Here's how Singapore plans to attract even more Malaysian tourists

Tourism board reveals 2013 marketing campaign.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched its marketing campaign for Malaysia, one of Singapore’s most important markets. Fifth in a series of differentiated marketing campaigns after those launched in China, Australia, India and Indonesia, this campaign is similarly designed with the Malaysian visitors’ needs in mind.

STB said that it based the campaign idea identical to its Indonesian campaign - “Only in Singapore, Right Now!” – with the Malaysian campaign aiming to curate and deliver offerings and experiences based on a deeper understanding of consumer needs. 

In describing the Malaysian traveller, STB said a good number of Malaysians today now consider holidays as part and parcel of their lifestyles. A large majority are free and independent travellers (FIT) who plan their own itineraries, relying heavily on recommendations of family, friends and online communities. Keen to seek out new experiences, the Malaysian traveller is also partial to discovering new and exciting offerings, especially in the areas of dining and retail, spending almost equal amounts on each. 

While Malaysian visitors to Singapore are already familiar with the destination’s attributes, they still seek more information on what’s new and coming up here and visit Singapore for a diverse range of lifestyle reasons. This is backed up by research, which showed that a significant portion of Malaysian travellers to Singapore are repeat visitors, with most of them having visited Singapore in the past three years.

“Just as we do in Indonesia, we have spent years engaging the Malaysian market  and researching on consumer needs and behaviour. With the insights gleaned, we are now better able to engage the Malaysian visitor at a deeper and more meaningful level. Due to close proximity, ease of access and familial ties, it’s only natural that we see visitors from Malaysia returning repeatedly for visits. This also means that Malaysians are generally also very familiar with Singapore. Nonetheless, we think that more can be conveyed to entice Malaysians to visit our ever-evolving destination even more frequently.

Hence, through the “Only in Singapore, Right Now!” campaign, we aim to raise awareness of the bounty of experience and lifestyle options on offer here that we believe will appeal to frequent travellers from Malaysia,” says Ms. Sophia Ng, Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board.

STB said the start of the campaign is coupled with the launch of STB’s YourSingapore Live website, which is specially designed for Malaysian visitors. Featuring the latest happenings, users will be constantly apprised of the latest information about concerts, shows and musicals, restaurant openings, exhibitions and multitude of other lifestyle offerings. The site is intended as a ‘one-stop’ resource where travellers can learn all they need to know about travelling to Singapore from Malaysia.

“For frequent travellers, one of the most important considerations in choosing to repeat a destination is the ease of obtaining up-to-date information on events and activities. Thus, with YourSingapore Live, Malaysians would no longer have to browse through different websites and platforms to get the necessary information.

In fact, YourSingapore Live is not just a one-stop platform to the latest happenings in Singapore, but also an easy access to flights and event tickets booking,” adds Ms Ng. “This way, we cater specifically to the needs of Malaysian frequent travellers, and will hopefully draw more of them to Singapore.”

The campaign is supported by an integrated set of social media elements with the YourSingapore Facebook page, Twitter feed and smartphone application.

To further enhance the reach of the Malaysian campaign, STB has also worked with key industry stakeholders to feature special promotions and experiences. With the launch of Priceless Singapore in October 2012, STB is pleased to collaborate with MasterCard to augment the presence of their Priceless campaign, hence expanding the reach of these Priceless Singapore Experiences to the region, starting with our closest neighbour Malaysia.

In addition to the myriad of up-to-date life styles experiences, curated to meet the needs of the Malaysian travellers on YourSingapore Live website, the MasterCard partnership adds an exciting suite of unique and novel Priceless Experiences; be it pre-ordering the latest look right off the international runways, hobnobbing with Europe’s royals at a charity gala, or living in the lap of luxury at invitation-only hotel suites, MasterCard’s Priceless Singapore connects people with their passions – shopping, travel, food and entertainment – and gives exclusive access to a collection of exceptional experiences
across the city.

To further enhance the offering of YourSingapore Live, STB ropes in Showbiz International as the Packaging Partner for the Malaysia campaign. Showbiz is Singapore’s and Australasia’s leading ticket packaging provider offering great shows and events across Singapore, Australia & NZ, and in 2011, officially launched Singapore’s first integrated online ticketing and packaging website (www.showbizasia.com) to offer local, regional and international customers access to tickets and ticket packages for a vast array of live entertainment in Singapore.

With this partnership, Malaysian frequent travellers will now have access to a wide array of entertainment packages to complement their show experience via the YourSingapore Live website, including dinner and show packages, ticket & hotel packages with local hotel partners, interval experiences and VIP experiences.

“Showbiz and STB have enjoyed a fantastic working relationship since our launch in 2011, and this new partnership will enable us to further build on Showbiz’s more than 30 years international experience of delivering enhanced entertainment experiences to our. As the Packaging Partner to Your Singapore Live, Showbiz can uniquely offer access to great shows and seats combined with the best deals and show packages – ensuring both Singaporean’s and visitors are always delivered amazing premium entertainment experiences,” says Katie Marsden, Head of Business, Showbizasia.com