Singapore woos Indians for weekend leisure

Sulekha Nair
Posted: Sunday, Feb 24, 2008 at 0031 hrs IST
Updated: Sunday, Feb 24, 2008 at 0051 hrs IST

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Mumbai Feb 23: A leisure trip to foreign destination needs time, money and planning. Well, that is the common perception. Picture this. Just take a Friday evening flight and fly back on Sunday night, and you can report for work on Monday morning. No need to plan out details or keep a huge cash cache aside for this. Sounds impossible? Visit Singapore on the weekends, the new programme of Singapore Tourism, makes it possible.

The scheme was launched on a trial basis in Chennai in September 2007.

“We chose Chennai as there is a certain degree of familiarity to the city where Singaporeans are concerned and vice versa. The trial was a success and tourist traffic increased 17% during the weekends. There were 49 services flying weekly from this sector since the programme was launched,” says SiewKheng Kang, regional director, Singapore Tourism, South Asia, Middle East & Africa.

The weekend Singapore tour programme has now been extended to eight metros—Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, besides Chennai. There are more airline options than before, said Khang, with some cities like Mumbai offering double daily flights through Singapore Airlines and others such as Jet Airways and Air India that offer daily flights. “Talks are on with other airlines to fly into Singapore,” he adds.

Young professionals can look forward to relaxing in spas not just in hotels but also garden spas, a new concept introduced at the Sentosa island resort in Singapore.

Shopping arcades are open throughout the night and concerts are also held over the weekends, thus providing a variety of options to weekend visitors.

“We are also holding talks with hotels so that the increasing traffic during the weekends can be accommodated easily,” said Kang.

Year 2007 was a record year for tourism in Singapore, with over 10 million arrivals achieving $13.8 billion in global tourism receipts, registering a 14% growth over 2006. There were 7.4 lakh Indian visitors, making the country the fourth largest source for the island nation.

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