Following on the heels of its two-year global marketing partnership with Expedia last week, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has formed yet another pact – with Airbnb Experiences to offer a variety of virtual tours to global audiences in “the new international tourism climate”
The two partners have signed a two-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) “to co-promote and grow a range of unique, authentic Airbnb Experiences” hosted by locals on the Airbnb Experiences platform.
This agreement with Airbnb Experiences lists three “strategic pillars” to support international tourism recovery, namely the development of virtual tours in the new tourism landscape, co-marketing of Singapore to stay top-of-mind among global audiences, and the sharing of data and knowledge exchange.
Virtual tours
With Covid-19 impacting physical travel, virtual tourism experiences have become one of the key digital offering for the global travel and hospitality industry. In tandem with this trend the two organisations have developed and launched Singapore Virtual Trips, a “collection of online experiences hosted by Singapore tourism industry partners and featured on a dedicated landing page on the Airbnb platform.”
Among the tours for international travellers to explore the country virtually are a sustainability-themed tour at Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest; a virtual visit to Peranakan home museum ‘The Intan’ with owner Alvin Yapp; an interactive bingo tour of the one-north tech precinct by Monster Day Tours; and a behind-the-scenes peek into the rich history of the Old Kallang Airport with Jerome Lim, founder of heritage website The Long and Winding Road. More tourism industry partners are expected to join this initiative.
STB said the partnership would also encourage Singapore tourism businesses “to take their products online and pivot towards innovative hybrid business models as the industry reimagines the future of tourism.”
Look ahead, the two partners will collaborate to onboard in-person Airbnb Experiences across various categories including dining, nature, wellness and the arts. They will work with local tourism industry partners “to continuously offer differentiated and fresh experiences to travellers”, helping them to benefit from the experience-driven travel.
Co-marketing
With the ongoing international travel restrictions, the two partners aims to use both Airbnb Experiences’ and STB’s brand images and global reach to capture audience interest for Singapore to remain top-of-mind as a destination among consumers worldwide.
They will jointly produce co-branded content featuring Singapore and Airbnb Experiences across their respective platforms and channels, to be made available to travel industry partners via STB’s Tourism Information and Services Hub (TIH). They will also work towards extending destination information, tools and benefits to Airbnb Experiences guests such as exclusive offers unlocked through sign-ups for the VisitSingapore app.
According to STB, “these efforts are especially critical in driving effective recovery as international travel restrictions ease.”
Data sharing
Both parties agree to share insights and best practices to grow experience offerings. Airbnb Experiences has invited STB to access its City Portal, a data-sharing platform built for governments and tourism organisations.
“Data and knowledge exchange will help both parties onboard more targeted Singapore Experiences, refining tourism products and services in this new environment through a deeper understanding of the evolving traveller profile,” is the consensus of both partners.
Keith Tan, STB chief executive, said the partnership “is a timely one” and “will also give passionate Singapore hosts a world-leading platform to reach out to quality travellers globally, while helping them innovate and explore new business models.”
Airbnb’s senior vice president of policy and communications, Chris Lehane, added the company is “excited to be partnering with the Singapore Tourism Board to promote experiential travel in one of the world’s most vibrant and dynamic communities”, adding that through using the Airbnb platform to showcase Singapore to the world “we can help support the recovery of international tourism.”
• Featured image credit – ‘A Mountain Under Glass – Cloud Forest’ online experience: Singapore Tourism Board
