STB gets aggressive in driving tourists footfall to SG, inks deal with Klook

Ecommerce platform Klook has partnered up with Singapore Tourism board to promote Singapore as a destination. The partnership, launched in June 2022, builds on the deal first inked in 2020 and includes an integrated marketing campaign targeting travellers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Since June 2022, Klook has been partnering with over 20 in-market Influencers/KOLs and content partners to create content that will be customised to each of these markets. As part of the promotion, Klook will also be giving away more than $60,000 worth of deals, promotions and giveaways for visitors to Singapore until the end of December this year. For additional information on in-market campaigns, five unique landing pages on Klook have been created and these pages will act as a central repository for travel-related information, content, precinct itineraries, experiences, events, accommodation, and promotions.

John Gregory Conceicao, executive director, Southeast Asia, STB said STB has seen a strong demand for travel to Singapore from Southeast Asia since the nation opened its borders to fully-vaccinated travellers without testing or quarantine. Visitors from Southeast Asia accounted for nearly half of all international visitor arrivals in Singapore for the first six months of 2022 and continue to drive Singapore’s tourism recovery efforts. “ STB will continue to work with leading platforms such as Klook to tap on new trends as we invite travellers to reimagine what Singapore has to offer,” he said.

Marcus Yong, vice president marketing, APAC, Klook said: “As travel roars back, we want to continue to enable travellers in Southeast Asia to experience a sense of joy and wanderlust when they visit Singapore. As Asia-Pacific’s leading travel and leisure e-commerce platform, we are uniquely placed to help drive demand back to Singapore and lead travel recovery.”

According to Klook, since the pandemic it has more than doubled the number of Singapore experiences, events and accommodation options available today to 1,200. Bookings on Klook for Singapore from Southeast Asian markets for the first half of 2022 have grown month on month by an average of two to three times.

This is not STB’s first partnership to promote Singapore since the opening of borders. Earlier this month, it inked a deal with Trip.com to collaborate across markets such as Thailand, South Korea, and Hong Kong, while expanding their partnership to include new markets Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Trip.com will deepen its collaboration with STB to promote Singapore to travellers from key markets through a series of initiatives, including marketing campaigns, PR activities, KOLs’ reviews and promotions through Trip.com group's brands including Trip.com and Ctrip.

Additionally, both parties will work together on a series of marketing campaigns in several Southeast Asian markets, as well as South Korea and Hong Kong in the coming months. Among various initiatives, Trip.com and STB will also curate and deliver engaging content via Trip.com’s app and website to showcase the Singapore destination story and to position the city-state as a safe and compelling destination of choice for travellers.

STB recently forecasted between four and six million visitors this year, following Singapore's border reopening. In the first half of 2022, Singapore clocked 1.5 million visitor arrivals, nearly 12 times more compared to the same period in 2021 (119,000), with tourism receipts reaching an estimated SG$1.3 billion in the first quarter of the year. The top five countries international visitors hailed from were Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Australia, and the Philippines. International visitor arrivals from these countries accounted for 56% of the total from January to June this year.

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