NON-ASIAN TOURISTS' VIEWS ON SINGAPORE CULTURAL TOURISM

Abstract

Promoting ethnic cultural tourism is an important aspect of an overall tourism strategy in Singapore. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) actively leverages the country’s limited natural resources and short history to ensure the viability and competitiveness of this industry. In this research note, we examine non-Asian tourists’ perceptions of Singapore’s ethnic cultural tourism and make recommendations for future promotion. The results from a survey conducted in 2009 show that non-Asian tourists’ participation in ethnic cultural tourism in Singapore is mostly accidental and is less for cultural aspects than for cheap shopping and low-priced food. The challenge for the Singapore tourism industry is to balance profit-generation with cultural retention and education.