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Coffee Shop Talk - Singapore woos Indian tourists</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">SGNEWSALTF <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">2:15 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right>(1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>7181.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Singapore woos Indian tourists as desis turn globetrotters
3 Oct, 2008, 1717 hrs IST, IANS
SINGAPORE: The Indian tourists are coming. It's a rallying cry that has hotel managers, restaurant and shop owners in Singapore sitting up and ta
king notice!
Despite rising air travel costs, Indians have retained their spot among the top five nationalities to visit Singapore and, thanks to their growing disposable incomes, are acquiring a reputation of being big spenders as well.
Although the global economic slowdown has in recent months somewhat dampened the overall number of tourists visiting Singapore, Indian families are holidaying abroad as never before and Singapore has emerged as their destination of choice.
And it's not just affluent families from the big metros but also those from the smaller cities who are going abroad - a detail that Singapore tourism officials have factored into their marketing strategy.
"With its burgeoning economy and growing outbound tourism, India continues to remain a key market for Singapore," says Kang Siew Kheng, regional director for South Asia at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
The board is pitching to get Indians to opt for Singapore not just for holidays but for meetings, company retreats, honeymoon getaways, school trips and family outings.
"Indians now seem to be looking beyond just vacations and are travelling for a plethora of reasons," said Kang. So far Indians viewed Singapore largely as a leisure travel destination, but in a shift, the city state is "fast gaining ground as a destination with multiple business options," she said.
Newly-affluent Indians, many of them on their first trip abroad, have no qualms about spending a packet on eating out and shopping, say travel agents and retail trade watchers. In statistics released earlier this year, the STB found that Indian tourists were the highest spenders, surpassing even travellers from China and Japan.
"In our experience, the average Indian tourist spends between 300 and 400 Singapore dollars a day on shopping alone during a visit," Balaji Narayanan of Millennium Travels, a Singapore-based travel agency, said.
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3 Oct, 2008, 1717 hrs IST, IANS
SINGAPORE: The Indian tourists are coming. It's a rallying cry that has hotel managers, restaurant and shop owners in Singapore sitting up and ta
king notice!
Despite rising air travel costs, Indians have retained their spot among the top five nationalities to visit Singapore and, thanks to their growing disposable incomes, are acquiring a reputation of being big spenders as well.
Although the global economic slowdown has in recent months somewhat dampened the overall number of tourists visiting Singapore, Indian families are holidaying abroad as never before and Singapore has emerged as their destination of choice.
And it's not just affluent families from the big metros but also those from the smaller cities who are going abroad - a detail that Singapore tourism officials have factored into their marketing strategy.
"With its burgeoning economy and growing outbound tourism, India continues to remain a key market for Singapore," says Kang Siew Kheng, regional director for South Asia at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
The board is pitching to get Indians to opt for Singapore not just for holidays but for meetings, company retreats, honeymoon getaways, school trips and family outings.
"Indians now seem to be looking beyond just vacations and are travelling for a plethora of reasons," said Kang. So far Indians viewed Singapore largely as a leisure travel destination, but in a shift, the city state is "fast gaining ground as a destination with multiple business options," she said.
Newly-affluent Indians, many of them on their first trip abroad, have no qualms about spending a packet on eating out and shopping, say travel agents and retail trade watchers. In statistics released earlier this year, the STB found that Indian tourists were the highest spenders, surpassing even travellers from China and Japan.
"In our experience, the average Indian tourist spends between 300 and 400 Singapore dollars a day on shopping alone during a visit," Balaji Narayanan of Millennium Travels, a Singapore-based travel agency, said.
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