For the fifth consecutive year, Singapore welcomed more than one million Indian travellers in 2019, reinforcing it as one of the most preferred destinations for Indian outbound travel. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced that India retained its third position with 1.42 million visitors, with a 2 per cent drop, after China and Indonesia, as a Visitor Arrival (VA) source market for Singapore.
India also retained its position as the top cruise travel source market for Singapore. Globally, Singapore recorded growth in both visitor arrivals and tourism receipts for the fourth consecutive year, despite global headwinds. Visitor arrivals (VA) rose 3.3 per cent in 2019 to reach 19.1 million visitors.
The year 2019 was an eventful year for STB in the Indian market. It promoted the destination brand “Passion Made Possible” vigorously and presented Singapore’s diverse offerings to audiences across all target segments – families, working millennials, cruise travelers and meetings and incentive travel. The year included projects like a three-day experiential street art consumer event ‘Singapore Weekender 2.0’ in collaboration with St+art India Foundation and Impresario Group; partnership with Tripoto for an innovative travel web series; popular television shows like Taarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chasma and Raja Rani to showcase the different facets of Singapore to various audiences; and a music promotional association with maestros SP Balasubrahmanyam and KJ Yesudas well-received in the South Indian market.
To reach out to the ‘Foodie’ passion tribe, the STB partnered with leading OTT platform Voot and celebrity chef Saransh Goila for a three-part video series ‘Cheat Week in Singapore’ showcasing the country’s gastronomic landscape through unique restaurants, street food and nightlife. To bring true Singaporean flavours to India, STB also partnered with Zomato for Zomaland Season 2, a multi-city food and entertainment carnival across 10 cities in India.
Under the theme of “Growing Connections, Achieving Together”, the STB undertook intensive travel trade outreach efforts across 30 cities to connect with travel intermediaries. Speaking about India’s contribution to Singapore Tourism in 2019, GB Srithar, Regional Director (India, Middle East and South Asia) said, “We are grateful to the travel trade fraternity who have always supported us and ensured that India remains a top source market. We are glad that despite turbulence during the year which saw a dip in flight capacity, we managed to pick up and ended 2019 by welcoming 1.42 million visitors from India. We seek the continued strong support of our stakeholders in 2020, which has started off adversely due to the COVID-19 situation.”
While sharing updates about COVID-19 in Singapore, he added, “Currently, travel sentiments around the world have been affected by the virus situation and Singapore is facing a similar challenge. However, Singapore has been swift and transparent in handling the situation. It is notable that Singapore continues to receive praise from independent health experts for its measures to detect and contain the spread of COVID-19. We have been keeping close contact with our tourism stakeholders in India and providing them with timely updates. The Singapore tourism industry like hotels, attractions and malls remain open for business.”
