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29 August, 2024

Singapore Tourism and Helloworld sign three-year deal to offer island nation as preferred destination

Edited by Travel Weekly

Singapore Tourism Board and Helloworld Travel Limited have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to promote Singapore as a preferred travel destination in Australia and New Zealand.

Commencing 1 April 2025, the agreement will see both partners jointly develop value-for-money packages that combine flights, accommodation and experiences to entice travellers to see the Lion City as more than ‘just a stopover’ destination and continue driving recovery momentum over the next few years.

Singapore continues to see strong recovery from the region, with 664,000 Australians and over 90,000 Kiwis visiting from January to July this year – surpassing 2019’s figures over the same period of me.

In addition, STB will support Helloworld’s agent upskilling process by ensuring they have access to up
to-date information about Singapore offerings through internal training and familiarisation trips. As part of the MOU, trade and consumer surveys will also be carried out to be er understand the needs of travellers in Australia and New Zealand.

The MOU was signed today between STB’s chief executive, Melissa Ow, and Helloworld’s CEO and managing director, Andrew Burnes AO, at Helloworld’s head office in South Melbourne.

“Australia and New Zealand have always been and continue to be key markets for Singapore as there is high awareness and consideration amongst consumers from this region,” Ow said.

“Our priority is to thus ensure that Singapore remains top of mind amongst travellers and Helloworld has been an important partner in this effort. We are glad to reinforce our longstanding relationship through this MOU and leverage Helloworld’s extensive travel network across both countries to provide travellers with more choices to enjoy the diversity of attractions and experiences that Singapore has to offer.”

STB Oceania and Helloworld have previously run strategic stand-alone campaigns since 2015, including
a recent dedicated Singapore stayover campaign from January to February this year, which saw a 28 per cent
increase in room bookings for the same period last year.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with STB on this three-year partnership, and the timing couldn’t be better,” Burnes said, “In November this year we are pleased to be hosting our annual Helloworld Frontliners Forum in Singapore, bringing together 500 frontline travel advisors for a four-day conference held at the Marina Bay Sands. We will also be offering pre and post famils to further showcase Singapore, a key destination for our agents, to the conference attendees.”

The strong recovery in Australian and New Zealand visitor arrivals came on the back of Singapore’s growing pipeline of hotels, dining options, attractions and experiences.

The most notable openings over the past two years alone include Bird Paradise, The Palawan @ Sentosa, Mr. Bucket Chocolaterie, Sentosa Sensoryscape, Children’s Museum Singapore and Central Beach Bazaar, as well as accommodations such as 21 Carpenter, Artyzen Singapore, The Singapore EDITION and Mercure ICON Singapore City Centre.

Feature image: STB’s chief executive, Melissa Ow and Helloworld CEO and managing director, Andrew Burnes AO.

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