SINGAPORE, 17 November 2021: The Korea Tourism Organisation and the Singapore Tourism Board have signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to co-promote both destinations, develop tech solutions to benefit our respective industries, and boost bilateral tourism.
Under the new partnership, KTO and STB will jointly drive destination and product awareness through marketing and promotional activities to capture pent-up tourism demand as international travel gradually resumes.
Both organisations will also support tourism startups to develop technologies that will benefit the tourism sector. For example, STB will support Korean startups through the Singapore Tourism Accelerator (1) programme to develop quality solutions and pilot them within Singapore’s tourism industry.
Starting 16 November, fully vaccinated travellers who meet the necessary requirements can now travel between Singapore and South Korea without quarantine under the new Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL).
To kick off this partnership, KTO and STB will progressively launch familiarisation trips for trade and media partners to promote safe travel between both destinations under the VTL.
Korea Tourism Organisation president Ahn Young Bae said: “It is significant to sign this MOU on the same day as the launch of the VTL between South Korea and Singapore. We welcomed visitors from Singapore this morning. I am optimistic that this MOU will play a key role in reviving tourism between both countries, and we are excited to welcome more Singapore travellers to South Korea.”
Singapore Tourism Board Chief Executive Keith Tan added: “South Korea is a key source market for Singapore, and as international travel gradually resumes, we look forward to welcoming South Korean visitors back. We are confident that this partnership with KTO will drive awareness of Singapore’s new and reimagined offerings, expand the capabilities of our industry, and support the overall recovery of our tourism sector.”
The partnership reflects STB’s continued efforts to raise the attractiveness of Singapore to South Korean travellers.
South Korea is an important visitor source market for Singapore, ranking 9th out of 15 top visitor source markets in 2019. Singapore received about 646,000 South Koreans in 2019, a 3% increase over 2018.
1 Organised by STB and its appointed corporate innovation partner, Ravel Innovation, Singapore Tourism Accelerator is a four-month programme for the world’s most promising technology startups or pre-scaleups that can power the travel and tourism industry.
