Singapore Tourism Board opens Regional Office in Kuala Lumpur

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) today opened its first regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The opening marks a significant move by the Board to focus on and commit resources to strengthen its market presence in Malaysia, as well as furthering bilateral tourism interests between both countries. The opening of the Kuala Lumpur office will allow STB greater leverage to forge stronger collaborative partnerships with the Malaysian travel trade, as well as provide customer service support to Malaysian travellers to Singapore.

Held at STB's premises at Menara Keck Seng in Kuala Lumpur, the opening ceremony was graced by special guests-of-honour, Malaysia's Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism Y.B. Dato' Paduka Abdul Kadir Hj. Sheikh Fadzir, and Singapore's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry, His Excellency Raymond Lim.

His Excellency Raymond Lim said the opening of STB's Regional Office in Kuala Lumpur will enhance the co-operative spirit in the area of tourism - both bilaterally between Malaysia and Singapore as well as regionally within ASEAN - through business, market intelligence and cultural exchanges.

"This is not only key to our ability to cater to the needs of Malaysian visitors into Singapore, but other international travellers who may wish to visit either or both countries for business or leisure," said His Excellency Raymond Lim.

He added: "On a macro level, apart from the excellent tourism linkages that Malaysia and Singapore now enjoy, both countries are active advocates of the concept of 'regional tourism'. This involves co-operating with the rest of our ASEAN neighbours to promote this part of the world as one destination, leveraging on the overall attractiveness of the ASEAN region."

Y.B. Dato' Paduka Abdul Kadir Hj. Sheikh Fadzir said: "There is a significant level of undertaking between Malaysia and Singapore in the arena of bilateral tourism co-operation. The opening of STB's office in Malaysia is a strong affirmation of Singapore's commitment towards strengthening tourism bilateral ties. I look forward to a closer working relationship between the two countries in the future."

Malaysia is among the top five key markets for Singapore's tourism industry. For the first six months of 2003, Malaysian visitor arrivals declined by 39 per cent as compared to the same period last year. The month of June, however, saw a strong rebound, with Malaysian visitor arrivals improving almost 100-per-cent over May.

STB's Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive, Mr Lim Neo Chian, said the Board should build on this momentum.

"The recent SARS crisis notwithstanding, we remain optimistic on the medium-term prospects of the Malaysian market. Establishing a regional office in Kuala Lumpur will afford us greater penetration scopes in channel management and market development. This will put us in a better position to sell Singapore as a top-of-mind destination among Malaysians,'' he said.

Mr Lim Neo Chian added: "The potential that the Malaysian market holds is immense, and with intra-regional travel back to normal again, I believe that our direct market presence here will put us in a strong position to leverage on our 'Singapore Roars' marketing campaign to attract more Malaysians to Singapore."

In conjunction with the opening of its KL office, the STB also organised a Singapore Travelmart on July 31 at Kuala Lumpur's Mutiara Hotel. The Travelmart provided Singapore's travel trade industry with a valuable platform to showcase a diverse range of destination products, highlight special promotions and attractive offers and conduct business with their Malaysian trade counterparts. More than 40 Singapore tourism enterprises participated in this Travelmart, alongside 150 Malaysian travel trade members.

In addition, the STB will also stage a three-day mega "Singapore Roars!" consumer carnival at Kuala Lumpur's renowned Bintang Walk over the weekend of 1-3 August 2003. The entire stretch of Jalan Bukit Bintang will be transformed into a "Singapore Walk", where consumers can look forward to an array of Roaring travel deals, entertainment and street activities, competitions and other surprises. Adding buzz to the carnival will be special appearances by Gurmit Singh, more affectionately known to Malaysians as his alter ego "Phua Chu Kang", Singapore artiste Fann Wong and popular Malaysian singer Ning Baizura.

Elaborating further on plans for the Malaysian market, Mr Lim Neo Chian added: "Singapore Roars!" boasts a six-month roaring calendar of events packed with irresistible deals and activities, roaring travel and accommodation packages - plus loads of roaring SurPrizes for visitors into Singapore. With the "Singapore Roars!" Carnival at Bintang Walk, we want to invite as many Malaysians as possible to not only enjoy the entertainment and street activities lined up, but also to grab the best travel deals and packages to Singapore that have been put together by our industry partners."