Singapore appoints PR agency

Singapore Tourism Board has appointed Hume Whitehead Limited to handle its Public Relations in the UK, Ireland and France, starting from 1st July 2008. The announcement comes at an exciting time for the destination, with a host of new product developments, events and initiatives planned in the coming year.

After a comprehensive selection process, STB chose Hume Whitehead to help them integrate Singapore’s PR activity into their overall marketing strategy and to closely align both trade and consumer communications. Having both held European Director roles for Asian tourist boards, the Directors of Hume Whitehead, Richard Hume and Sue Whitehead, are able to bring specific and relevant experience to Singapore.

PR activities for the year ahead will continue to build on Singapore’s strategy to change consumer and trade perceptions, challenging out-dated stereotypes and building awareness of the destination’s vibrancy and diversity. Promotions and media activities will reflect and support other elements of the business plan and highly-visual campaigns will be built to ensure true multi-platform marketing. Similarly, to reinforce Singapore’s credentials as a “cutting edge” destination and to reflect the growth in significance of the internet in travel research and purchasing, online PR and social networking will form an important part of the PR and communications plan.

PR communications will continue to support Singapore’s global positioning of Uniquely Singapore, highlighting personal experiences as a key element of the brand. Visiting journalist programmes will be designed to give the media their own unique perspective of the destination and in-market activities will incorporate human touches to promote the warmth of Singapore’s people and the enriching experiences on offer.

Partnerships will form an integral part of the PR plan for STB and we will work particularly closely with the travel trade to maximise opportunities for Singapore. In addition, by partnering with popular regional destinations such as Australia, Bali and Phuket, Singapore will be able to leverage on its strategic location in Asia to attract more visitors from the United Kingdom.

STB’s Area Director for Northern and Western Europe, Divya Panickar, explains: “We chose Hume Whitehead Limited because of their close connections to the trade and for their ability and experience in sourcing third party partners for us to work within our communications and promotions.”

STB will capitalise on the experience of the Directors of Hume Whitehead Ltd to assist with proactive networking with the media and industry influencers, to include participation in relevant industry associations and events.

Richard Hume, Hume Whitehead’s Account Director for STB explains: “We are delighted to be working on such an exciting destination and are very much looking forward to working with the STB team to promote the vibrancy and diversity of Singapore. We could not be joining at a more opportune time, with so many new and exciting projects planned, such as the rejuvenation of the iconic Orchard Road, the launch of “Marina Bay Sands” and “Resorts World in Sentosa”, not to mention the world’s first Formula 1 Grand Prix night race.”

In recent years Singapore has invested significantly to cement its position as Asia’s prime tourism destination, contributing to a record 10.3 million visitors in 2007. The United Kingdom continues to be the most important European source market for Singapore, with approximately 496,000 visitors in 2007, whereas France’s significance is increasing all the time with double digit growth in the same year helping them to near the six figure visitor arrival threshold.

According to recently released UNWTO statistics, South-East Asia is expected to be one of the main beneficiaries of tourism growth in the coming years, with Singapore well-positioned to capitalise on the surge of visitors in view of the recent and impending tourism developments.