Singapore’s tourism industry will receive further training and business development funding, as well as digital transformation support from the government, as it continues on its road to recovery.
The Tourism Development Fund (TDF) will get a S$68.5 million (US$51.1 million) injection and extended support levels for the Business Improvement Fund and the Training Industry Professionals in Tourism grant until end-March 2022. The total value of TDF is now at S$848.5 million.
In addition, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will kick off next week the second season of the SG Stories Content Fund to encourage tourism firms, content creators and individuals to craft authentic Singapore stories to inspire tourist visitation.
Further, in line with Singapore’s push for digital transformation among local businesses, STB will launch the Tourism Technology Transformation Cube – known as Tcube – this afternoon. Tcube is said to be a go-to resource for tourism businesses desiring a digital transformation, where they will get to meet like-minded tourism stakeholders to facilitate knowledge exchange, test innovative ideas through proofs-of-concept and pilots, and access tools to build and scale sustainable business models.
These initiatives were revealed at this morning’s Tourism Industry Conference, an event held once every two years to bring the local travel and tourism community together to review past achievements and deliberate on the way forward.
In his welcome address, Singapore minister for trade and industry, Chan Chun Sing, noted that the country’s tourism sector was “still in the thick” of its gravest challenge since the 2003 SARS pandemic, and that “recovery remains uncertain”.
“In the near term, there will still be headwinds. But we remain committed to supporting our tourism sector, to help businesses and workers build new capabilities, and break new ground,” said Chan.
He added that the challenge for Singapore’s tourism sector lies not in recovery this year or the next, but in how it will prepare for long-term success and reinvent global travel.
“We are not waiting for a full reopening. Singapore is prepared to disrupt the status quo, transform our products and services, and harness our capabilities to capture the next lap of growth ahead,” he remarked.
Taking stock of how Singapore’s tourism businesses have redefined tourism during the global travel disruption, STB chief executive Keith Tan said Singapore has been successful in establishing travel lanes and resuming some high-profile public and business events such as the ONE Championship events in 2020 and recent Geo Connect Asia 2021. He also commended tourism stakeholders for being proactive in pivoting quickly to new ways of securing revenue, such as through the domestic tourism market.
“This period may well be one of the most fertile periods in the Singapore tourism sector, with new products, experiences and bundled packages being launched weekly,” Tan said.
Moving forward, Tan bid tourism players to maintain their creativity while building up resilience and preparedness for inevitable future crises.
One of the ways to be ready for the future is through digital transformation, said Tan, who went on to explain that Tcube will support tourism businesses through a three-step Learn-Test-Build approach.
The Learn phase will be facilitated by STB’s Tourism Transformation Index, a self-assessment tool that will lead to recommendations on relevant programmes to support digital transformation.
The Test phase is facilitated by STB’s Singapore Tourism Accelerator programme, launched in 2019 to help tourism businesses source for innovative solutions to address business challenges. The Singapore Tourism Accelerator programme may be extended until September 2023.
The Build phase is supported by a suite of smart services, including the Tourism Information and Services Hub, and Singapore Tourism Analytics Network.
Tourism stakeholders can also expect continued support in their move towards Augmented Reality content, through STB’s efforts to build up a library of free 3D assets over the next three to four years.
Mapping out even more support from STB, Tan revealed that the organisation is working with the National Trades Union Congress to draw up a Tourism Sector Capability Development Roadmap; establishing more partnerships with overseas entities to maintain Singapore as a top-of-mind destination among international travellers; and extending the Marketing Partnership Programme to support domestic and international marketing efforts.
In a recent interview, the director of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shared that personal and leisure travel will likely return during the second half of this year. And I’m sure I don’t just speak for myself when I admit to a little cry of joy at the prospect of being able to cross borders once more.
But before rushing to book your next flight, there’s another reality that travellers of 2021 and beyond must face before embarking on new adventures – one of which I’m sure we’re all acutely aware of. According to Sabre’s APAC Travel Sentiment Survey, health and safety is now would-be travellers’ top concern – and rightly so.
It goes without saying that travel and tourism businesses will need to implement the right measures to reassure, protect, and gain the trust of customers as we slowly return to the skies and the seas.
And data will be critical in helping us achieve this.
Supporting vaccination efforts
First and foremost, vaccination against Covid-19 is indisputably one of the main strategies for travel to resume. And in the high-tech and data-driven era we live in now, companies like Lenovo are constantly innovating and designing new tools and solutions to assist medical professionals.
From developing precision medicine for customised treatments, to accelerating human gene analysis, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High Performance Computing (HPC) provide much-needed support to researchers all over the world. Specifically to Lenovo, our Genomics Optimization and Scalability Tool (GOAST) has already effectively sped up the processing of a human genome from what was previously 150 hours to just 48 minutes. This greatly improves efficiency as scientists race to develop vaccines to combat Covid-19.
Making processes safe and secure
But even with vaccines in place, there’s not yet enough data to suggest how long they might be effective and how much they can cut transmission rates – not to mention the potential for outliers. So, particularly in the early days, to mitigate risks, minimising interhuman contact in travel must continue to be a top priority to ensure safety.
For countries to reopen and welcome visitors, new technology can be adopted at various checkpoints for smooth, seamless, and safe travel. For instance, AddFor, Lenovo’s AI solutions partner provides smart solutions like: FEVERCheck, which measures body temperature without contact; FACEFind, which uses biometrics for identification and access into restricted areas; and SOCIALdistancing, a real-time tool that automatically calculates the distance between individuals and reports violations of regulations.
Closer to home, facial and iris scans are quickly replacing fingerprints as the main mode of identification, doing away with traditionally high-touch machines. Keen to secure the nation’s position as an aviation hub, the Singapore government continues to invest in more on-arrival testing and biosafety systems, and the adoption of these contactless scans show no sign of slowing down.
Enabling seamless travel across borders
Smart travel in the post-pandemic world will entail seamless data sharing across borders. As frequent travellers seek entry into various countries, vaccinated and regularly tested individuals may soon be exempted from serving quarantine. With data sharing agreements in place, tech can enable easy identification of these eligible travellers – potentially improving the experience for both individuals and businesses like airlines and accommodation.
Elevating the future travel experience
Of course, everything we’ve discussed so far looks at that which is imminent – but if applied innovatively, data can allow us to safeguard and enhance the travel experience of tomorrow. By harnessing and effectively using technology, travel businesses will have opportunities to deliver next-level services to stand out from the competition.
For example, whether it is offering travel packages tailored to specific interests, the use of helpful voice assistants, or smart features that automatically set up guest rooms according to their preferences, travellers in the future stand to benefit from even more personalisation.
As travel looks to not just recover, but to grow and thrive post-pandemic, it is clear that data and tech will continue to play integral roles in strengthening the industry. Be it personalisation to elevate experiences, or smart solutions that make checkpoints safer, the potential that technology offers is limitless. With the adoption of new and ever-improving innovations, the world may indeed come out of this crisis better prepared to weather future storms – potentially never needing to close our borders again.