STB inks deal with Trip.com to boost tourist experience in Singapore

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has partnered with online travel agency Trip.com on marketing Singapore as a tourism destination. Both parties aim to collaborate and deepen the partnership through multi-pronged efforts, and boost the tourist experience in Singapore.Both STB and Trip.com look to leverage advantages in users, technology and data, explore product R&D and brand marketing, and ultimately promote the development of tourism in Singapore. In recent years, Singapore has become one of the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists.According to STB, the number of inbound Chinese tourists increased by 6% year-on-year, to 3.41 million in 2018. This also translated to more than SG$3.9 billion (19.7 billion yuan) in tourism revenue. Other major inbound tourism markets for Singapore include Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan, where Trip.com has seen growth in recent years and can leverage its platform to drive further growth.Meanwhile, STB has launched the third wave of its Passion Made Possible brand campaign in China called “Encounter the Unexpected”. Targetting China’s post-90s consumers by leveraging the post-90s spirit of not wanting to follow the rules of society, the assets are fronted by four Passion ambassadors from Singapore. These include veteran wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai, chef-owner of ice cream shop Candlenut Malcolm Lee, sneaker artist and streetwear designer Mark Ong as well as singer-songwriter Jasmine Sokko.These four individuals represent the four Passion Tribes that are most relevant to the Chinese post-90s traveller. Each asset features a "playful" slogan calling on the consumer to go off the beaten path and pursue their passions in Singapore. Juliana Kua, regional director, Greater China, Singapore Tourism Board told Marketing that STB has partnered Chinese online celebrity Papi Jiang to launch a series of interactive mini-variety content via her multi-channel network PapiTube and video streaming website Tencent Video.At specific junctures of the story, options will appear on-screen for viewers to click and make choices that will determine how the influencers’ journeys develop. According to Kua, this allows viewers to influence the outcome of the journeys and ultimately giving viewers a deeper sense of engagement with the content.