Tag Archives: Keith Tan

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced a new initiative to reimagine travel for Singapore and the rest of the world, by sparking conversations, stories and ideas to collectively shape the future of our sector.Called SingapoReimagine, this platform will kick off with ‘Reimagine Travel – Global Conversations’, a series of forums around the world to catalyse discussions on how to reshape global travel. For a start, STB will share our learnings on how the public and private sectors have come together to create new possibilities for our visitors. As part of the forums, global partners will be invited to share knowledge and exchange ideas, with the first one in Singapore this year before being hosted in other parts of the world. Closer to home, STB will also roll out “Reimagine Travel in Singapore”, a series of engagements with passionate members of the local community and tourism partners to co-create ideas and spur the renewal of Singapore tourism. This complements the SingapoRediscovers domestic campaign , which encourages locals to rediscover and reconnect with Singapore’s hidden gems and experiences. Keith Tan, Chief Executive, STB said, “COVID-19 is the biggest crisis we have ever faced in travel and tourism. But it also offers us an opportunity to reset and revive our industries in ways that we never imagined was possible a year ago. The journey to reimagine travel has already started in Singapore, and we want to continue this journey with those whose voices matter – our community in Singapore, and our partners here and around the world. We look forward to co-creating ideas and strategies with all of them, to make travel better.”

Airbnb Experiences and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-promote and grow a range of unique, authentic Airbnb Experiences hosted by passionate locals on the Airbnb Experiences platform. This agreement comprises three strategic pillars: 1) Development of Singapore Experiences in the new tourism landscape; 2) Co-marketing of destination Singapore to stay top-of-mind amongst global audiences; and 3) Facilitating data and knowledge exchange to enable effective recovery. “Healthy travel is travel that keeps the economics local and is authentic to the culture of the destination. In the context of seeking to support such healthy travel, we are excited to be partnering with the Singapore Tourism Board to promote experiential travel in one of the world’s most vibrant and dynamic communities. I have personally enjoyed Airbnb’s Singaporean cooking Experiences and know that such Experiences unlock new ways to discover Singapore through its greatest natural resource – its people. And it is through using the Airbnb platform to showcase the incredible people of Singapore to the world that, working in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board, we can help support the recovery of international tourism,” said Chris Lehane, Senior Vice President, Policy and Communications, Airbnb. Keith Tan, Chief Executive, STB said, “STB’s partnership with Airbnb Experiences is a timely one. As travel gradually resumes, we want to focus on strengthening Singapore’s brand image in the minds of audiences around the world, and ensure that our destination remains top-of-mind. This partnership will also give passionate Singapore hosts a world-leading platform to reach out to quality travellers globally, while helping them innovate and explore newbusiness models. We are excited about working with Airbnb, and look forward to breaking …

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will start accepting applications for organisers to pilot Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) events of up to 250 attendees from October 1, 2020. STB and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) will review all MICE event proposals, and event organisers may proceed only upon obtaining MTI’s approval. There will be pilot events taking place under this arrangement, such as the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) Conference, in October 2020. Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board said, “The MICE sector is a strategic one for the Singapore economy, and its safe and gradual resumption will safeguard jobs and core capabilities. It will also help those in related sectors such as hospitality and aviation. Public health and safety remain our utmost priority, and we have worked closely with the industry to create strict protocols and develop new ways of organising events. These pilot events and solutions will help Singapore lead the way as a safe, trusted and innovative destination for MICE events.”

Singapore has won the rights to host the 110th Lions Clubs International Convention in 2028. The Lions Clubs of Singapore will partner with the Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau (SECB), a group under the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) to host the Lions International Convention – one of the most coveted events on the congress circuit. The Singapore edition in 2028 will be the first time that the Lions International Convention is held here, and the event is expected to attract around 20,000 foreign delegates and generate over S$58 million in tourism receipts. Dr. Jung-Yul Choi, Lions Clubs International President said, “We look forward to showing the world how we are united through kindness and diversity, and celebrating our commitment to service and our global communities.” Keith Tan, Chief Executive, STB said, “We are honoured that Singapore has been chosen once more to host the Lions International Convention. This affirms our position as a trusted global Asia hub despite COVID-19. We want Singapore to be the world’s leading destination for safe, trusted and innovative business events and meetings, and we look forward to welcoming Lions and Leos from all over the world to experience this first-hand in 2028.” “2028 will be an amazing year since we will be commemorating the 70th anniversary of Lions clubs in Singapore. You can expect us to go all out, as we will be honoured to celebrate ‘Lionism’ with our fellow Lions and Leos around the world, at the 110th Lions International Convention 2028,” said Charlie Chan, Past International Director, Lions Clubs International. “Marina Bay Sands is excited to welcome all Lions International attendees to Singapore in 2028. As the event’s …

With the resumption of economic activities in Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is preparing for the calibrated and safe resumption of B2B events in the coming months. To do so, STB has developed a risk management framework for business events of up to 50 attendees, based on strict safe management measures. STB will trial this framework with two pilot events before gradually scaling up to other events and event organisers (EOs) thereafter. Professor Shen Zhongxiang, General Co-Chair of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Computational Electromagnetics, said, “We chose to continue with our conference in Singapore because of the country’s strong track record in delivering quality business events. We have complete trust that the Singapore authorities and our venue partner have stringent measures to help us deliver a safe event for our participants.” Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board, said, “Singapore’s business events sector has shown much resilience during this difficult period, and we are grateful for their innovativeness and adaptability. While COVID-19 has severely disrupted the industry, I am confident that Singapore will lead the way in reimagining what a safe and high-quality business event could look like. Together with our industry, we want to set Singapore apart as the world’s leading destination for safe, trusted and innovative business events.” Aloysius Arlando, President, SACEOS, said, “Right now, our industry is at a strategic crossroads, and I am heartened that many of our members and industry players have leveraged this crisis as an opportunity to innovate and upskill. We are taking a whole-of-industry approach to establishing safe operating standards and resilient businesses. Together with STB and industry, we have marshalled our collective wisdom and strength to formulate the IRR …

The ‘Bouncing back: tourism strategies for the future’ session at ATM Virtual, which took place on June 2, discussed the long-term tourism development strategies put in place by the region’s governments to provide a catalyst to recovery when travel patterns return to relative normality. Keith Tan, CEO, Singapore Tourism Board said, “We are trying to do things at a bilateral level with countries that we feel we can move forward with. We have announced initiatives such as ‘green lanes’ and introduced the idea of ‘travel bubbles’. For example, in our negotiations with China, we have agreed common standards to permit travel and we hope to replicate this with other countries, not dissimilar to the idea of free trade agreements.” “We look at the tourism sector from a strategic perspective in Saudi Arabia, but we also realise that this sector contributed 20% of all jobs in the last five years, across the world, underscoring the importance that must be placed on the sector by governments,” said Fahd Hamidaddin, Chief of Investment, Strategy and Tourism Marketing, Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia. “Our job is to help the private sector survive and weather as much as we can during this pandemic. As such, Saudi Arabia launched a US$61 billion stimulus package that went into multiple tracks, including waiving licensing and tourism fees as well as deferring VAT and government fees for all SMEs, helping those most in need,” he added. “As early as February, we had announced the formation of the Tourism Recovery Action taskforce, comprising private sector individuals and key players from within the government. This was designed to layout plans, not only for recovery, but crisis communications, how we engage with …