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The three-year Memorandum of Understanding will kick off with a “Passion Made Possible Privileges” campaign in the second half of 2019

Singapore, 16 April 2019 – The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alibaba Group today to drive visitor arrivals and spending. The scope of the MOU includes co-developing joint marketing campaigns and content, collaborating on inbound Chinese travellers analytics and insights, and creating more seamless and smart tourism experiences in Singapore.

The partnership builds on the success of an earlier MOU that was signed in September 2017 between STB and Alipay, a popular online and mobile payment platform operated by Ant Financial, a related company of Alibaba.

The new MOU opens up new opportunities to expand STB’s collaborations with other businesses in the Alibaba ecosystem. Over the next three years, STB will work with key business units in the Alibaba ecosystem, such as Alipay, Fliggy, Youku, Damai and Alibaba Cloud, to engage Chinese visitors throughout the entire consumer journey and gain deeper insights into their travelling behaviour.

Both STB and Alibaba will also co-create engaging content to target young families and post-90s young professionals[1] in China and explore ways to broaden the range of in-destination experiences available to this market segment, by leveraging Alibaba’s entertainment-related offerings. In addition, both organisations will explore co-creating and implementing digital solutions in partnership with key tourism establishments such as retail stores, attractions and hotels in order to increase customer satisfaction and support business innovation efforts.

“STB is always on the lookout for partnerships with great industry partners to improve visitor experiences in Singapore. The partnership with Alibaba is a game changer for Singapore. With a single partner like Alibaba, we will for the first time be able to engage with visitors at every step of the consumer journey, from pre-arrival to post-visit, through Alibaba’s platforms and technologies,” said Mr Keith Tan, STB’s Chief Executive.

Ms Angel Zhao, President of Alibaba Global Business Group and Senior Vice President of Alibaba Group, said: “Our past collaborations with STB have been mutually beneficial, with Alipay being widely adopted as a mobile payment platform by merchants in Singapore and more convenient tax refund options for Chinese visitors, enhancing Singapore’s attractiveness as a travel destination. In our next wave of collaboration, we look forward to more fully utilising resources from the Alibaba ecosystem to promote destination Singapore, helping the tourism sector here expand and deepen their online engagement with Chinese visitors, better understand visitors’ travel preferences, and offer more targeted services and experiences.”

New “Passion Made Possible Privileges” campaign to launch in second half of 2019

The latest partnership will kick off with a “Passion Made Possible Privileges” campaign, targeting Chinese visitors across the entire consumer journey, from pre-arrival research, to post-arrival recommendations right through to post-departure engagement, to keep them as fans and friends of Singapore. The three-year campaign aims to promote various tourism offerings and drive spend in Singapore in shopping, dining, hotels, sight-seeing, events and entertainment.

[1] The number of Fliggy users under 25 years of age rose 42% in 2018, which shows young people are a growing force of outbound travel in China.

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About the Singapore Tourism Board

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is the lead development agency for tourism, one of Singapore’s key economic sectors. Together with industry partners and the community, we shape a dynamic Singapore tourism landscape. We bring the Passion Made Possible brand to life by differentiating Singapore as a vibrant destination that inspires people to share and deepen their passions.

More: www.stb.gov.sg or www.visitsingapore.com|

Follow us: facebook.com/STBsingapore

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere and the company aims to achieve sustainable growth for 102 years. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, the company reported revenue of US$39.9 billion.