STB unveils $20m marketing programme for tourism firms

It aims to support marketing costs and award funding boosters to companies.

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a $20m marketing partnership programme to support tourism businesses during the circuit breaker period, according to an announcement.

STB will fund part of the marketing costs, and provide additional funding boosters to companies that collaborate with other tourism stakeholders.

According to the report, the phase two of the programme will open in early May and will receive 50% to 70% of qualified marketing costs. It will also extend to attractions, inbound travel agents, and the MICE sector. The phase one of the programme was already launched for hotels on 1 April.

STB has also launched the $2m SG stories content fund to support content creators in creating compelling stories in Singapore. This will support 90% of qualifying costs, capped at $150,000 per project. However, all filming activities must adhere to prevailing safe distancing measures and during the current circuit breaker period, all content must be produced from home.

In order to free up crucial cash-flow, STB has also reduced the minimum financial requirement for travel agents by 90% from 8 April to 31 December. All travel agents may also submit auditor certified accounts in lieu of audited statement of accounts for the financial year ending on or after 1 March.

According to the report, STB has also developed a set of tools under a three-step framework to accelerate digital transformation in the tourism sector. Under the framework, STB will launch the Tourism Transformation Index (TXI) in Q2 2020 to assess companies for digital transformation.

The board will also open ThreeHouse for companies to collaborate and test new ideas and solutions, and Singapore Tourism Analytics Network (Stan), where businesses are allowed to tap shared data and content.

STB Marketing College has also partnered with digital players such as Facebook, Google and LinkedIn to develop web-based training for the tourism industry. STB is also supporting Google and UOB in their redesign of the SME Leadership Academy programme to focus on small-and-medium enterprises in retail and tourism.