Winning concept at Travel & Tourism Hackathon helps travellers customise itineraries beyond regular tourist sights
Singapore, 2 December 2014 – Journey back in time to witness historic events through virtual reality. Or hear personal stories about a particular attraction from locals using a location based audio guide mobile app. These were just two of the 20 prototypes of digital solutions to enhance storytelling and experience creation developed last weekend at the Travel & Tourism Hackathon (t&t Hackathon). Organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, the event saw participation from 100 individuals and representatives from top creative, technology and digital agencies.
This is the third hackathon led by STB to raise industry competitiveness as part of the Board's pursuit of quality tourism[1]. The t&t Hackathon is a platform conceived to catalyse innovative digital concepts to change the way Singapore is experienced. By tapping on top-notch creative minds, STB hopes to have good ideas put forth to enable local tourism businesses to offer something different to both locals and visitors.
"Like many other destinations, Singapore is seeing more of increasingly discerning visitors who are also digitally-savvy. Hence, through this Hackathon, we hope to generate refreshing and innovative ideas that can engage people on a more personal and meaningful level through good storytelling," said Mr John Conceicao, Executive Director, Capability & Innovation, STB.
"Some of these digital prototypes developed could also eventually become commercially viable. To this end, STB is committed to helping local tourism businesses adopt new technological solutions such as those developed at the hackathons through our Tourism Technology Fund (TTF)," he added.
For the first time, STB roped in industry partners that are exploring innovative digital solutions to enhance their offerings. The participants competed in solving real-life challenges posed by STB (Open Challenge) and industry partners City Tours, Ninebot Asia, Singapore History Consultants and StarHub (Industry Challenges). All prototypes submitted for each Industry Challenge also qualified for the Open Challenge.
The concept that took home both the top prize and the StarHub Industry Challenge prize was 'The Detourist', an application designed to encourage travellers to go beyond the usual tourist sights. It recommends and enables travellers to make simple detours outside of the city centre to lesser known parts of Singapore based on where they are, what their ultimate destination is and how much time they have. 'The Detourist' was developed by a team comprising members from creative agency JWT Singapore and digital agencies Fixx Digital and Massive Infinity.
The judges chose 'The Detourist' as the winner as they believe the concept would bring out the essence of Singapore's local character beyond the usual attractions, thus making the visitor experience more authentic and memorable. The concept was also assessed to be refreshing and leverages technology well.
STB had organised two other hackathons earlier this year – MICE CoLab in February and Chinatown CoLab in March. MICEapps, a mobile application prototype that won at the MICE CoLab, is currently in the process of being commercialised after receiving a grant from STB. Developed by Ace:Daytons Direct, MICEapps incorporates technologies such as an indoor positioning system (i.e. iBeacon) and Augmented Reality (AR) that facilitate interactive experiences at various event touch points, from registration to networking. It also helps to save time and cost for event organisers.
Please refer to Annexes A-C for information on the challenges and prizes, winners, and participating agencies and judges.
For more information on the TTF and other grant schemes offered by STB, please visit
http://www.stb.gov.sg/assistance-and-licensing/grants/Pages/overview.aspx.
[1] Quality tourism is a model of tourism development that emphasises economic contribution, innovative and competitive industry, and engaged local residents.
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About the Singapore Tourism Board
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a leading economic development agency in tourism, one of Singapore's key service sectors. Known for partnership, innovation and excellence, STB champions tourism, making it a key economic driver for Singapore. We aim to differentiate and market Singapore as a must-visit destination offering a concentration of user-centric and enriching experiences through the "YourSingapore" brand. For more information, please visit www.stb.gov.sg or www.yoursingapore.com.