Singapore Tourism Board
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The Singapore Tourism Board (Abbreviation: STB; Chinese: 新加坡旅游局) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry.
[edit] History
The board was first established in 1964 and was called the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (Abbreviation: STPB; Chinese: 新加坡旅游促进局). In that year, there were 91,000 visitors. The primary task of STPB was to coordinate the efforts of hotels, airlines and travel agents to develop the fledging tourism industry of the country.
Later, STPB began to initiate new marketing ideas to promote Singapore's image aboard. The board created the Merlion, a symbol based on a Singapore mythical legend, that became an icon of the Singapore destination. The board also has been providing travel agent licensing and tourist guide training.
STPB actively promotes the development of infrastructure, including the building of hotels and tourist attractions such as the Jurong Bird Park and Sentosa which now becomes a popupar resort island for both tourists and local visitors. The board also market the city as a convention venue and organised events to attract visitors.
In the 1980s, several historic and cultural significant areas such as the Chinatown, Little India and Arab Street were earmarked for preservation. These places express Singapore's cultural diversity and became popular tourist destinations. The Singapore River underwent a major cleanup program and the areas along the river were developed for restaurants and other tourists amenities.
The board was renamed as Singapore Tourism Board in 1997. The board now oversees all aspects of tourism, including resource allocation and long-term strategic planning. It establishes offices around the globe to actively market the Singapore destination.
Singapore tourism industry has grown rapidly since STPB was set up. In 2004, there were 8 million visitors. On 11 January 2005, Minister for Trade and Industry unveiled the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) bold targets to doubling visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015, see details here Tourism 2015.
