The very best of Singapore’s hotel, spa, F&B, entertainment and attraction’s industry was recognised on Sunday 25 March, at Singapore’s 18th annual Tourism Awards.

This year, to encourage the tourism industry to create more unique experiences, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) placed greater emphasis on innovation, creativity and experiential factors in its judging criteria. It also added new award categories, including most promising tourism star and best spa experience and recognised individuals that helped the tourism industry through challenging times with two special recognition awards.

Mr Wee Ee-chao, chairman of the STB says, “As we face an increasingly competitive tourism landscape, and as our visitors become more discerning and sophisticated, we must provide a unique blend of experiences that our visitors will find irresistible. We cannot simply do more of the same, we must be resolute about creating truly unique and distinctive experiences for Singapore to stand out from the crowd.”

The Best Spa Experience was awarded to Singapore’s first garden spa, Spa Botanica, which opened in October 2002. Best leisure experience went to The Night Safari for the fifth time, while June Guai Chian Ee was awarded Tourism Host of the Year for her outstanding work at the Jurong BirdPark.

The Most Promising Tourism Star award went to owner and operator Edwin Choo, who has created a vibrant hostel scene in Singapore, serving the needs of backpackers, with his The InnCrowd Bunk & Brekkie hostel. By recognizing players such as Choo, the STB hopes to encourage more young entrepreneurs to join the tourism industry.

The Special Recognition award went to Kay Kuok, executive chairman of Singapore’s Shangri-La Hotel and Robert Guy, director of Pacific World Destination Management, for their contributions in tackling the SARS crisis. As co-chair of the ‘COOL’ team – a task force set up to help the tourism industry in the wake of SARS, both Kuok and Guy implemented the ‘Singapore Roars’ campaign, which minimized the impact of SARS on businesses and helped stage a rapid recovery for the tourism industry.

This year’s awards received a record response of more than 300,000 local and foreign nominations.

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