Dubai, UAE — As technology reshapes the global tourism industry, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) stands at the forefront of innovation. To realize its vision for “smart tourism”, STB is leveraging cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, data analytics, and augmented reality to enhance visitor experiences, streamline operations, and support local businesses.
Chew Chien Way, Director of Industry Technology Transformation at STB, shares insights into how these advancements are transforming Singapore’s tourism ecosystem, highlighting the role of sustainability in the country’s position as a premier travel destination and the board’s efforts to empower stakeholders through innovation.
How is the Singapore Tourism Board leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as Al, data analytics, and loT to transform the tourism sector and enhance visitor experiences?
At STB, we recognize the important role technology, such as Al, plays in tourism development. Al enhances efficiency, streamlines operations, boosts productivity, and drives revenue growth by improving speed and ease of service. We have observed tourism businesses piloting GenAl solutions, such as multilingual chatbots, to better serve guest queries around the clock. Hotels are exploring Al-driven smart scheduling solutions for staff rostering optimization, while MICE venues and hotels are leveraging Al for advanced waste management and automating data collection and analysis.
How does STB work with global partners, startups, or tech giants to pilot and scale innovations that can redefine the visitor experience, and attract a new generation of travelers seeking immersive and personalized experiences?
STB has collaborated with numerous global partners to leverage cutting-edge technology in enhancing our tourism offerings. A prime example is STB’s partnership with Google to create new tech-enabled tourism experiences in Singapore. This partnership taps into Google’s Augmented Reality (AR) and geospatial technologies to create AR experiences. STB and Google partnered this year to be the first city in the world to launch 30 location-based AR experiences across key tourism precincts that can be discovered and accessed via Google Maps. The collaboration leveraged the massive reach and ubiquity of Google Maps to make AR experiences more accessible to travelers, providing new ways of engagement and helping drive the discoverability of tourism businesses and spending. The partnership also helped drive STB’s capability development efforts and scale industry-wide XR adoption through the introduction of new tools and know-how which make it easier for tourism businesses to create XR experiences.
As tourism becomes increasingly technology-driven, what role does STB envision for itself in shaping the future of “smart tourism” and how is the STB supporting local businesses and stakeholders to adopt innovative solutions?
STB aims to play a significant role in the future of “smart tourism” by adopting and promoting innovative technology solutions across the tourism sector. STB’s Tcube, a hybrid innovation space launched in 2021, has helped tourism businesses introduce tech solutions, including Al, into their operations. More than 1,100 tourism companies have benefited from Tcube programs. For example, Tcube’s Singapore Tourism Accelerator, which sources innovative technology solutions, has supported 47 start-ups to develop 58 industry solutions across six cohorts (as of 2023).
One example is a pilot by Far East Hospitality (FEH) and ByteGenie to enhance sales efficiency by automating prospect research data workflow from events websites. The pilot utilized a system of Al models to scan, structure, and create useful/actionable databases of lead generation for sales outreach. It involves multi-step automation for publicly available data such as events websites, company research, and people information.
How is technology enabling Singapore to integrate sustainable practices into its tourism strategy while maintaining its position as a premier global travel destination?
More businesses are incorporating sustainability in product development and operations, recognizing its importance for ensuring long-term viability, meeting growing customer demand for eco-friendly experiences, and positively impacting their bottom lines in the long run. These efforts add to our attractiveness and reputation globally as a sustainable, responsible travel destination. By leveraging Al to execute daily operations, we can streamline processes and reduce the amount of carbon footprint required to perform a task. For example, Gardens by the Bay participated in the Singapore Tourism Accelerator program and piloted with Circular Unite to identify solutions to optimize waste management. Using the Al-powered solutions, they see a potential of around 20% increase in recycling rates. Along with them, Gardens by the Bay is targeting a series of measures to divert waste from landfills to meet the targets under the GreenGov.SG targets initiative.
