Tourism constraints as a result of Singapore’s size have prompted its tourism body to pursue a strategy of “quality tourism”, with new products and events designed to grow visitor spend.
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) chief executive Lionel Yeo told media at ITB Asia that, as a small island, Singapore has had to concentrate on driving value.
“Singapore is not a big destination – there are certain obvious constraints on the supply side so we really focus on ensuring every visitor that comes to Singapore derives maximum value,” he said.
“While we still care very much about visitor arrivals, we also care about tourism spend per visitor.”
Delivering new products and experiences is consequently a major focus, with Yeo underlining the emphasis is not only on updating the destination’s infrastructure “hardware”, but also its “software” in the form of events and experiences.
New additions in recent years include Gardens by the Bay and the popular river safari experience.
More developments are currently underway, with 2014 to see the opening of the new Sports Hub and a new national art gallery scheduled to open in 2015. Singapore has also secured hosting rights of the Women’s Tennis Championships between 2014 and 2018.
Through its marketing efforts, STB is targeting people around the world with an “affinity” for these types of tourism products available in the destination, Yeo added.
In 2012, arrivals rose 10% to 14.49 million and visitor spend hit SG$23 billion.
