Virtual tourism experiences have “rapidly surfaced as one of the key digital commodities for the global travel and hospitality industry as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts businesses and livelihoods,” says STB. 

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has entered into a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbnb Experiences to co-promote and grow a range of experiences hosted by locals on the Airbnb Experiences platform.

In a release, STB noted that virtual tourism experiences have “rapidly surfaced as one of the key digital commodities for the global travel and hospitality industry as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts businesses and livelihoods”.

The MOU enables STB and Airbnb Experiences to showcase the range of unique Singapore Online Experiences on the Airbnb platform via various creative channels in order to stay top-of-mind to travellers worldwide.

With this, the two organisations developed and launched Singapore Virtual Trips, which is a collection of online experiences that are hosted by Singapore tourism industry partners and featured at a dedicated landing page on the Airbnb platform.

It will include a sustainability-themed tour of Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest, a virtual visit to ‘The Intan’, which is a Peranakan home museum, and an interactive bingo tour of the one-north tech precinct.

With more industry partners expected to join the initiative, STB and Airbnb Experiences expect the partnership to encourage tourism businesses to go online and “pivot towards innovative hybrid business models”. 

“Beyond Online Experiences, both parties will also collaborate in the future to onboard unique and authentic in-person Airbnb Experiences across various categories, including dining, nature, wellness, and the arts,” said the release. 

The partnership will also see the two parties jointly produce a line-up of co-branded content that features Singapore as a destination and Airbnb Experiences, to be released across their respective channels and platforms.

Such content will also be made available to travel industry partners via the Tourism Information and Services Hub (TIH) of STB.

Airbnb Experiences has also invited STB to access their data-sharing platform City Portal, which was built for “governments and tourism organizations to equip them with travel insights and other relevant resources”.

“Data and knowledge exchange will help both parties onboard more targeted Singapore Experiences, refining tourism products and services in this new environment through a deeper understanding of the evolving traveller profile,” noted STB and Airbnb Experiences. 

Meanwhile, STB Chief Executive Keith Tan described STB’s partnership with Airbnb Experiences as “a timely one”.

“As travel gradually resumes, we want to focus on strengthening Singapore’s brand image in the minds of audiences around the world, and ensure that our destination remains top-of-mind,” he said.

“This partnership will also give passionate Singapore hosts a world-leading platform to reach out to quality travellers globally, while helping them innovate and explore new business models.”

Source: CommercialGuru, 23 Oct 2020