BEIJING: Singapore's tourism authorities have
launched a new campaign to attract more Chinese tourists to the
island republic.
This is mainly to target more experienced and
well-heeled travelers.
The Singapore Tourism Board's new marketing campaign
launched in Beijing seems hardly complete without its tourism
ambassador and pop star Stefanie Sun.
Titled New Discoveries, it's aimed at helping Chinese tourists
deepen their understanding of Singapore, and give them with reasons
to visit Singapore again and again.
According to the World Tourism Organization, by the year 2020,
China looks set to become the world's fourth largest
tourist-generating country.
And clearly, the needs and expectations of Chinese tourists have
evolved and changed over the years, and will continue to do so in
the years ahead.
Edward Chew, chief representative regional director, Greater China,
Singapore Tourism Board, said: "They are becoming a lot more
knowledgeable about what's out there in the world and they want to
see different things.
"But one of the biggest trends that we see is that they are looking
to understand cultures, they are looking to understand
destinations, they want to know how the local people live and gain
an appreciation for those factors."
With 1.17 million arrivals last year, Chinese tourists are the
second largest group of foreign tourists to Singapore, after
Indonesia.
They are also the second biggest spenders in the first half this
year.
And they're increasingly coming to Singapore on semi-free and easy
tour packages.
Mr Edward Chew said: "Lots of Chinese may have visited the zoo, but
they have never gone behind the scenes, they've never done the
zookeeper thing, and I think right now the market is poised for
them to actually enjoy such things.
And the third piece which I think is probably very important is
showing them where Singaporeans hang out and how we live our
lives.
"And the things we enjoy; the things we are proud of and excited
about. Those things we want them to know about or at least
experience it."
Highly popular in China, tourism ambassador Stefanie Sun also
shared with Chinese tourists her favorite food and destinations in
Singapore.
Stefanie Sun said: "In Singapore, there is something known as "teh
tarik", and it's a tea that's prepared by Indians where it's pulled
very long. This helps reduce the temperature to make it easier to
drink. It's very frothy and fragrant. In Singapore, we also turn
this tea into an ice-cream."
In the first half of this year, over 758,000 Chinese visited
Singapore, a 35 per cent increase from a year ago.
- CNA/ck
