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SINGAPORE – Local travel agents will receive more help updating their business models to stay relevant in the context of changing traveler preferences and the rise of online booking sites.
On Friday, November 16, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the National Association of Travel Agencies in Singapore (Natas) announced several initiatives, including an online resource center for travel agencies as well as programs that help them solve their labor problems and imagine new business. models.
The travel agency sector is one of Singapore's leading tourism industries, providing more than 10,000 jobs to its residents, with around 1,200 licensed travel agents, said STB chief executive Keith Tan in a statement. speech at the Travel Agents Professionals Forum at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center. .
But changes in consumer travel patterns, combined with competition from different players, such as online booking sites that consumers and travel product suppliers can access directly, have had an impact on business models and the sustainability of travel agencies, said Ong Ling Lee, director of travel agencies and tour guides at STB. .
However, the sector has the potential to grow if it can adapt to these changes by examining business models, leveraging technology and building workforce skills, said Ms. Ong.
An example announced on the forum – a group of organizers of walking and cycling tours coming together to form a new alliance of tour operators.
Cycling around the civic district and walking the alleys of Kampong Glam in a Vespa sidecar are examples of day trips that have grown in popularity among tourists and locals alike, said members, including Monster Day Tours, Let's Go Singapore Tour, Singapore Sidecars. , Ruby Dot Trails and Tribe.
Monster Day Tours, which offers free walking tours of the city's historic neighborhoods and thematic tours starting at $ 80, allows 50 people to participate in its tours a day, starting about two days from last May. (2017).
Corporate clients are also turning to them for private tours, said founder Suen Tat Yam.
Grouping with other similar tour operators helps them increase their scale and capabilities, for example by sharing tour guides, said Suen.
"People always say that one or two days are enough to (visit) Singapore, but if we combine our day tours, we can create multi-day tours with different experiences," he said. .
Co-founder of Let's Go Tour, Robin Loh, said the alliance would help smaller players cope with competition by allowing them to collaborate and sell cross-visits.
The four-year-old company, which offers bike rides and cooking classes including rainfed market visits, has seen its sales rise by 15 to 20 percent a year, said fellow co-founder Daniel Tan.
"Nowadays, tourists are more savvy, especially young travelers who are looking for something more experimental than their typical bus ride," Tan said, adding that cooking classes are also popular with inhabitants.
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