Brought to you by Singapore Tourism Board
As travellers become more discerning and savvy, they seek more authentic experiences. Technology has also changed how people search for and consume information, making efficiency and immediacy a norm.
As such, the tourism sector needs to evolve to meet these changing expectations. Recognising the needs of tourism businesses, the Singapore Tourism Board launched Tcube in 2021 to support end-to-end digital transformation of the sector.
Tcube, or the Tourism Technology Transformation Cube, is an all-in-one platform for tourism businesses looking to accelerate their digital transformation efforts.
From businesses in the initial stages of their digitalisation journey to seasoned players looking to supercharge their digital capabilities, Tcube serves as a dedicated platform for fostering experimentation, pilot programmes, and innovative projects for end-to-end tech transformations.
Operating a Learn-Test-Build framework, Tcube offers a wealth of resources and digital initiatives to support businesses at different stages of their digital transformation. Among these resources are data analytics tools, thought leadership content, marketing resources, and multimedia content.
Learn: Assess the state of business
The Learn pillar is designed to provide businesses with insights into cross-industry trends so they can identify gaps and embark on their digital transformation journey. Think of it as getting a health check for the business.
Initiatives like the Tourism Transformation Index (TXI) serve as a starting point.
Businesses onboarded to TXI will receive customised recommendations on areas of priority as well as improvement programmes to explore with support from STB’s account managers. Those that have completed their TXI assessment may be invited to STB exclusive programmes such as Data Analytics Shift (DASH), Tcube Innovation Programme and Singapore Tourism Accelerator.
Test: Bringing ideas to life
The Test pillar is where businesses are empowered to bring their boldest visions to fruition with Tcube pilot programmes such as the Tcube Innovation Programme and the Singapore Tourism Accelerator. Consultancy services, design-thinking workshops, and innovative projects further complement this pillar, enabling businesses to de-risk while testing new concepts.
Take the Singapore Flyer for instance. General manager Ringo Leung shared that, in 2020, it implemented a customer relationship management system, which helped it better manage email marketing and reputation management.
In 2023, the company once again participated in the accelerator programme to add more interactive features to the tablets in its capsules. Together, both solutions allowed the company to enhance the pre- to post-experience for guests and improve engagement. It is currently working with a tech company to incorporate more augmented reality and virtual reality features, as well as data analytics.
Another programme, DASH, offers companies basic data skills training so they can put what they’ve learned into action.
Corporate travel agency Citystate Travel improved its decision-making process by more than 70 per cent after the programme.
“The data analytics course was a game changing experience for us. Since then, we’ve begun to embrace a culture around data in our company. Efforts are ongoing to build a good integrated single dashboard that has thus far improved the quality of our decision making as it is backed by data that is timely, complete, easy-to-view and interpret,” said Albert Ho, executive director, Citystate Travel.
Build: Growing the business
In the journey of digital transformation, businesses may refine their digital solutions by identifying and adopting suitable new technologies.
Under the Build pillar is the Tourism Information & Services Hub (TIH), a digital resource hub, offers up-to-date information on Singapore’s tourism offerings, ready-to use multimedia content, business contact information in the business directory, and plug-and-play travel software services.
Businesses can promote their product listings on TIH for greater visibility, and list their contact details in the business directory to grow their network. There are also more than 100 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that businesses can integrate to enhance their own websites, offering visitors services such as a recommendation engine or a smart itinerary planner.
Another service, Singapore Tourism Analytics Network (Stan), offers tourism-related information to the tourism industry through aggregated data, visualisations, APIs and more. They can use Stan to augment their own data analysis, perform data benchmarking against the industry and derive more actionable insights on Singapore visitors. Stan’s data domains include Visitor Arrivals, Hotel Performance and Landscape, Tourism Receipts and more.
Companies looking for specific technologies with proven tourism use cases can explore the Tcube Tech Directory, which provides a quality repository of tech vendors and solutions with a streamlined search process.
Keen to adopt new technologies to take your business to the next level? Explore how Tcube can help you identify the right partners, develop a technology roadmap, and launch successful pilots. Register your interest on this form.
He most recently served as area general manager in Central China, where he oversaw the operations and performance of eight Hilton and Conrad hotels.
Korean Air is discussing with Airbus to procure 33 A350 family aircraft, which includes 27 A350-1000s and six A350-900s, valued at US$13.7 billion.
The order will supplement the airline’s long-term fleet operations as it gradually retires its older aircraft. The procurement of the next-generation, eco-friendly A350 is not only aligned with the airlines’ sustainability efforts, but is seen also as preparation for the integration of Asiana Airlines.
The A350-1000 is the largest in the A350 family, and can accommodate from 350 to 410 passengers in a standard three-class configuration. The aircraft makes use of advanced composite materials, resulting in reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions of up to 25 per cent, in comparison to similarly sized previous generation aircraft models.
With the longest flight range among existing passenger aircraft, the A350-1000 can operate up to 16,000km with full payload.
The A350-900 variant is about seven metres shorter than the A350-1000 with a range of 15,370km and typically seats 300-350 passengers in a three class layout. The airline can deploy the aircraft on its longhaul routes such as Seoul Incheon-New York, where the airline currently operates two daily flights.
Korean Air continues to prioritise fleet modernisation and reduction of carbon emissions through the operation of new aircraft and other sustainability activities. It has plans to introduce 50 Airbus A321neos, 10 Boeing 787-9s, 20 Boeing 787-10s, and 30 Boeing 737-8s.