Singapore celebrates 60 years of diplomatic ties with India with tourism campaign

Singapore, Oct 30 (PTI) Singapore received 923,211 Indian visitors from January to September, an increase of 3 per cent, as it commemorates 60 years of diplomatic relations with India this year with a tourism campaign, “Just between us friends”, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Thursday.

“To continue attracting visitors from India, we have forged multiple marketing partnerships and launched several sales promotional campaigns to drive higher visitor engagement and offer attractive packages to Indian travellers,” a STB spokesperson said as the island state starts its year-end festivities, ramping up to Christmas and New Year celebrations.  “In commemoration of India and Singapore's 60 years of bilateral relations, we launched the "Just between us friends" initiative at the start of 2025, where Indian visitors can enjoy exclusive perks and offers in Singapore,” the spokesperson said.

Visitors were offered discounts at leading shopping centres and tourism attractions, including CapitaLand Malls, Changi Airport, Jewel Changi Airport, ION Orchard, Paragon, Sentosa Island and Mustafa Singapore.

“Beyond retail benefits, we also collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India, enabling Indian visitors to enjoy seamless payments at over 130,000 UPI-enabled merchants, including marquee brands like Starbucks, Bacha Coffee, Charles & Keith, Subway, and duty-free stores at Changi Airport (Shilla, Lotte, The Cocoa Trees),” the spokesperson said.

Building on this momentum, STB also signed a year-long MOU with IndiGo in July 2025 to enhance accessibility with special fares, curated Singapore packages and co-branded campaigns highlighting the city's vibrant attractions and offerings.

This partnership also includes potential collaborations under IndiGo's 6E Rewards and IndiGo BluChip Loyalty programmes, as well as travel trade engagement activities, said the spokesperson, underlining that India remains a leading tourist-generating market for the city state.

“Expenditure on shopping, accommodation, and food and beverage continues to be the top expenditure categories of Indian travellers to Singapore. Despite exchange rate challenges, Indian travellers remain one of Singapore's top travel groups,” said the spokesperson, commenting on the tourist spending despite the weak Rupee.

In 2024, Indian visitors spent an average of 6.33 days in Singapore, higher than the average of other international visitors.

STB’s Director of Land & Concept Development, Ashlynn Loo, shared plans for the celebrations, “Events like Christmas on A Great Street (as the hotel and shopping belt of Orchard Road is dubbed) are vital in strengthening Singapore's destination attractiveness, showcasing our ability to create world-class experiences that celebrate both our heritage and innovation.” Organisers of the year-end festivities, Orchard Road Businesses Association (ORBA) Chairman Mark Shaw elaborated, “As we celebrate Singapore’s remarkable transformative journey over six decades, we are delighted to welcome Singapore residents and visitors to enjoy this year’s Christmas Light-Up which blends festive tradition with Singapore's national identity.” “In a time of global uncertainty and economic volatility, we hope that our annual tradition of welcoming the holiday season with goodwill, joy, and celebration, will lift spirits as the year draws to a close,” he underlined.

Last year, international visitor arrivals to Singapore increased by 21 per cent to 16.5 million. India, as the third largest tourist generating market, accounted for 1.2 million tourists, Indonesia was second with 2.49 million visitors and China topped the chart with 3.08 million visitors, according to STB 2024 data released in February this year. PTI GS RD RD