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22 | www.travelweekly-asia.com Gardens by the Bay: Refreshed offerings keeping Singapore attractive DESTINATION: SINGAPORE CuStomeR-CentRiC foCuS yieldinG ReSultS By natalie Chen Singapore is selling itself as a des- tination that's for everyone. As a lei- sure destination, it is luring families, couples and solo travellers. it has a unique offering for each group. it's a strategy that seems to be working. in 2013, tourism receipts hit S$23.5 Bn, a rise of 1.6% over the previous year and in 2014, the tak- ings for quarter one were estimated at S$6 Bn, a 5% growth over the same period last year. the Singapore tourism Board's consumer centric approach to mar- keting is yielding good results. StB recognises that its target audience's needs vary from market to market. thus the nto has sought to un- derstand them to deliver the right message at the right time to the right audience. for example, its india marketing campaign focused on indian visitors seeing travel as a means to forge deeper relationships and gain new knowledge. the campaign in india reinforced the message "Singapore – the Holiday you take Home With you". the campaign highlighted the people concept of family, relation- ships and bonding that would appeal to the indian audience. there was a sustained interest from indian leisure tourists despite depreciation of the rupee. India is the fifth largest market to Singapore after indonesia, China, malaysia and Australia. the indian campaign yielded good results with travel agents reporting an increase of 10-30% in Singapore sales during and after the campaign. there was 88% year-on-year increase in visits to StB's micros- ite for india and 47% increase in facebook fans – this translates to about 55,000 new fans. StB with the travel trade is also reaching out to tier 2 cities where the catchment for middle class is larger and they are starting to see travel as a status symbol. Continued growth is forecast for 2014 with Singapore primed for good growth over the medium term capitalising on the growth in Asia. Asia the target for growth According to unWto's forecast, the strongest tourism growth is expected in Asia and the Pacific with arrivals to Asia expected to rise at about 5% per year to 2030. Singapore saw 15.5 m visitors in 2013 and increase of 7.2% over 2012. In the first quarter of 2014, arrivals held steady at 3.9 m. even arrivals from Japan grew due to diver- sion of travel from some markets and continued interest in Singapore due to new and refreshed offerings. the rise was marked by 12% from 2012 to 2013. There was also significant growth from China, taiwan and Hong Kong boosted by an increase in air capac- ity and higher twinning traffic with Malaysia, though this figure may be affected by the recent disappear- ance of mH370 and the shooting down of mH17, the market cautions. Hotel revenues hold steady the hotel industry saw revenue hold steady despite the increase in supply with gazette hotel revenue at $2.9 billion in 2013. the year- on-year increase in room stock was 6.5%. new hotel openings were the Holiday inn express orchard, the Singapore is selling itself as a destination that's for everyone with a unique offering for each customer segment