Destination Marketing Plan for Singapore - Case Study Example

Destination Marketing Plan for Singapore Table of contents Executive summary 3 1.0. Introduction 4 2.0. Mission statement 5 3.0. External analysis 5 4.0. Internal analysis 6 5.0. Market segmentation and positioning 7 6.0. Challenges and Opportunities 9 7.0. Goals and objectives 10 8.0. Action plan 12 9.0. References 13 Executive summary The current increase development in the world tourism industry that has led to increased competition in the tourism industry has positioned Singapore as the most preferred world destination. This plan has been developed to put Singapore in a better position to counter competition resulting from increases demand in the tourism. The plan provides critical analysis of state of tourism in Singapore and makes crucial recommendations on how Singapore as the main destination tourism zone should be organized. The plan incorporates the external and internal analysis of the greater Singapore tourism. Singapore has very popular destinations that attract over 10 million visitor arrivals annually. For example in the year 2009, its was able to receive about 10.7 million visitors. This represents a 4% increase over 2008.this generated about S$ 12.8 billion compared to 2008. In the same year, analysis show that Singapore became the popular destination in 2009 compared to South Korea, Malaysia and Philippines. Lee (2009) says that this trend is expected to grow up to 2015 when the mission has been achieved. This showed an increment in the number of visitors compared to the previous years. This plan seeks to embrace findings and incorporate necessary adjustments to make Singapore the world’s destination of choice. This plan therefore should continually be referred and updated to suit present changes in the Singaporean tourism sector. It will seek to help global customers who have interest in travelling to Singapore to be at better position to evaluate various opportunities across the globe. It also helps to project on various segments of tourism such as: Tourism arrivals, tourism expenditure, medical tourism, tourist receipts and outbound tourism. It also cites various progressive studies that have been conducted in Singapore. 1.0. Introduction Singapore is a located in south Asia and is rated the leading destination globally. It is made up of about 60 islands with large population density of multilingual people. It has six cities each with unique experiences. The cities uniqueness arises from the fact that it has a hybrid of culture and all that anyone can find in modern hotel industry, locations facilities and reservation. Singapore will be of great significance to international destination. Page & Connell (2009) says that it will have the advantage of hosting tourists from all the destinations of the world. These executrices will be facilitated by increased number of airlines and tourism companies in Singapore. This paper explores the various strategies and plans that will ensure that Singapore becomes a tourism hub. From previous history, it has been planning to generate revenue of S$30billion total in tourism revenue by 2015. According to Page, & Connell (2009), this will only be achieved if Singapore is able to attract over 17million tourists annually. It has been found out that the most attainable quantity of tourist annually is 12 million. To be a top economic development agency in tourism that is famous for affiliation, modernism and distinction. The most common attractive areas in Singapore include: Asian Civilization Museum, Escape Theme Park, Jurong Bird Park, Kent Ridge Park, Merlion, Night Safari, Pulau Ubin, Singapore Johore Battery at Changi and Singapore Zoo The growth of the Asian markets has led to increased demand for tourism in Singapore and other Asian countries. More people travel to Singapore as the main destination country because of its lucrative shopping centre and luxury goods (Lee 2009). China, India and Indonesia have stood to be the main source of tourists in Singapore compared to other people in the world. The development of integrated resorts is also a very crucial factor that leads to increase in tourism in Singapore. One such success was evident in 2011 which incorporated art science, museums, bay satand and universal studios. Casinos also were very popular among tourists from neighborhood thus making it the premier Asian tourism destination. 2.0. Mission statement. To develop and market the tourism industry so that Singapore remains the premier Asian tourism destination. 3.0. External analysis The tourism sector in Singapore faces no adverse effects from external political unrests. It is the most stable sector and stronghold of the Singapore economy. Singapore is a corruption free nation with educated and motivated workforce with a thriving financial and legal sector. The government of Singapore has always stood to resolved external minor conflicts so as to stabilize the economy. Lee (2009) found out that, considering destination competitiveness, it is essential that analysis is made on the different competing destinations to ascertain their strength and competitiveness. Between 2000 and 2009, tourism in Europe as the major competitively as it received major tourists from other regions of the world. This was due to the fact that tourism in Europe was well established much well than tourism in Singapore. Europe therefore had more competitive advantage compared Singapore in the 2000. However, this competitiveness did not pose much disadvantage to Singapore since Europe did not have well established cultural tourism. Another competitor was the USA. This was attributed to improved technology, infrastructure and increased investment in tourism. This showed an increased number of tourists in the region compared to Singapore. (Lee 2009) However, during that period, World Tourism Organization forecasted that Singapore will overtake Americas and become the most competitive destination in the world. Lee (2009) argued that this prediction is definitely being revealed by recent steady growth in tourism in Singapore. China, Hong Kong, Thailand is among the competitors of Singapore in Asia. Hong Kong has been ranked the second with a market share of about 11.9% in 2001. Singapore is far much improving and its tourism growth is getting close to is objective of becoming the world’s destination of choice. 4.0. Internal analyses Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis This is the Analysis of the major Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats within the tourism sector. Lee (2009) says that it is also important that we look at the key sectors and environment. We cannot underestimate the contribution of political social and economic challenges in Singapore. All these are relevant in ascertaining the direction of the Singaporean tourism industry. Strength: The fundamental strategy is to accentuate the positives, reduce the negatives as far as possible, exploit the opportunities, and at the same time, recognize the threats. Lee (2009) says that diversity of natural attractions, topography, flora, and fauna, and accommodation, hospitality of people, climate, and centrality are the major strengths of Singapore tourism. Another aspect of strength is the competence of the staff, culture, presence of various airlines and the universal language Weakness: Most people find the destination not very safe due to the perception created by the presence of heterogeneous people. There exist insufficient scheduling of air service to some places and also inadequate man-made attractions. Facilities also play a major role in the inefficiency of the tourism in Singapore. Most cases, there is insufficient conference facilities for tourists to use. Opportunities: various opportunities are eminent in Singapore. There are growing number of income families, spending power increases, efficiency in air travel, increased domestic tourism, improved living standards and domestic tourism. Threats: Singapore has no water reservoir of its own. It relies from the neighboring Malaysia. SWOT analysis of Singapore further helps us to discover opportunities that need to be ventured in and address some few crises. In doing so, we better our understanding of the immense opportunities in Singapore without having to be shortchanged by the weaknesses. 5.0. Market segmentation and positioning Market segmentation involves various variables used in segmentation in the tourism markets in Singapore. The segmentation process involves various approaches that will integrate customer perspective. Kapur, (2010) found out that, segmentation in Singaporean tourism sector involves division of the large tourism sector to a smaller group. There exists a homogeneous market in the Singaporean tourism sector that involves uniform same characteristics. There also exists heterogeneous tourism sector that serve the interests of various groups of people. The Singapore tourist board has taken the initiative of steering growth in tourism and has made crucial amendments to mainly provide quality services as opposed to quantity. It has position itself to steer this growth through various methods that include the launching of a mobile application in 2011 for customers to customize their visit. Waller (2011) says that this technology has continued to increase customer satisfaction. There is also increase in low cost carriers. This ensures that the consumers benefit irrespective of the increased competition and hence improvement of services. Market segmentation and positioning in Singapore has helped to address various interests of tourists and provide better satisfaction, understanding and a better understanding of the customers’ needs. This has helped bring about increased performance (Kapur 2010).Various theories have been put across to explain the essence of market segmentation in the Singaporean tourism sector. Middleton argues that market segmentation is the process where the customers groups align themselves to areas where their interests are better addressed. The effectiveness of market segmentation in the Singaporean tourism sector will work well under mass marketing, product differentiation and target markets. Singapore as a destination hub must take into consideration segmentation of its market in order to survive the global competition in the tourism sector. According to Kapur, (2010), Market segmentation and positioning in the Singaporean market will help to; segment the markets hence generate tourism, identify the prospective tourists in, relation to their lifestyles, socioeconomic status and their attitudes towards travel. The ultimate aim of market segmentation is to seek quality in terms of high prospect customers. This will ensure the cost effectiveness in the Singaporean tourism sector. In Singapore, cost effectiveness is achieved through promotion of tourism by the government and ensuring that the delivery of this service is affected. Waller, (2011) argue that tourism in Singapore has taken into consideration the non existence of mutual exclusiveness of the Singaporean visitors. Therefore it is easy to predict the various factors affecting tourism demand, services expected by the tourist, risks associated and the mutual benefits associated. 6.0. Challenges and opportunities. Opportunities There is increased opportunities in Singapore that result from increased tourists such opportunities include investment opportunities in both tourism and hotel industry. The numbers of visitors to Singapore have since been increasing and therefore making it an excellent investment opportunity. Waller, (2011) argue that another opportunity for investment includes air travel business that is seen to thrive as a result of this. Employment will also be created to both local and international job seekers. The result is improved standards of living to the Singaporeans. Challenges Singapore tourism industry faces myriads of challenges. The most pronounced challenge so far is competition. This arises as a result of increased and continued growth in the travel industry across the globe. Waller, (2011) argue that the challenge is designing a proper strategy that will help solve this problem. This calls for a thoughtful decision by the Singapore tourism to ensure that it does not back track in its efforts. The current challenge facing Singapore is its government restriction on its growth. Since tourism is labor intensive, it is expected that use of technology will not bring a significant improvement to this. It is important therefore to incorporate technology into tourism to bring about efficiency in service delivery. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) had set a total budget of $450.6 million to invest in tourism projects in the year 2010.this posses a great challenge in financing it. The receipts were expected to $15.9 billion.STB has been working with the government through budget update Singapore’s approach to tourism which will be unveiled to achieve its goal by 2015( Page & Connell 2009). 7.0. Goals and objectives The major goal and objective of this plan make Singapore a premier travel destination around the world. The ultimate aim is to achieve the objective of championing tourism and make it the key destination zone globally. Singapore has had major developments that saw the increased tourist generated revenue. Page & Connell (2009) found out the targets for visitor arrivals in Singapore for 2015 to be as follows: Fiscal Year 2015 Stopovers………………………….1, 479,364 (+ 6.6%) Cruise Passengers……………….1, 328,055 (+16.0%) Gross Visitor Expenditure……S$1,504M (+10.3%) Calendar Year 2015 Stopovers………………………….1, 456,045 (+ 7.3%) Cruise Passengers……………….1, 296,998 (+17.5%) In the study of Asian markets by Dasgupta (2011) it found out that it has the most exclusive destination fame in Asia and other parts of the world. Recently, it has continued to thrive and receive various awards that include destination of the year award, and travel award. These awards have been increasing over the years and aim at making Singapore the world’s tourism hub. This is majorly achieved through intense marketing of this destination mainly by the Singaporean tourism board. Market positioning will ensure that Singapore is at a strategic position to be competitive in the world destination marketing. Waller (2011) found out that Singapore has stood to be the extraordinary destination in Asia and the whole world. This has created an exceptional positioning in the world tourism and enjoys fame in Asia. Justification to this statement is linked to the increased number of tourists visiting g Singapore in recent years. It has seen a resultant increase in revenue and is optimistic to attaining the 2015 target. Over the next three years, Singapore will utilize various strategies into its operational programmes. These strategies will include: market strategies, citizen service strategies, human resource strategies, information technology strategies, financial strategies and sustainable development strategies ( Lee 2009). It is projected that the tourism in Singapore will be the stronghold of the economy and will yield more than 10% of the economy. Waller (2011) argues that, To achieve the above aims the tourism board of Singapore should follow the guidelines of various market research. The key investment should be emphasized in sectors that go hand in hand with tourism in Singapore. Air travel should be given the first priority investment. This will steer the growth of tourism through linkages to various destinations across the world this will involve the analysis of the supply and the demand trends, detailed segmentation, forecasts research and historic volumes and values. It should therefore seek to address issues pertaining market size in Singapore, major brands, market leadership ant to track the industry trends. 8.0. Action plan Throughout this marketing plan, a lot has been addressed to bring about an ideal destination specifically Singapore. It has been found out that Singapore stands to be the most growing destination in the world. Several factors have been analyzed in support of this. However, with the current world developments, it is clear that Singapore may not enjoy the destination monopoly for long. This is because some other cities in the world are trying to catch up with this lucrative activity. Singapore should therefore change the dynamics through various initiatives to enhance improvement. It can invest resources in entertainment in public places through 24hr music with various forms of singers. Lee (2009) argues that this idea is noble and can be adopted by various cities to attract tourists. Techno parading should also be encouraged. This will oversee street outdoor entertainment. Car free Christmas should also be introduced in Singapore this will make environment very attractive among other aesthetic improvements. Like concerts, art. It is projected that with the increase in the world economy fostered by third world countries, Singapore is expected to be the market leader in the destination tourism globally. Implementation of the various initiatives outlined in this plan will oversee the success of Singapore as a global destination hub. Putting together these few inventiveness, Singapore is destined to easily attract 17 million tourists in town. References Dasgupta, D. (2011). Tourism marketing. Delhi, Pearson. Kapur, B. (2010). Singapore studies: critical surveys of the humanities and social sciences. Lee, P. (2009). Singapore, tourism & me. Singapore, Pamela lee PTE ltd. Ooi, C. (2012). Cultural tourism and tourism cultures: the business of mediating experiences in Copenhagen and Singapore. [Copenhagen], Copenhagen business school press. Page, S., & Connell, J. (2009). Tourism: a modern synthesis. London [u.a.], Thomson. Singapore, published by Singapore university press for the centre for advanced studies, faculty of arts and social sciences, national university of Singapore. Waller, E. (2011). Landscape planning in Singapore. Singapore, Singapore university press, national university of Singapore. Read More