Gain fresh insights about the tourism industry as we speak to STB’s Chief Executive, as well as a young professional with a zest for shaping the nation.

By Cheryl Lim

Forty-five years ago, Singapore’s tourism industry was birthed through the establishment of the nation’s own tourism organisation – the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, now known as the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). That year, with a staff strength of 25, the organisation launched the first of its tourism marketing campaigns and garnered 91,000 visitor arrivals.

Over the decades, Singapore’s tourism industry has grown in leaps and bounds. In 2008, the nation enjoyed 10.1 million visitor arrivals and record tourism receipts of S$14.8 billion – all thanks to a dedicated, innovative group of people at STB and close collaboration with tourism industry partners. And despite the recent downturn, tourism remains a viable generator of growth for Singapore and the region.

“In the long-term, we are optimistic about tourism. The potential in our part of the world is tremendous. This is a region that people want to get to know, to learn about the history, heritage, food, and behaviour. It’s very exciting because the whole region is becoming more interesting and vibrant to people both within the region and outside,” says Ms Aw Kah Peng, Chief Executive for STB.

Creating experiences
Singapore might be geographically small, but we are big in imagination and creativity. Our flair for ingenuity is evident in the initiatives undertaken by STB – such as the upcoming Singapore GP Season 2009 and the 2009 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX, integrated resorts, and new attractions such as River Safari.

“We don’thave beautiful lakes or breathtaking mountains. But we can give people reasons to come,” says Ms Aw. “We have to keep creating. What’s new? What’s fresh? We have to keep trying new things and gathering feedback on what’s good and what’s not.”

At STB, “creativity” is not about copying the tried and tested. Instead, it is about conceiving new yet relevant concepts that would appeal to its different target audiences locally and abroad.

“You want to organise a race? You never just copy. You have to look at the context of Singapore, where we can best do it, how we can do it, why doing it here would be unique,” she elaborates. “Copying is never fun. It gets you started, but it’s never fun. The creative process is fun.”

Thriving in tourism
Tourism, with its global outlook, calls for marketing savvy, a strategic perspective, as well as the ability to understand issues on the ground. However, to truly thrive in the sector, one also needs to love having fun and interacting with people.

“Fun is not a bad thing. Fun is a way of thinking about the future. It’s being optimistic, it’s being positive,” says Ms Aw.

“We look for people who have a sense of adventure and are not afraid to be passionate about things, because if you want to create something, you’ve got to have some passion. It cannot be because ‘my boss told me to do it’,” she laughs.

STB embraces a wide range of positive qualities – optimism, passion, and a sense of adventure, to name a few – and searches for people who profess the same. Of course, it goes without saying that other qualities such as good judgement and common sense are equally vital.

“We want people with good minds who are not afraid to work hard. We need them to be flexible, adventurous, smart and hardworking. And they must be very good with people, because 90% of the time we’re dealing with a person, not a machine. That’s the nature of our job,” she reveals.

Those traits are embodied in Lorraine Lai, a Management Executive with STB’s Development Group. The chatty 24-year-old shares that her attraction to the Board stemmed from how its culture complements both her interests and goals.

“There are two main reasons why I am attracted to STB. One, I love travelling and the whole concept of travel. I understand why people would want to travel. Secondly, I want to have a hand to play in shaping the landscape of Singapore. You can take pride in seeing these things that you plan come to life,” she says.

Breadth of exposure
After graduating from the National University of Singapore in 2008, the Geography major applied for STB’s Management Trainee Programme through BrightMinds – an online career fair by JobsFactory – and successfully clinched the position.

Since joining the organisation in July last year, Lorraine has enjoyed three different postings under the programme. Her first posting was a 10-week stint at the Singapore Visitors Centre, where she gained on-the-ground experience from managing tourists’ queries and feedback. She was then posted to Healthcare Services, followed by Destination Marketing, for 21 weeks each.

Today, Lorraine is in her permanent posting at Integrated Resorts where she looks into policies and other strategic work. In addition, she has also been assigned another portfolio concurrently doing Cruise Infrastructure work.

“My job scope at Destination Marketing is different from my current job. When I was in Marketing, things were very fast-paced. Marketing is about tight deadlines. You dream of things and execute them. Currently, at Integrated Resorts, we look at projects with a very long lifespan. There’s a very intensive thought process to every decision that is made.”

“That’s the beauty of this Management Trainee Programme – you are exposed to a spectrum of experiences and it’s never boring. Both aspects of what I’ve done are important, because you need to be able to strategically develop your product and at the same time market it well to the rest of the world,” she adds.

Fitting the bill
Glamorous as the job may sound, management trainee hopefuls need to be mindful of the challenges they will encounter as representatives of Singapore’s tourism industry.

“As with any large organisation, you have to work with different stakeholders. One of the biggest challenges is to understand the needs of different parties that come to you. In STB, you’re not just representing an organisation, you’re representing the country. We have a lot more responsibility to make sure what we do is tip-top and up to people’s expectations,” she highlights.

Lorraine also believes it takes a gung-ho personality to enjoy and excel in the tourism industry. Hence, an STB career is not for everyone.

“You need to be passionate about the tourism landscape in Singapore, and not mind working odd hours to ensure projects are successfully completed,” she says. “It’s also important to be in-tune with the environment outside work. You can’t just work in a silo; you need to know what people out there are saying about your country and how they feel about travelling.”

Launch your career with BrightMinds
BrightMinds is a series of online career fairs by JobsFactory which focuses on campus recruitment, enabling fresh graduates from specific tertiary groups – namely, university, polytechnic and ITE – to land jobs soon after graduation.

Leading organisations comprising MNCs, established SMEs and government agencies hire through BrightMinds, a one-stop portal for submitting applications to these highly sought-after employers.

“BrightMinds was a useful platform for me to get an overview of the different jobs out there for fresh graduates,” says Lorraine, who applied for STB’s management trainee programme through the portal. “The application process was seamless, really user-friendly.”

“I could also enjoy peace of mind, because I knew that my application had gotten through to the right hands,” she adds, on the difference BrightMinds made to her search for a career.