STB and Alibaba ink 3-year deal to drive spend in SG, targets young families

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will be working with Alibaba Group to co-develop marketing campaigns for the next three years, according to a new Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two parties. The partnership will kick off with a “Passion Made Possible Privileges” campaign in the second half of 2019 targeting Chinese visitors across the entire consumer journey. The three-year campaign aims to promote various tourism offerings and drive spend in Singapore in shopping, dining, hotels, sight-seeing, events and entertainment. Both organisations will be co-creating engaging content to target young families and post-90s young professionals in China. STB will also explore ways to broaden the range of in-destination experiences available to the market segment by leveraging Alibaba’s entertainment-related offerings. “The partnership with Alibaba is a game changer for Singapore. With a single partner like Alibaba, we will for the first time be able to engage with visitors at every step of the consumer journey, from pre-arrival to post-visit, through Alibaba’s platforms and technologies,” said STB’s chief executive Keith Tan. According to the press release, the partnership seeks to create more seamless tourism experiences in Singapore through analytics and technologies. STB will work with key business units in the Alibaba ecosystem, such as Alipay, Fliggy, Youku, Damai and Alibaba Cloud, to engage Chinese visitors throughout the entire consumer journey and gain deeper insights into their travelling behaviour. Meanwhile, they will also explore implementing digital solutions in partnership with key tourism establishments such as retail stores, attractions and hotels in order to increase customer satisfaction and support business innovation efforts. Angel Zhao, president of Alibaba Global Business Group and senior vice president of Alibaba Group said, “Our past collaborations with STB have been mutually beneficial, with Alipay being widely adopted as a mobile payment platform by merchants in Singapore and more convenient tax refund options for Chinese visitors, enhancing Singapore’s attractiveness as a travel destination." The partnership builds on the success of an earlier MOU that was signed in September 2017 between STB and Alipay, a popular online and mobile payment platform operated by Ant Financial, a related company of Alibaba. Read more: Singapore Tourism Board looks to lure in Malaysians Singapore Tourism Board launches SG$1 million fund to push for local content