(TAN): Marketing challenges for the travel industry have grown over the years, as consumers today have improved technology, and therefore more options to choose from at their disposal. This makes them more distracted and demanding, and the sector a highly competitive arena where everybody wants to devise a way not just to draw but also to hold the attention of the average consumer.
This is the point where traditional marketing falls short, and destinations across the world feel the need to constantly come up with unique marketing efforts in a bid to appeal to the potential tourist. The story of Singapore’s tourism industry is no different.
Over the years, the country which depends on the sector for four per cent of its gross domestic product, has experimented with various strategies to raise tourist arrivals, and met with some success too. Singapore recently posted a new high in tourist arrivals for the third quarter (July to September 2019) with nearly five million visitors arriving to the city-state. As per data from Singapore Tourism Board, it was the highest number recorded over a quarter.
On taking a closer look, it became clear that while designing its marketing strategies, Singapore’s newest strategy adopted a three-fold approach – it stressed on narrating a story unique to the country and its people, targeting the right audience to share the story with, and developing the ways to deliver that story.
The board started out with collaborating with the Singapore Development Board to launch its new brand, “Singapore – Passion Made Possible” which reflects the spirit of the country – passion-driven, creative and determined. The story was told by the people who embody Singapore’s passionate attitude and multi-cultural nature.
Next, Singapore chose four distinct customer segments, namely working millennials, families with young kids, retirees aged above 60, and business travellers, to explore and share its story with. It also took to strengthening its base in Asia for sustained growth as Singapore receives about 80% of its visitor-arrivals from the Asia-Pacific region.
After the story was created and the target audience decided upon, Singapore Tourism Board’s third strategic move was to deliver the information successfully. The board built a data management and analytics hub to know its audience better, created a hub for dissemination of content and services, enabled people to share stories, say through social media, and experimented with new channels.
Singapore rolled out the strategy over three different phases from 2016 to 2020. International visitor arrivals improved on a quarterly basis, from 2.5 to 2.6 million per quarter in 2009 to an average of nearly 4.5 million visitors every quarter since 2016. In the third quarter of 2019, arrivals crossed 4.9 million, showing that numbers have doubled over the decade, the maximum credit for which can safely be given to Singapore’s latest marketing strategy that lived up to its branding and made it possible with passion.
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