SINGAPORE: Tour operators and hostels are upping their game as they look to bank on Singapore’s recovering tourism sector.
This comes as inbound tourism figures picked up in 2024, increasing by 12 per cent from 2023.
Let’s Go Tour, for instance, is hoping that new offerings beyond the beaten path could draw in a wider base. This includes tours to Kampung Buangkok, Singapore’s last of its kind.
“Now, even tourists and expats are starting to be keen to learn what Singapore was like before all the high-rise buildings,” said the firm’s general manager Kyanta Yap.
The tour operator is also experimenting with theatrical tours, featuring actors as guides.
“We want to be different because I think Singapore tourism as a whole – we have already upgraded to the next level,” he said.
“We are run by a group of energetic and new, innovative kinds of tour guides. So it’s not the waving flag and microphone (type),” he said referring to how tours are traditionally run.
Another firm, Monster Day Tours, has started holding augmented reality tours.
“What we want to do … is leverage on augmented reality features to help our tour guides tell the stories of Singapore better …. which will bring some of the precincts to life,” said chief operating officer Byron Koh.
Both firms also said that they have introduced game-like experiences and worked to appeal to companies that need to hold team-bonding activities.
