Singapore sees sharp increase in Indian tourists

Singapore has received 6.1 lakh visitors from India between January to May 2018, reporting a 17 per cent year-on-year increase from 2017. In 2017 visitor arrivals from India had crossed 1 million mark for the third time in a row, showcasing the highest growth rate at 16 per cent in comparison with all markets.

Also, India continues to be the top source market for visitor arrivals in the cruise segment for Singapore. Last year, 127,000 cruise passengers from India sailed out of Singapore’s shores, showing a year-on-year increase of 25 per cent from 2016.

In 2017, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) undertook several initiatives to deepen its position in India, including its association with the Bollywood movie ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’, participation in cruise forums and travel trade events such as SATTE 2017, partnerships with airlines, launch of the Vegetarian Food Guide and unveiling of a new brand identity, Singapore: Passion made Possible, among others. Early this year, STB organised roadshows in Jaipur and Mumbai, participated in SATTE 2018 and organised a two-day Consumer Travel Fair in Bangalore to engage with Indian travellers.

This year, STB has lined up a series of collaborative initiatives to entice and welcome more Indian travellers to Singapore in 2018. They embarked on an 8-city roadshow, from July 16-26, with close to 40 stakeholders to connect and grow their partnership with in-market travel agents. The 8 cities were Trichy, Ludhiana, Kochi, Kolkata, Surat, Vizag, Coimbatore and Lucknow. This is part of STB’s ongoing efforts to take the ‘Passion Made Possible’ brand messaging forward and showcase Singapore’s diverse offerings to the target audience-families with kids, early & established careers, cruise travellers, meetings and incentive groups.