STB and Grab ink 3-year partnership

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Grab have signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MOU). The partnership aims to improve the travel experience for tourists and includes a range of initiatives that will be rolled out in phases. This will cover the areas of cashless payments, mobility preferences and access to travel information.Firstly, STB will roll out GrabPay, Grab’s payments offering, to places frequented by tourists such as hawker centres, dining establishments, cultural and lifestyle precincts, shopping centres and tourist attractions. Both parties will also look to raise the adoption of cashless payments in a targeted manner by exchanging insights on visitor preferences. Through the move, tourists will be able to experience the hotspots without exchanging currencies and redeem GrabRewards points through the Grab app.Secondly, Grab and STB will launch a joint study aimed at understanding which transport modes tourists prefer when travelling to Singapore. This is to help both Grab and STB to tailor offerings that are more relevant and enhance the overall visitor experience. Thirdly, Grab will also share its booking application programme interface (APIs) in phases through STB's Tourism Information & Services Hub (TIH) in a bid to facilitate easier access to travel information. This will allow certain tourism businesses to integrate Grab tools into their own digital platforms, with the aim of enabling visitors to better plan travel routes. This includes providing easier access to information about estimated fares and waiting times.Lastly, through the partnership, Grab will offer mobility solutions through its services, targeted at business travellers. This will range from services such as GrabCoach to GrabCar Premium, which will be accessible to STB's partners in the meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry in Singapore."STB brings onboard its deep understanding of tourism trends, patterns and behaviours in Singapore. Our collaboration with STB will help ensure that locals and visitors alike can enjoy the same quality experience as they explore our city using the Grab app," Lim Kell Jay (pictured right), head of Grab Singapore.Quek Choon Yang, chief technology officer, Singapore Tourism Board, said that its collaboration with Grab extends beyond transportation to include sharing of consumer intelligence data and spearheading innovation and technological initiatives.“With Grab's extensive presence in the Southeast Asian region, which contributes a very large share of our visitors, we are confident of reaching a sizable audience through the multi-faceted touch points offered through the Grab app," Quek added.