23 February 2024
Weekly Wrap Up: How much will Singapore make from Taylor Swift's concert exclusivity?
The Singapore Tourism Board and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth said on Feb 20 that Taylor Swift’s sold-out concerts in Singapore in March had received support from the authorities in the form of a grant. This comes after Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's comments on Feb 16 that the Singapore Government offered subsidies in exchange for Swift agreeing not to perform elsewhere in South-east Asia.
Is paying for concert exclusivity a common practice? How does it benefit Singapore's economy and does it make financial sense to give a grant?
Dr Kevin Cheong, Managing Partner, Syntegrate LLP weighs in.

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3 February 2023
Weekly Wrap Up: Singapore drops to 13th most Instagrammable place, can we come back up on top?
Singapore has lost its top spot for being the most Instagrammable place in the world and taking the top spots are Milan, London and Paris.
Dr Kevin Cheong, Managing Partner, Syntegrate (he was formerly Chairman, Association of Singapore Attractions) shares his views on what can be done for Singapore to come back on top.

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22 September 2022
Mind Your Business: Finding the right balance to attract both locals and tourists to attractions in Singapore
Sentosa is aiming at attracting local visitors who used to flock to the island during the pandemic while it is welcoming more foreign tourists to return. Such adjustment brought in a high number of Singaporean tourists from March 2021 to April 2022. How such sight can maintain both local and foregin visitors is a big concern. Dr Kevin Cheong, Managing Partner, Syn-tegrate shares more.

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24 February 2022
Mind Your Business: Was the tourism and entertainment sectors forgotten at Budget 2022?
As we enter year 3 of the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism and entertainment sectors in Singapore are still struggling and the light at the end of the tunnel remains elusive. Budget 2022 saw additional support to some sectors for this year but it seems like nothing much was said for the tourism and entertainment sectors here. Dr Kevin Cheong, Chairman, Association of Singapore Attractions shares some of the challenges that the attractions/tourism scene is still facing right now and to what extent has the SingapoRediscover Vouchers helped cushion the impact of Covid-19 on the attraction scene here.

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25 February 2021
Budget 2021 - Travel Thursday: Tourism sector gets more support, what more can be done?
The announcement of Budget 2021 revealed that our aviation sector will get additional support and extended cost relief to the tune of $870 million. While this is good news to those in the sector, other tourism-related sectors are still feeling the heat from the almost zero tourism numbers in the last year or so. Kevin Cheong, Chairman, Association of Singapore Attractions shares what more could have been done in Budget 2021 for the tourism sector and if the aid given by the Singapore government would ever be enough for the crippled industry.

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10 December 2020
Travel Thursday: SingapoRediscovers vouchers, how it is helping local attractions so far
Since the beginning of this month, Singaporeans can finally redeem their SingapoRediscovers vouchers. While the reception of these vouchers have been great, how many of these vouchers are used for local tourist attractions? And are they losing out to hotels? Kevin Cheong, Chairman, Association of Singapore Attractions shares his feedback from members with regards to the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers so far.

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