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Singapore Tourism Board

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Singapore Tourism Board
Agency overview
Formed1 January 1964; 60 years ago (1964-01-01) (as Singapore Tourist Promotion Board)
19 November 1997; 26 years ago (1997-11-19) (as Singapore Tourism Board)
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
HeadquartersTourism Court, 1 Orchard Spring Lane, Singapore 247729
Agency executives
  • Olivier Lim, Chairman[1]
  • Melissa Ow, CEO[2]
Parent agencyMinistry of Trade and Industry
Websitewww.stb.gov.sg

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry.

History

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Tourism Court at Orchard Spring Lane, the headquarters of Singapore Tourism Board
Singapore Visitors Centre along Orchard Road, providing tourism information for tourists in Singapore.

The board was first established on 1 January 1964 and was called the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (Abbreviation: STPB).[3] In that year, there were 91,000 visitors. The primary task of STPB was to coordinate the efforts of hotels, airlines and travel agents to develop the fledgling tourism industry of the country.

Later, STPB began to initiate new marketing ideas to promote Singapore's image abroad. The board created the Merlion, a symbol based on a Singapore mythical legend, that became an icon of the Singapore destination. The board has also been providing travel agent licensing and tourist guide training.

STPB actively promoted the development of infrastructure, including the building of hotels and tourist attractions such as the Jurong Bird Park and Sentosa which is now a popular resort island for both tourists and local visitors. The board also markets the city as a convention venue and organises events to attract visitors.

Throughout the 1960s to 70s, the tourism board ran multiple advertising campaigns aimed at drawing visitors from different countries and published monthly newsletters to promote multiple attractions in Singapore.[4][5] The Merlion was also created as the Singapore Tourism Board's logo in 1964 and was used in promotional materials.[6] The Merlion eventually became a well-known Singaporean icon and in 1972, a Merlion statue was erected in the Merlion Park.[7]

In the 1980s, several historic and culturally significant areas such as Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam were earmarked for preservation. These places express Singapore's cultural diversity and became popular tourist destinations. The Singapore River underwent a major cleanup program and the areas along the river were developed for restaurants and other tourist amenities.

On 7 October 1997, the parliament passed the Tourist Promotion Board (Amendment) Bill to rename the STPB to Singapore Tourism Board.[8] On 19 November 1997, STPB was renamed as Singapore Tourism Board.[9]

Mission

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Aerial Panorama of Merlion Park and its surrounds

The board now oversees all aspects of tourism, including resource allocation and long-term strategic planning. It establishes offices around the globe to actively market the Singapore destination.

In the short term, the Singapore government has allocated S$905 million to STB for tourism developments until 2017. A third of this amount will be used to assist the industry to build manpower competencies through education and skills-upgrading initiatives, particularly in key areas such as conference management.[10]

Growth

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Singapore tourism industry has grown rapidly since STPB was set up. In 2004, there were 8 million visitors. On 11 January 2005, Minister for Trade and Industry unveiled the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) targets to doubling visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015.

In March 2010, the STB projected a 20–30% increase in visitor arrivals for the year due to the opening of Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa.[11] This coincided with other key events such as the Singapore Grand Prix and the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. New developments such as the International Cruise Terminal, Gardens by the Bay and Changi Motor Sports Hub are expected to be unveiled in the coming years.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Leadership And Board Changes At The Singapore Tourism Board". Ministry of Trade & Industry. 29 December 2023.
  2. ^ "New Chief Executive Appointed for Singapore Tourism Board". Ministry of Trade & Industry. 3 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Formation of the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board". NLB. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Tourist Draw". The Straits Times, Archived by NewspaperSG. 23 April 1964. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Newsletter to tell of tourist attractions". The Straits Times, Archived by NewspaperSG. 9 July 1964. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Lion with fish tail is Tourist Board's new emblem". The Straits Times, Archived by NewspaperSG. 25 April 1964. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  7. ^ "A new home for the Merlion" (PDF). Skyline (July/August 2000 ed.). URA. pp. 6–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Bigger role for new board in developing industry here". The Straits Times. 8 October 1997. p. 42. Retrieved 11 March 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  9. ^ "No more STPB". The New Paper. 20 November 1997. p. 4. Retrieved 11 March 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  10. ^ "A new breed of MICE". TTGmice. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  11. ^ Channel News Asia- STB forecasts 20–30% jump in visitor arrivals this year [1]
  12. ^ Singapore Tourism Board Forecasts Record Numbers for 2010 and Unveils "YourSingapore" Destination Brand [2] Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
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