Singapore signs deal with Flight Centre

Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner is poised to sign more deals across Asia after striking a multi-million dollar one with the Singapore Tourism Board.

Singapore is a top five market for visitors from Australia and New Zealand.

Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner is poised to sign more marketing contracts with Asian countries after striking a multi-million deal with the Singapore Tourism Board to promote the island state to Australian tourists.

In its first such move since the pandemic, Flight Centre struck the landmark multi-million dollar deal with the Singapore Tourism Board to promote the city state to Aussie travellers as either a leisure destination in its on right or a three day layover en route to the Continent.

“The Singaporeans obviously want people to stopover for a few days en route to Europe or as part of a holiday triangle where tourists spend half the time in Singapore and half their holiday in Vietnam, Phuket, the Maldives or Sri Lanka, that’s the sort of thing,” Mr Turner said on Thursday.

Flight Centre signed the memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Tourism Board for three years with the deal encompassing its brands not only in Australia but in the UK, United States, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

Mr Turner said if there was a mutual rationale with other countries Flight Centre would be quite keen to sign more such deals.

Flight Centre’s Graham Turner said the memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Tourism Board was for three years. Picture: Justine Walpole

“Singapore has been quite positive in terms of its approaches this is a bit of a trial but we are keen to do it with other destinations that don’t conflict with Singapore,” he said.

”Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Thailand are the sort of places we are encouraging people to visit,” said Mr Turner adding that Singapore Airlines is obviously onboard with the deal.

“There are quite a few other carriers, Singapore Airlines is a key one for us.”

“Now that more of the region’s carriers have resumed routes through Singapore, Flight Centre Travel Group is excited to work with Singapore Tourism Board to cast the limelight back on the city and remind the world just what a spectacular travel destination Singapore is.”

Singapore Tourism Board chief executive Keith Tan said the partnership would boost tourism recovery around the world and would enable the Board to showcase the island state’s many new hotels, experiences and attractions launched in the past few years.

Singapore is a top five market for visitors from Australia and New Zealand due to its traditional stop over status on the way to Europe.

“Since borders reopened last year, both markets have made a strong recovery and expected to revert to pre-Covid levels in 2024.”

New attractions on Singapore’s Sentosa Island include Central Beach Bazaar and Skyhelix, Singapore’s highest open air panoramic ride, while the island nation has also signed a deal with Disney Cruise Line to homeport one of its brand new cruise ships for at least five years from 2025.

Disney was attracted to Singapore’s strategic location, world class air connectivity and port infrastructure which makes it a thriving cruise hub in Southeast Asia.

Originally published as Singapore signs deal with Flight Centre