlife parks are SG Clean certified, and anti-microbial coating is being used to enhance safety across high-touch points. This will be supported by hourly cleaning protocols.
Jean Choi, Vice President of Sales, Wildlife Reserves Singapore says, “The well-being of our guests, staff and animals remains our priority. In order to operate responsibly and to respect safe distancing, we are taking a number of steps to manage the flow of guests in and around our parks. These include operating at reduced park capacity and asking our guests to pre-book their tickets and arrival times online. We will use technology to help us monitor in-park numbers and spacing within our parks and also step up use of contactless payment solutions. All visits will be logged for contact tracing and guests will be reminded to wear a mask at all times while practising safe distancing, so that everyone can enjoy a safe day out together.”
WRS constantly innovates and experiments with new ways to reach people confined at home and engage with them. Through the #GreatIndoorsWRS, updates were shared very regularly with the public on social media, where action from our wildlife parks also reached people during the lockdown. Bookings for virtual hang-outs with WRS’ animal family and their care teams were also launched with the ‘Hello from the Wild Side’ programme. Choi adds, “India is special to us and we have nurtured relationships in this market for many years, so we continue to work with STB and the authorities to reopen our nocturnal park, Night Safari too, and look forward to the day when international travel can resume safely.”
A calibrated approach
“When we are ready, we will clearly communicate with our partners in India so they know what is expected when travelling from India to Singapore”. Concluding the session, Srithar had a message to the travel trade, “I want everyone to know that the STB stands with you. We have ramped up our trade outreach program and are in constant touch with our trade partners across India. We are working on some joint marketing initiatives which might help in reaching out to the consumer client base in a more meaningful manner. We are also devising ways in which we can help you reach out virtually to Singapore tourism stakeholders and DMCs who are interested in the India market.”
Singapore Clean (SG Clean) Campaign
The SG Clean campaign aims to raise the hygiene standards and transform the cleanliness level of public spaces, and rally operators to take ownership by adopting the SG Clean Quality Mark. Under the campaign, the SG Clean quality mark is rolled out to various sectors, covering premises with high human footfalls including hotels, tourist attractions, shopping malls and F&B outlets. To obtain this mark, operators will have to pass audits that certify that their premises have adhered to sector-specific sanitisation and hygiene checklists and advisories. SG Clean certified tourism establishments can be identified by the certificate, posters, decals and badges.
