Even as tourism flourishes on Sentosa, so do many of the island’s plant and animal species. As such, Sentosa Development Corporation has always placed an emphasis on mitigating the environmental impact of increased visitorship.
How can we encourage guests to commit to more sustainable practices and activities on the island?
Sentosa Amigos aims to minimise the island’s carbon footprint by introducing eco-friendly initiatives for its guests.
They hope to develop a digital passport for hotel guests to easily find and take part in green activities (e.g. green trails, mangrove cleanups) around Sentosa. To incentivise guests to commit to sustainable practices and green activities, guests will earn a digital stamp for each activity completed and earn rewards such as vouchers for sustainable restaurants.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
4
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
google, check media posts e.g. smart local
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
1
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
I would scour the internet and will usually rely on websites such as thesmartlocal or thetripadvisor (if overseas) and occassionaly on reddit. A more reliable source of information would definitely be from people who have went on the holiday before aka word of mouth. I seem to trust them more than anonymous reviews online!
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
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In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
I don\'t think I do find out about such activities.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
4
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Research from the internet
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Google, news, zaobao, mothership, thesmartlocal
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
2
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Searching online.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Online research
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
1
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Search online
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
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In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
I usually just google it or see hi it on TikToks. Sometimes if I am getting a tour package, the guide will recommend some activities as well
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
2
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Guide books, blogs, travel / booking websites
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
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In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
from the web - articles (e.g. 10 fun things to do at Sentosa!)
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
2
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Through Google searches, advice or tips from popular microblogging sites like The Smart Local
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
4
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Through online research. There are multiple lifestyle websites that cover interesting activities and places to visit. Also there are videos on Youtube that cover guided tours.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
4
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Through word of mouth and social media.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
4
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
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In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
4
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Online booking websites, Klook etc
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Read up reviews/ forums/ blogs / vlogs.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Google is our best friend!
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
2
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
I research through famous youtubers, influencer or even articles that at from the country i am going to visit.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Usually from researching the web as well as getting info from friends and relatives
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
3
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Will go to the country tourism website to see the top few places to visit and plan
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
1
In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Mostly through online advertisements like news or social media.
In response to "On a scale of 1-5, how convenient is it to access sustainable tourism activities?"
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In response to "How do you find out about activities to do when planning your holiday?"
Online Research
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Perhaps you could think about how you can promote the digital passport such that people would first off want to take part in this activity and earn the rewards. If people don\'t care enough, they would not be bound to do this activity. Something off the top of my head would be not only vouchers for sustainable restaraunts, but other incentives such as vouchers for an eco-friendly staycation. Something that you may also want to think about is how you can track guest behavior when it comes down to simple, everyday habits such recycling your trash - that is easy to overlook/not do as a guest! This may incentivise guests to do these actions more as it doesnt require as much effort as a whole clean up :)
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
This sounds like a good idea and might make such activities more accessible. I\'m just worried that the target audience may be hard to capture as people who go to Sentosa for a vacation may have other plans in mind.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Give more detail on the digital passport
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Kudos to the team because your project is very specific. Perhaps you can partner with other teams who are encouraging community clean up efforts to explore how to co-create solutions. I’m looking forward to your digital passport!
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
There are actually alot of activities in Sentosa. You may want to just survey people on what do they visit Sentosa for and which part of Sentosa. I don\'t think I will visit Sentosa just because I want to participate in some green activities; but if you could couple it with existing things that people are doing then yes probably.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
The digital passport idea is very intriguing. I would suggest that you guys can give more function to it as well! For example, you can motivate them to recycle around Sentosa and maybe give them rewards for that. Or every time they save a plastic bag or choose an eco-friendly option, you can reward them as well. This can motivate them to stay environmentally friendly throughout their whole journey.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Expand to more than hotel guests; tie in with attractions which have sustainability angles as well.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Looks fun, can also introduce to Schools as it\'s a fun activity outside of the classroom. For tourists / non-locals, if they have limited time in Singapore and in Sentosa, not sure if this will be their chosen activity to spend an afternoon in Sentosa though
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
I think many youths and adults alike come across posts from The Smart Local either through sponsored posts or by following them on social media. Perhaps, advertising about sustainable tourism activities on that site would boost the awareness and it would be key in increasing people’s involvement in them! Also, on a separate note - great idea, team for using Sentosa as an example considering the sheer amount of people who go there for activities especially during this pandemic period where people are traveling overseas less!
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Instead of limiting the idea to hotel guests, why not to all visitors of sentosa? This way, the initiative will be more scalable.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
While digital passport seems to be an interesting idea, there is a relatively high barrier to entry for guests to participate in this activity. Digital passport shortchanges those guests who are here for a short stay (e.g. one day) and those who are here for relaxation and recreation. Guests who are here for one to two days may not have time to participate in sufficient green activities to be able to redeem something. And hence, they may not attempt to even collect or sign up for the digital passport. Bear in mind that most people who come to Sentosa (be it locals or foreigners) will tend to visit the main attractions like USS or relax at the beaches and this itself would take up one full day. There won\'t be much time for them to participate the other green activities. Furthermore, green activities like mangrove cleanup will take up lots of time too, thereby decreasing the amount of time they have left for other activities, be it green activities or attraction visiting. So even if there are incentives like vouchers, it may not be attractive to guests since they may deem it to be impossible to collect all the stamps within a short one or two days.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Hotel guests may not stay long enough to participate meaningfully in the activities on the digital passport. Stamps rewarded could be adjusted based on effort/time taken, and the rewards should be enticing enough for guests to want to participate.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
I love the idea of a green trail, would be great if it wasn\'t just limited to Sentosa!
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
how would u convince merchants to participate?
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Additional stamps/points that can be earned by completing certain checkpoints of the trail so to encourage them to fully explore the attraction
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Create more awareness such as through social media, and incentivize people to refer others to join such efforts.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Sounds interesting, though I would consider not just collecting stamps itself by doing the activities. Possibly other initiatives or learning pointers could be in it as well? What are the educational take away from these activities? You could leverage on that more!
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
This is a good concept but currently STB (merli) has roll out this initiative, the idea is good but the rewards is the issue. Due to the high \"points\" require getting merchandise is much cheaper compared to a $1-$5 reward.
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
1) Incentivise and entice with better and attractive rewards 2) Create more awareness and have better visibility to reach out to more people 3) Partner with Corporates, government bodies, volunteers and or interest groups who are domain experts 4) Appoint well known celebrities/famous people/nature lovers/activists as ambassadors 5) Legislation?
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
I didn’t know about Sentosa sustainability effort. To create awareness, definitely need to put the information on Sentosa website and when people at the main page they will see under the moving banner. Can also update via Sentosa Social media pages to keep Public updated of such initiatives
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Some things your team can further brainstorm/improve on: How will the tourist earn their digital stamps and rewards? Through via app, website, subscription plan using their email accounts to keep track their earned digital stamps or a membership card? How will the stamp system be like? Count by the number of sustainable event(s) the tourists joined? If so, how easy it is to earn the rewards from participating the sustainable event(s) / activities? Do take considerations that tourists may be just visiting our country for a few days and majority are either here for business or to enjoy the attractions. So how can you ensure the sustainable event(s) / activities will be attractive and interesting for the tourists to participate?
In response to "How Can We Improve?"
Make the tasks on the digital passport simple without dirtying the participants clothes to lower barrier to entry.
