Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com 18 | ITB ASIA Official Dailies Since its debut race in 2008, the F1 race has contributed significantly to Singapore's incremental tourism receipts, averaging S$150m for each race. The race has also attracted over more than 250,000 international visitors. With a broadcast coverage reaching more than 500m international viewers over the last six races, the race has also helped showcase Singapore as a vibrant and attractive destination to a global audience. The grand prix Season Singapore (gpSS) covers lifestyle events that include dining, retail and entertainment. driven by stakeholders from the culture and heritage, retail, entertainment and dining outlets, gpSS, with its specially curated experiences, has also significantly contributed to showcasing the destination's vibrant lifestyle options. "Such major events are popular with tourists and some of our inbound travel agent members have indicated to us that they are already leveraging on such events to bring more tourists in to Singapore. They can introduce them to the various facets of our country," said Anita Tan, chief operating officer of the national Association of Travel Agents Singapore (nATAS). "We urge inbound travel agents to continuously update their inventory and to participate in trade events such as overseas tradeshows to market their exciting new products to the international tourism arena," Tan added. Admittedly other destinations also use events to boost tourism. However, amidst rising competition, Singapore has managed to sustain good growth over the years and will continue to intensify its efforts. The next phase of tourism growth is about attracting the travellers who seek out differentiated and value-added experiences that Singapore has to offer. To encourage more of its local talents to try out new concepts with tourism potential, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) supports industry players through its grant schemes, such as the Leisure Events Fund, the Tourism product development Fund, and the S$5-m kickstart Fund, an incentive scheme launched last June to support smaller-scale, grounds-up innovations of lifestyle events and concepts with tourism potential. Said, Jean ng, director, Sports, STB: "We have seen good traction in some of the projects we have F1 night Race party at ku de Ta. supported under the kickstart Fund. Recipients such as visual arts festival Spot Art, art and design literature fair Singapore Art Book Fair, interactive walking tour, the inside Job, and Fantasia by Escriba, a first-of-its kind confectionery carnival, have introduced innovative tourism experiences that strengthened Singapore's position as a compelling leisure destination." STB banks on the quality of experiences it can offer. in recent years it has built hardware offerings such as the gardens by the Bay, River Safari and Sports Hub to inject complementary tourism experiences. Added ng, "After all, infrastructure developments can be easily replicated, but we will continue to work closely with our industry poWEREd BY EvEnTS By natalie Chen partners to develop innovative tourism experiences that appeal to our target audience. "Examples of such collaborations include events like Formula one, Art Week and TravelRave. next year, we can look forward to the opening of national gallery Singapore and Singapore pinacotheque de paris, as well as exciting events such as the 2015 Southeast Asian games." Moving forward are homegrown concepts. For example, kEEpERS: Singapore designer Collective is a five-month long project that will showcase designers and artisans from various disciplines that include fashion, furniture, food and beverage. Zoukout also continues to draw visitors and locals as one of the biggest beach parties. various dining stakeholders have also contributed to profiling Singapore through their creative take to local cuisine, such as 2am:dessert bar and Sky on 57. Singapore has a long established visual arts scene with a host of exhibitions, galleries and fairs. in recent years, its well-placed location as the gateway of Southeast Asia, coupled with the growing interest and development of the region's visual arts, has increased regional demand for art experiences. However, even with anchor events like the Singapore gran prix drawing in tourists, some inbound agents have seen a worrying trend. Said Tan, "it is worth noting that some agents have highlighted a concern with the high hotel room rates during event periods such as the Singapore grand prix weekend, citing that the high rates may deter some tourists. "Related to this concern is an apparent increasing trend of consumers choosing to wait till the event date is getting close so as to try to get cheaper hotel room rates once the surcharges have been waived - in doing so, such tourists may be missing out on what Singapore has to offer as a tourism destination as they are not tapping on the expertise and extensive knowledge of travel agents, who can help tourists make the most out of their visit." The power of events to draw in visitors cannot be underestimated as has been proven in Singapore. "We urge travel agents to continuously update their inventory and participate in trade events." eVents

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