On March 19, 2024, the Singapore Tourism Board held a roadshow event in Hangzhou, kicking off this year’s tourism roadshow in Greater China. With the theme of "Set Sail in Singapore", the event will explore the hidden ways of the Lion City and the future trends of outbound travel with industry players through information sharing, destination training, free negotiations and other links. The event attracted more than 200 tourism operators from Singapore and China to participate.

Mr. Pan Zhengzhi, Chief Representative and Executive Director of the Greater China Region of the Singapore Tourism Board, said in his welcome speech: "With the implementation of the visa-free policy, the popularity of tourism in Singapore has never been higher. We hope to take this as an opportunity to strengthen the industry through roadshows Through cooperation, we will continue to make efforts in Singapore’s advantageous areas of tourism such as family travel and business MICE, and explore the infinite possibilities of outbound travel.”

From February 9 this year, the mutual visa exemption agreement between Singapore and China came into effect, creating great convenience for Chinese tourists to travel to Singapore. According to data from the Singapore Tourism Board, approximately 327,000 Chinese tourists visited Singapore in February 2024, an increase of 8 times compared with the same period in 2023, and approximately recovered to 96% of the same period in 2019. China has returned to become Singapore's largest source of tourists. country.

In order to better serve Chinese tourists, the Singapore Tourism Board has cooperated closely with payment platforms such as UnionPay International and WeChat Pay to jointly improve the payment experience for tourists visiting New Zealand. "Singapore has a perfect acceptance environment for UnionPay payment products. Almost all local ATMs and more than 95% of merchants can use UnionPay cards and UnionPay mobile payments. UnionPay has gradually become a favored payment brand for Chinese tourists traveling abroad. During the Spring Festival this year, at Changi Airport and Star In Changi, the transaction volume of Chinese tourists using UnionPay cards at POS terminals increased by approximately 500% compared with the same period last year." Pan Zhengzhi said that relevant data shows that UnionPay mobile payment has developed rapidly in Singapore, and the transaction volume during the Spring Festival increased by nearly 400% year-on-year. The growth in transaction volume in key tourist scenes such as shopping, hotels, and attraction tickets has been particularly significant.

At the event, the Singapore Tourism Board introduced a series of "new" tourism experiences around the brand theme of "Made in Singapore". Business operators from both places have had active and thorough negotiations to jointly create tourism products that Chinese tourists love to see. In addition, the Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport Group and Sentosa Development Authority signed a strategic cooperation agreement on site. The three parties will continue to deepen their cooperation and lead tourists to discover the unusual "daily life" of the Lion City.