Travel operators and hoteliers in Singapore are crafting novel tours and products to build upon the country’s new destination branding
Singapore’s latest destination marketing brand, Passion Made Possible, is giving a new lease of life to tours and activities in the Lion City as operators and hotels clamour to roll out fresh offerings.
Since the brand was born, at least four new tours were launched, including a Vespa sidecar tour, an industry and inventors trail, an insider’s look into Kampong Glam and a new-generation hawker centre tour.
The Kampong Glam tour was developed by Ruby Dot Trails in collaboration with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) for the new branding, said Ruby Dot Trails’ owner Shal Lalwani.
She said: “I believe the campaign will help drive fresh perspectives of Singapore and attract new traveller markets… It is expected, that with STB’s global rollout of its brand campaign, we will see increased demand for the tour from new markets.”
Meanwhile, Diethelm Travel Singapore is riding on the campaign to promote tours such as its Go Local package, where visitors can explore Singapore through a local’s perspective and have immersive experiences, said Judy Lum, general manager, Diethelm Travel (Singapore).
“Passion Made Possible ties in perfectly with our focus on curating experiences with in-depth elements of culture, history, food and lifestyle of the (local) people,” explained Lum.
She noted that the arts and food scenes in Singapore have “grown exponentially”, leading to an uptick in requests for itineraries incorporating elements of the arts, architecture, local cuisines and the Southern Ridges for the agency.
Hoteliers have also hopped onto the bandwagon as well by rolling out their own experiential tours. For example, InterContinental Singapore partnered with the Society of Tourist Guides to conduct a weekly Guided Heritage Trail that takes guests to areas of interest near the hotel.
Cheryl Ng, InterContinental Singapore’s director of marketing, shared: “We observed that guests are appreciating the authenticity of the experience more, especially when they are immersed in the local culture.”
Ng opined: “We anticipate a higher demand for luxury experiential travel where travellers will be looking towards the hotels to provide insider knowledge and new perspectives of a destination.”
As well, The Fullerton Hotels Singapore has introduced The Fullerton Experiences, a menu of complimentary programmes – such as heritage cuisine workshops, a picnic at Singapore Botanic Garden and walking tour around historical sites in the Civic District – for guests.
Since this initiative was started, the hotel group has seen a “heightened interest to better understand the people, stories and culture of a multifaceted Singapore beyond the top attractions in town”, said Giovanni Viterale, general manager of The Fullerton Heritage.
“We have seen a steady increase in the number of guests visiting The Fullerton Heritage Gallery and participating in our complimentary heritage tours in 2017 as compared to 2016,” he added. The group expects increased demand for such experiences by travellers from Asia-Pacific, the UK and the US.
STB is expected to roll out the remaining Passion Made Possible campaign material – targeted at travellers interested in nightlife, arts and culture, and sports and adventure – later this year.
