Singapore Tourism Board (STB) along with Government of Singapore and Wildlife Reserve Singapore (WRS) are working on a five year master plan to convert ‘Mandai’ into a nature park. Mandai is located in the North Region of Singapore which is the access point of the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. WRS will also open a Rainforest Park which will be the latest attraction.
Detailing about the master plan Isabel Cheng, Chief Marketing Officer, Wildlife Reserve Singapore, “We have a five year master plan to rejuvenate all the parks. In collaboration with Singapore Tourism Board and Government of Singapore we will convert ‘Mandai’ into a nature park. The existing Bird Park will operate for two years, and then we will open a new Bird Park in Mandai and close the old one. We are also come up with a Rainforest Park and Rainforest Park South which will be a new attraction. It will be a very unique attraction and one can actually experience a rainforest. There we will recreate a cave as well. We will also open a indoor Nature attraction as well as a eco-accommodation which will be operated by Banyan Tree. The accommodation will be a mix of glamping, tree houses and normal rooms and it will be coupled with programmes. This project will change the entire Singaporean landscape. Construction has already stated and this will be done by 2024. We are now looking to reduce carbon footprints further and be eco-sensitive.”
Currently India is one of the top source markets for Singapore. With the opening of Mandai, the overnights for Indian travellers will increase. Also, Singapore has witnessed a good response for its Passion Made Possible campaign in India market.
“With Mandai opening up, we will be adding one extra day in traveller’s itinerary. Today the average length of stay is six nights, which will increase for the Indian travellers. We launched the Passion Made Possible campaign in 2017. India has been a big market for us and we have been successful in communicating our campaign in this market and we also organised various events to promote all our segments. This campaign is for people to see beyond Singapore and also tap the repeat client market,” GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, STB, said.
India has been one of the top source markets for WRS over the years. “India is a major source market for us for almost a decade now. All our attractions are very popular amongst the Indian travellers, Night Safari and Bird Park being the favourites. To cater to this market, we have authentic Indian food and also we have commentary in Hindi. We continue to see a steady growth from this market. One of the major trend is we have always seen Indians travelling in groups and families which makes it even more important to us. We have now come up with a winter package for the India market,” Cheng informed.
WRS has introduced Rainforest Lumina 2.0, a multimedia interactive night walk. “We have once again introduced Rainforest Lumina Season 2 which will be there till February 9, 2020. Earlier, the zoo used to close at night. We introduced the Rainforest Lumina around the zoo to give a bigger and unique experience. Last year, we welcomed over 200,000 travellers. This year is 2.0 and we will once again come up with the third season. The Rainforest Lumina is a multimedia walk and is also very interactive. It is an excellent package with the night safari. All our four parks are family friendly and the Rainforest Lumina and Night Safari are targeted on the young millennial travellers.”
