Menu
People and Pop Culture

Hangin' With ... Singapore Tourism Board Sports Director Jean Ng

JEAN NG is the Singapore Tourism Board's sports director. In addition to the ongoing WTA Finals, which will conclude Sunday, Singapore recently hosted an F1 Grand Prix on Sept. 21. The city-state's new $1B Singapore Sports Hub is at the center of the island's plans to use sports to improve its attractiveness to tourists. Ng spoke to SBD Global about what Singapore has learned about hosting global sporting events, the impact of technology in how Singapore markets itself and her love of netball.

On the exposure from hosting the F1 race in September followed by the WTA Finals in October...
Jean Ng: As one of the most important women’s tennis events on the Women’s Tennis Association calendar, the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is an opportunity for us to showcase Singapore through the world’s best women tennis players. Through them, we expect to profile Singapore’s vibrancy and attractiveness to their large fan base from around the world. Likewise, international media coverage resulting from world-class sporting events will also help to profile Singapore as a destination of choice, developing our mindshare beyond that of sports into the areas of lifestyle and entertainment. By doing so, we hope to motivate fans to travel to Singapore to support their favorite players.

On what Singapore is learning about hosting sports events...
Ng: Although Singapore’s sport industry is in a nascent state, we have been fortunate to enjoy considerable success with world-class events such as the 2014 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix. This is possible through the integration of lifestyle offerings into these sporting events to deliver a unique sport and entertainment experience. Such events have helped to hone Singapore’s capabilities to host differentiated sporting events. This has inspired us to continue to identify, catalyze and grow more of such events. The local community is also integral to the successful hosting and organization of sporting events, volunteering as race marshals and lines people or ball kids. Sport’s ability to fire passions and unite people regardless of nationality behind individual sportsmen and teams creates a great event atmosphere for the athletes. It is this same passion that has the ability to motivate fans to travel around the world to support their favorite teams, individuals and sports. In addition to this travelling fan base, sporting events also contribute to the economy, create job opportunities, and generate tourism spend.

On winning the bids to host the WTA and F1...
Ng: For sports events, we aim to raise the bar on the fan experience. We want consumers to enjoy the other lifestyle experiences available in Singapore beyond the sporting event. With that in mind, we emphasize that Singapore’s transforming tourism landscape now has so much to offer different consumer segments, with the varied leisure offerings ranging from dining and retail to entertainment and attractions. We also emphasize our demonstrated capabilities in organizing and executing large scale events. We do this by working with public and private agencies to anchor, develop, and co-create innovative and original content that optimizes our excellent infrastructure and complements our existing stable of compelling and unique sporting and lifestyle offerings. Ultimately, this extends the excitement of the sport beyond the sporting arena into the lifestyle and business segments. We also highlight developments in our sports infrastructure. For example, the brand new Singapore Sports Hub, a state-of-the-art, fully integrated sports, entertainment and lifestyle hub, provides the critical infrastructure to create a pipeline of prestigious sports events.

On advances in technology changing the way Singapore markets itself...
Ng: Social media has transformed the way consumers gather information on travel. In a bid to further engage our target audience on social media, STB recently revamped the official Singapore tourism website (www.yoursingapore.com) to incorporate more content gathered from social media platforms. Photos, tweets, and stories from locals or other travellers offer a wide range of different perspectives, bringing Singapore closer to our audience, and reinforce their interest to visit us. For events such as the WTA Finals and Grand Prix Season Singapore, our overall marketing objective is to reinforce Singapore’s positioning as a lifestyle destination through a compelling sports entertainment experience. Our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), showcase the myriad of dining, entertainment, sports, and leisure activities in Singapore. This is often complemented by what players, drivers and related sports personalities talk about on their own Twitter feeds and Facebook posts. This enables us to reach out to a wider audience, and amplify the message that Singapore provides a top-notch sports entertainment experience.

On the role of sports in Singapore's appeal to tourists...
Ng: Singapore's unique sport and entertainment product offering delivers compelling content and programming that draws locals and visitors, creating greater affinity for Singapore. Such content and programming comprise a variety of offerings that will appeal to both sports fans and leisure visitors looking for differentiated experiences. We believe our brand of sport tourism will draw discerning sport fans from abroad and help to build long-term visitor arrivals through heightened destination awareness, consequently driving tourism receipts. For instance, the Formula 1 race has contributed significantly to Singapore's incremental tourism receipts, bringing in an average of S$150 million per race from 2008 to 2013 (this is excluding 2009, as it was an anomalous year due to the recession). With broadcast coverage reaching more than 500 million international viewers over the last six races, the race has helped showcase Singapore as a beautiful, vibrant and attractive destination to a global audience.

On her favorite sports to watch and play...
Ng: I played a lot of netball for most of my life as a national player in the Singapore netball team. I also captained the national netball team from 2004 to 2012. It is probably not surprising that my favorite sport to watch and play is a fast-paced and skilful game of netball. I also love watching most sports -- you can find me glued to the television during the Olympics, and enjoy the occasional game of basketball, handball, badminton. I also keep fit by having regular runs and gym sessions!

Hangin' With runs each Friday in SBD Global.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2014/10/24/People-and-Pop-Culture/Hangin-With.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2014/10/24/People-and-Pop-Culture/Hangin-With.aspx

CLOSE