Singapore Tourism Board organises travel trade roadshow in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: As international tourism picks up momentum, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), on Monday hosted 'Deepening Connections, Achieving Together!' travel trade roadshow in Bengaluru. As part of a five city roadshow series, the STB brings the largest ever delegation of 40 Singapore tourism stakeholders to reconnect and engage with trade partner-friends in India.

The trade engagement programme, attended by more than 200 Bangalore-based travel agents, was to deepen Singapore tourism's strong partnerships and fostering new networks between tourism stakeholders and the local travel trade. The roadshow saw a robust lineup of some of Singapore's most prominent attractions, hotels, tour operators, cruise lines and destination management companies (DMCs). The strong turnout from both Singapore tourism trade and Bengaluru travel agents highlighted the commitment by both sides to recover Indian visitorship to Singapore. Pre-Covid, the city had been a destination of choice for Indian travellers and with travel re-opening, it has quickly become a favourite destination again.

Under the Vaccinated Travel Framework (VTF), Singapore opened to quarantine-free travel to all fully-vaccinated visitors from 1st April 2022, with no testing or quarantine required. Since then, the country has received over 1.5 million visitors in the first half of 2022, which is 12 times more than it received for the same period in 2021. India has emerged as Singapore's second largest source market, with more than 219,000 Indian visitor arrivals in the first half of the year alone, signalling a steady and optimistic path towards recovery.

As STB's first multi-city roadshow together with Singapore tourism stakeholders since the pandemic, the roadshow builds on STB's trade outreach efforts earlier in the year – including SATTE 2022 (Delhi-NCR), OTM 2022 (Mumbai) and multi-city product update sessions held in April 2022. The Singapore Tourism Board & delegation presented the city's new and reimagined offerings that have been launched over the past two years of COVID downtime.

These include the immersive and highly Instagrammable Museum of Ice Cream, and SkyHelix Sentosa, Singapore's first open-air panoramic attraction that allows visitors scenic views of Sentosa and the Southern Waterfront. Adding to the momentum of these new offerings, Singapore also has an action-packed lineup of blockbuster experiences slated to open in the coming months, including Gardens by the Bay's immersive Avatar: The Experience at the Cloud Forest. Based on much-anticipated sequel to the hit 2009 sci-fi film, the immersive experience invites visitors to connect with the alien world of Pandora, its bioluminescent environments, mystical creatures, flora, and the captivating culture of its indigenous people, the Navi, at Gardens by the Bay's Cloud Forest.

For Indian cruise holiday makers, more cruising options are now available, including international port calls in neighbouring cities. They are able to enjoy sailing onboard The Royal Caribbean International's Quantum-ultra class ship, Spectrum Of The Seas or Resorts World Cruises' ultimate cruise adventure aboard its Genting Dream ship. India was Singapore's top source market in 2019. On the MICE front, the STB offers attractive schemes group travel, enabling corporates to enjoy new experiences in dining and attractions to thematic tours and team building activities.

Speaking about tourism recovery and the roadshow, GB Srithar, Regional Director, Regional Director, India, Middle East, South Asia and Africa, Singapore Tourism Board said, "After more than two years, it heartens us to welcome again Indian travellers to Singapore in good numbers and see them enjoy both familiar favourites and our new, reimagined experiences. Bengaluru is an important source market and amongst the 14 cities with direct flight connectivity to Singapore. With this roadshow, we aim to continue the growth momentum by communicating the message to our audience that Singapore is open, and by welcoming back travellers for memorable holidays.