Face-to-Face: Terrence Voon
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Travel Daily chats with Terrence Voon, the Singapore Tourism Board’s Director of Marketing Activation, about his organisation’s mobile strategies…
Q) How is STB using apps and mobile channels to target visitors before they arrive in the destination, and to help them after they arrive?
Smartphones will continue to impact travellers and shape their travel experience in the years to come. We recognise the importance of ensuring that all our visitors have a good mobile experience. When we revamped our consumer website YourSingapore.com last year, we actually designed it for mobile devices first instead of starting from the desktop.
Everything on the website, from the content and images to the user experience, is customised for smaller touch screens to help users plan their trip to Singapore easily and even on-the-go. The website also makes use of GPS help users navigate – based on their location – to attractions in Singapore and other places of interest near them when they are visiting the city.
We also recognise that quality content is important to our consumers. Hence, we work with content partners such as TimeOut and CNN Travel to offer real travel tips on the best ways to experience Singapore as well as trip ideas which travellers can relate to. It’s a different editorial approach; instead of hiring copywriters, we’re working with journalists, YouTubers, bloggers and filmmakers.
With the proliferation of mobile technology and social media, word-of-mouth now becomes faster and happens in real-time. Real reviews and experiences shared by real travellers, or user-generated content, have become important as people nowadays rely on online reviews or friends’ anecdotes to plan their holidays. In fact, an estimated three in four travellers use social media when they’re on vacation.
We have thus partnered with travel trade players such as TripAdvisor to amplify user generated content. We want to encourage visitors to Singapore to share their stories, tips and experiences with their friends and family. The hope is that they can help other travellers experience Singapore better, and inspire new visitors to come here.
With TripAdvisor, we spearheaded an online hub called “Live Like A Local” to capture stories and experiences through the eyes of visitors and the people who live in Singapore. Launched in May, it showcases Singapore’s hidden gems using user generated content that resides on TripAdvisor.
Q) How are you working with travel trade partners on these new mobile innovations?
With mobile technology reshaping the hospitality industry in terms of consumer touchpoints, travel and hospitality companies are also beginning to harness technology to enhance guest services and empower customers to personalise their travel experience. This was one of the key trends highlighted at TravelRave 2014, a week-long event where travel trade partners and industry leaders, from the likes of Google and Amadeus amongst others, convened to discuss insights on the travel industry.
Here are some case studies highlighted in the TravelRave 2014 report:
• Hilton launched the world’s first interactive hotel mobile app in October 2014, which allowed guests to check-in and choose their exact room from digital floor plans, customise their stay by purchasing upgrades, and making special requests for items to be delivered to their rooms.
• Starwood also rolled out its Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Keyless at Element and W Hotels in November 2014 – guests could bypass the front desk and go directly to their rooms, using their smartphones to unlock the rooms.
In 2014, we also organised a ‘Travel and Tourism Hackathon’, where entrepreneurs showcased digital tools as a means to provide intriguing experiences. In fact, a mobile app called “The Detourist” won the challenge at the hackathon with its innovative proposition – it helps to guide travellers from where they are to where they want to be, and recommends unique detours in between for travellers to experience more of our city on-route to their end destination.
Q) STB recently launched a SG$10m fund to promote new travel tech innovations; what results do you hope/expect to achieve from this?
Technology solutions such as virtual or augmented reality enable us to provide more immersive, memorable and differentiated experiences that visitors increasingly seek to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of a destination and its stories.
Through the Experience Step-Up Fund, we hope to support the industry in developing a variety of innovative technology initiatives that can deliver richer destination content or personalise information and experiences, so as to enhance visitor experience.
Q) What visitor demographics and regional markets are the mobile solutions most popular with?
Millennials or Generation Y are the most inclined to own smartphones and use mobile apps to communicate and carry out tasks. About 43 percent of millennials in Asia are inseparable from their smartphones and prefer to access and pay for services and products instantly via tools and apps.
The Asia Pacific region is also one of the global leaders in the m-commerce sector, with earnings of US$76.2 billion in 2013. This is expected to grow to US$153.26 billion in 2017. The Chinese are the most apt to make mobile purchases, (59.4%), followed by the Thais (51.2%) and Koreans (47.6%).
Q) What are the long-term goals of STB’s mobile strategy?
Moving forward, our priority is to enhance the mobile experience for visitors when they arrive in Singapore. Our focus will be on the mobile ecosystem, to help visitors explore more of the city and share more of their experience with their family and friends. Mobile-optimised content is key, and we will be working with our partners to improve visitor touchpoints for mobile users, whilst working towards a connected experience across both desktop and mobile devices.
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