Northstar

13 ATF OFFICIAL SUPPORTING DAILIES | 13 www.travelweekly-asia.com destination\\\Singapore "Tourists these days want more personalised experiences beyond just the top attractions. They desire in-depth information on what to eat, shop, buy and do... and that's where we come in," –KENJI LIM, CEO AND CO- FOUNDER, DONG YOU WA WA Screenshot of Dong You Wa Wa's mobile interface to visit and finally, driving their advocacy when they return home," explained Quek. Improving visitors' experience to Singapore can have an impact on international visitor arrivals (IVA), which increased by 11% year-on- year to hit four million visitors in Q2 2016. China ranked as the top market with 1.47 million IVA, followed by Indonesia (1.41 million) and India (573,000). Taking the opportunity to leverage on China's market opportunity is local travel start- up Dong You Wa Wa, a mobile application designed for the free and independent (FIT) Chinese tourists to Southeast Asia, and a recipient of STB's Experience Step- up Fund (ESF). Described as "a combination of travel apps that is focused on eat, shop and play", according to CEO and co-founder Kenji Lim, Dong You Wa Wa, set to launch in Q1 this year, will feature fresh and user-generated content, as well as relevant post- arrival information. "Tourists these days want more personalised experiences beyond just the top attractions. They desire in-depth information on what to eat, shop, buy and do… and that's where we come in," explained Lim who sees Singapore as a priority market, along with Thailand, the largest market for Chinese tourists in Southeast Asia. Challenges in technology adoption In the move towards becoming a technologically-savvy industry, several challenges exist: low awareness on relevant technology, difficulty in integrating with existing company systems and financial constraints. "STB has been closely engaging our tourism stakeholders to better understand their challenges, and where suitable, support through relevant funding or collaborative initiatives to jointly identify and test- bed suitable technologies, with the aim of driving longer-term adoption of technology," shared Quek. For instance, with the help of the existing Business Improvement Fund (BIF), Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford redesigned its room and restaurant reservations such that there is now a drop in percentage of missed and dropped calls due to high volume of room and restaurant reservation calls; reservation agents can also track real-time table availability in each of their F&B outlets, according to STB. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K ATF Show Dailies_FA.pdf 1 15/12/2016 18:19

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