Kenneth Lim, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) regional director for Southeast Asia II and Oceania, said one needs to spend a week to have a better grasp of their country’s culture.
“They have to spend a week in Singapore. I think a lot of people just go there for three days or four days. At Sentosa Island alone, you can already spend a day or two,” Lim told ABS-CBNnews.com at the sidelines of STB’s launch of its new campaign for the Philippines.
Lim was referring to the popular island resort which is home to Resorts World Sentosa and Universal Studios Singapore, among others. It can be reached from the Singapore mainland via bus, cable car, monorail or by foot.
“At Sentosa, we have a huge Universal Studios Singapore and other attractions. And we have the biggest undersea aquarium in the world today. Resorts World will already take up at least a day, and the next day, on the whole Sentosa Island, you can explore the beach bars and clubs,” he said.
Lim said the rest of the week can easily pass as travelers go to Singapore’s many shopping areas, parks, museums, bars, restaurants and hawker centers.
He encouraged travelers to go beyond Orchard Road, the popular 2.2-kilometer shopping haven.
“Do fantastic shopping beyond Orchard Road. A lot of people tend to only look at Orchard Road but today, we have a lot of fantastic enclaves besides that,” Lim said, referring to Tiong Bahru, Chinatown, Little India, Bugis and independent areas such as Haji Lane.
(For more tips on shopping in Singapore, click here.)
To those who want a more detailed itinerary, Lim said they recently unveiled a mobile app where users can customize their Singapore travel plans. A microsite for Filipino travelers to Singapore has also been created.
“I think that’s (app) the best place to see what Singapore has to offer. It has customized itineraries by the Singapore Tourism Board,” he said.
The Philippines is one of the key sources of tourism in Singapore, with the city-state welcoming 656,000 Filipinos in 2012. Lim said the STB expects the number to increase following STB’s new campaign for the Philippines, where they tapped blogger and restaurateur Erwan Heussaff as its ambassador.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
