During the first year of the Strategic Partnership Program for Singapore, the key focus was to highlight the hidden gems of Singapore by educating and showcasing ‘what’s new’ in the destination to the travel agents around the region.
SINGAPORE – Kuoni’s Global Travel Distribution arm, GTA has announced its Strategic Partnership Program for Singapore has grown the overall hotel room night and total transaction value in the program by +49% and +54% respectively in year one. The 12-months program was renewed for another year to continue to drive demand and raise awareness for destination Singapore.
Supported by 22 hotel partners, the program has seen the overall Average Daily Rate increase by +9% despite the marginal increase in tourism arrival last year. The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, Village Albert Court, The Quincy Hotel, Parc Sovereign Tyrwitt, Raffles Hotel Singapore, Fairmont Singapore and SwissÔtel The Stamford are among the top performing hotels from the program and will continue to be in the program for another year.
“Raffles Singapore is delighted to continue the Strategic Partnership Programme (SPP) with GTA. Being one of the key hotel partners for inaugural year in 2015, we have seen the success through exponential growth of the leisure travel segment for the regional markets. GTA have extended dedicated support and focus for the hotel partners and have provided a unique and special travel experience in Singapore. We look forward to another very successful partnership this year,” said Simon Hirst, General Manager of Raffles Hotel Singapore.
GTA’s Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Daryl Lee said earlier today at the renewal launch event, “In 2016, we are adding new hotels in the city vicinity to better cater to strong demand in developing source markets. We have also added more options to target different traveller segments, ranging from unmanaged business travellers to regular visitors coming here for leisure. Our partners in growing markets like Indonesia, China and UAE have shared feedback on expanding the hotel network to include more affordable superior hotels and hence, for this second year, we have included more of these options in the program.”
New hotels joining the program include Oasia Hotel Downtown, Fragrance Hotel Ruby, Fragrance Hotel Balestier, Parkroyal on Kitchener Road, Parkroyal on Beach Road and Pan Pacific Orchard Singapore.
From left: Kok Sheng Sun, Head of Sales, South Asia & Japan, GTA, Peter Mainguy, General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, Cyndi Ng, Head of Market Development and Strategic Partnerships, GTA, Daryl Lee, Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, GTA
“Far East Hospitality is delighted to be yet again selected as preferred mid-tier hotel partner for this initiative. We recognise that the mid-tier market has gotten broader and is more diverse than ever. Rather than define visitors by the traditional method of demographics, our hotels are able to cater to a wide range of Singapore visitors according to their psychographics; appealing to not only their location preferences but their lifestyle as well – be they urban explorers, social connectors, the wellness-conscious or conventional travellers. This we believe will greatly contribute to the sophistication of the campaign,” said Arthur Kiong, Chief Executive Officer of Far East Hospitality.
Also speaking at the launch event at KF1 Karting Circuit, Andrew Hughes, GTA’s Vice President of Hotel Sourcing for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa acknowledged and thanked the hotel partners for their outstanding support for the program. “As a way of showing our appreciation to our esteemed SPP partners, we invited everyone here to celebrate the great achievement and also, to kick off another amazing year for the SPP program. There is no better place than here as this racing track designed by world renowned Formula One circuit designer, Hermann Tilke. Together, we will drive towards another successful year and achieve another great result!” said Andrew.
Tom Meyer, Regional Vice President, FRHI Hotels & Resorts and Managing Director, Fairmont Singapore and Swissτtel The Stamford expressed, “GTA has certainly been an integral and successful part of our business over the years. We at Fairmont Singapore and Swissτtel The Stamford are delighted to be selected as a preferred partner again, as your Strategic Partnership Program moves into its 2nd year. Not only does this underpin the trust and respect we share as friends and partners, but we are confident and look forward to scaling new heights and achieving greater success with this partnership in the coming year.”
During the first year of the program, the key focus was to highlight the hidden gems of Singapore by educating and showcasing ‘what’s new’ in the destination to the travel agents around the region (especially those who have not been to Singapore). Some of the B2B marketing activities include:
-Educational video about destination Singapore, the SPP program and the SPP partners.
-“My Singapore Hidden Gems” campaign to gather video submission from travel agents and determine the level of awareness for destination Singapore. The campaign also allowed GTA to select 10 lucky winners across 10 Asian countries to introduce them to 10 hidden gems in Singapore – such as Henderson Wave, Little India, Durian experience at Geylang, Wall art near Kampong Glam and Haji Lane, plus an once-in-a-lifetime experience at the 2015 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.
-The hosted trip was filmed into 11 mini-episodes as peer-to-peer educational materials during GTA workshops, showcasing Singapore’s hidden gems.
-Workshops on destination Singapore with support from Singapore Tourism Board in selected markets such as Indonesia, China, Taiwan etc.
-3x g shop rewards all year round to incentivize travel agents to promote the hidden gems of Singapore to their customers.
The SPP hotels for 2016-2017 are:
|
Chain |
No. |
Hotel Name |
|
Far East Hospitality |
1 |
The Elizabeth Hotel |
|
2 |
Oasia Hotel Novena Singapore |
|
|
3 |
Orchard Parade Hotel |
|
|
4 |
Village Albert Court |
|
|
5 |
Village Hotel Bugis |
|
|
6 |
Village Hotel Changi |
|
|
7 |
Village Hotel Katong |
|
|
8 |
The Quincy Hotel |
|
|
9 |
Rendezvous Hotel Singapore |
|
|
10 |
Oasia Hotel Downtown |
|
|
The Ritz-Carlton |
11 |
The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore |
|
Fragrance Hotel Management |
12 |
Parc Sovereign Albert St |
|
13 |
Parc Sovereign Tyrwhitt |
|
|
14 |
Fragrance Hotel Bugis |
|
|
15 |
Fragrance Hotel Ruby |
|
|
16 |
Fragrance Hotel Balestier |
|
|
FHRI |
17 |
SwissÔtel The Stamford, Singapore |
|
18 |
Fairmont Singapore |
|
|
19 |
Raffles Hotel Singapore |
|
|
Pan Pacific Hotels |
20 |
Parkroyal On Kitchener Road |
|
|
21 |
Parkroyal On Beach Road |
|
|
22 |
Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore |
Photo caption: From top left: Kok Sheng Sun, Head of Sales, South Asia & Japan, GTA, Patrick Torres, Head of Sourcing, South Asia & Pacific, GTA, Peter Mainguy, General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, Andrew Hughes, Vice President of Hotel Sourcing for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Daryl Lee, Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, GTA.
From bottom left: Gerrit Ching-Luchau, Senior Director of Sales, Fairmont Singapore and Swissôtel The Stamford, Amy Ang, Director of Sales & Special Projects, Raffles Hotel Singapore, Felix Yang, Director of Revenue Management, Raffles Hotel Singapore ,Tom Wang, Director of Sales, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, Chan Chi Ho, eCommerce Manager, Fragrance Hotel Management
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
