Dai Bin | Forward thinking and High quality Development of China Singapore Tourism Exchange - Speech at the 7th Singapore Tourism Board Greater China Awards Industry Conference

At the invitation of the Singapore Tourism Board, the President of the China Tourism Research Institute attended the 2024 Singapore Tourism Board Greater China Conference and Industry Awards, delivering a keynote speech on "Forward thinking and High quality Development of China Singapore Tourism Exchange". The full text is shared as follows:

Dear Ms. Ou Yanmei, Director General of Singapore Tourism Board, and colleagues in the tourism industry of China and Singapore, good morning!

As a global strategic partner of the Singapore Tourism Board, I am honored to represent the China Tourism Research Institute to once again witness the Singapore Tourism Board's launch event of its latest brand "World's Best Convention and Exhibition City" for MICE (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Forums, and Exhibitions) in China, following the new leisure and vacation brand "Just in Singapore". Singapore has three major advantages in the global MICE market: connectivity, innovation, and sustainability, as well as a foundation of trust and security. With the support of strategic partners such as Reading Group, it is certain to achieve the expected goals.

01

The tourism economy is entering a new cycle of prosperous development

Since 2023, the supply and demand of the tourism market have been strong, with a surge of holiday tourists and a steady recovery in inbound and outbound tourism. The main economic indicators, such as the number of domestic tourism trips and the total domestic tourism expenditure, during the Spring Festival and the Labor Day in the the Year of the Loong have exceeded the level of the same period in 2019. During the just concluded Loong Boat Festival holiday, the total number of domestic tourism trips nationwide was 110 million, up 6.3% year on year; The total expenditure of domestic tourists on travel was 40.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%. The emotional value, consumption promotion, investment driving, and employment driving potential of the tourism industry have been fully unleashed, and the tourism supply chain, value chain, and innovation chain are accelerating their recovery. The tourism industry has entered a virtuous cycle of "quality demand guiding supply innovation, innovative supply driving demand upgrading", and has integrated and developed in synergy with other industries. New products, new formats, and new business models continue to emerge. On May 17th of this year, the National Tourism Development Conference was held in Beijing.

Tourism is a bridge for spreading civilization, exchanging culture, and enhancing friendship. From the people to people diplomacy at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, to the current promotion of international exchange and cooperation through forms such as the Chinese Foreign Tourism Year, the development of tourism in New China has always been a disseminator of Chinese civilization and a folk messenger of cultural exchange. The determination to develop inbound tourism in the new era has never wavered, and policy tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated. At present, China has signed visa free agreements for ordinary passports with 23 countries, implemented unilateral visa free agreements for 12 countries, and extended them until 2025. With the growth of national strength and policy optimization, the outbound tourism market for Chinese citizens will continue to expand. It is unnecessary and impossible to continue seeking to maintain a trade surplus in tourism services with any country at any time. Tourists have gone out, and the protection of rights and interests should keep up, and communication and cooperation should also keep up with the times.

02

Forward thinking planning for comprehensive cooperation between China and Singapore in tourism

The tourism exchange between China and Singapore benefits from political mutual trust and requires forward-looking thinking to plan comprehensive industrial cooperation. China and Singapore are important partners in cooperation, and their relationship has always demonstrated foresight, strategic planning, and exemplary nature. China has placed Singapore as a priority in its neighboring diplomacy. Throughout the development of world tourism, stable bilateral relations and constructive multilateral mechanisms have always been key elements of international tourism exchange and cooperation. The mutual visits between heads of state and government are the most direct and effective promoters of destination image. Leaving this point, even the most professional tourism promotion activities and lively self media marketing may be like a beach castle and a castle in the air. We must have a clear understanding of this and follow it in practice.

China and Singapore are important destinations for inbound and outbound tourism, with large scale, fast growth rate, and high satisfaction. From 2010 to 2019, the annual number of mutual visits between the two sides increased from 1.8294 million to 3.8172 million, with an average annual growth rate of 8.52%. Among them, the number of Chinese outbound tourists visiting Singapore as their first stop has increased by 14.57% annually over the past decade, reaching 2.8087 million in 2019, which is 2.8 times the number of Singaporean tourists visiting China during the same period. Based on data from the past two years, Singapore is also one of the fastest recovering overseas tourist destinations in China's outbound market. Continuous monitoring from the China Tourism Research Institute shows that Singapore's tourism service quality has always been recognized by Chinese outbound tourists, with tourist satisfaction consistently around 80 points and ranking among the top in various countries. In 2023, among the 27 overseas countries or regions included in the monitoring, the satisfaction rate of Chinese outbound tourists towards Singapore reached 85.25, ranking first. It is gratifying that from 2015 to 2019, the satisfaction level of Singaporean inbound tourists to China has remained in the "satisfied" range of over 80 points, and has also stabilized and rebounded in the past two years.

The exchange of tourism between China and Singapore benefits from mutual recognition among tourists, and requires continuous improvement in service quality and tourist satisfaction. In the eyes of Chinese tourists, "when you go to Singapore, you will know the true look of the Garden City", "Changi Airport has been rated as the world's first airport for ten consecutive years, truly realizing the combination of nature and modern architecture", "if the parent-child hotel, it must be the Capello of Sentosa, the geographical environment is more suitable for taking babies, Universal Studios and Water Park are there, and they are also very, very beautiful".

Meat bone tea, due to accidentally adding pig bones to the tea soup, has become a famous local delicacy through continuous improvement. Not only do locals love it, tourists check in, but also foodies flock to it. The historical, cultural, and modern development achievements of China have left a deep impression on Singaporean tourists. "China is very large, developing rapidly, with beautiful scenery and good consumption," "The people I meet when traveling in China are very friendly, and communication is not difficult. They are very friendly." "(Beijing Xinqiao Hotel) Near Wangfujing, it is considered a cost-effective hotel. There are many breakfast options available outside the hotel every morning, which are cheap, convenient, and can be reached from Exit B2 of Chongwenmen Subway Station, which is very convenient. With the implementation of more visa, immigration, cruise and payment facilitation policies and the improvement of the consumption environment, there will definitely be more Chinese and Singaporean tourists visiting each other's countries.

03

Reward tourism as a key focus for high-quality development

Economic and trade exchanges promote tourism exchanges and also expand new space for the MICE market. In October 2008, the two governments signed the China Singapore Free Trade Area Agreement, and the Protocol to Upgrade the China Singapore Free Trade Agreement officially came into effect in October 2019. In November 2015, the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre was officially unveiled and put into operation. In 2022, the total bilateral trade volume between China and Singapore exceeded 100 billion US dollars, and in 2023 it was 108.393 billion US dollars. According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, as of the end of 2021, China's direct investment in Singapore amounted to 67.2 billion US dollars, with approximately 8500 Chinese funded enterprises in Singapore. According to statistics from Singapore, China has maintained its position as the top destination for Singapore's outward foreign direct investment for 14 consecutive years. The main projects include three intergovernmental cooperation projects, Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Ecological City, China Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Interconnection Demonstration Project, a national cooperation project, Guangzhou Knowledge City, as well as Jilin Food Zone, Xinchuan Science and Technology Innovation Park, Nanjing Ecological Science and Technology Island, etc. The continuous growth of investment and trade exchanges has laid the market foundation for business, conferences, exhibitions, and incentive tourism between China and Singapore, becoming a new blue ocean for innovation in travel services.

Chinese award-winning enterprises are growing, and Singapore is expected to become the preferred destination for global award-winning tourism. According to a special survey conducted by the National Tourism Network last autumn, 27% of travel agents stated that MICE accounted for over 50% of their total business travel, and 84% of surveyed companies had established MICE departments. This means that prize tourism has formed a relatively independent professional field and segmented market in China, and the tourism industry generally holds positive and optimistic expectations for prize tourism. Due to factors such as proximity, high cost-effectiveness, complete supporting system, and high level of specialization, 92% of respondents consider Singapore as a prize winning tourism destination, and 18% of respondents place Singapore as the top priority for global prize winning tourism destinations. The respondents also provided directional suggestions for improving the award tourism services, such as enhancing price competitiveness, providing policy support for venue and hotel rentals, and meeting the demand for extended leisure experiences. We hope that the governments of both countries will increase their support for award-winning travel merchants, implement visa and customs clearance facilitation policies such as "one visa for multiple travel, visa free transit, and port visa" for business people, and coordinate the improvement of public service efficiency and commercial service quality related to award-winning tourism. Continuously enriching the supply of tourism products, continuously optimizing the tourism consumption environment, and better meeting the diverse, personalized, and high-quality needs of international tourists, including those who participate in events and awards.

Author | Edited by Dai Bin | Source by Liu Xin | Reproduction by China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source