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One of the environmental forces that has impacted SG's Tourism is Political Forces.

Political Environment is made up of laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence and limit the activities of various organisations and individuals in society. Based on my understanding, I would say that Singapore Tourism will not be able to expand so much during the recent years without the agreement  between two countries.

For example, it is mentioned in the article that " the number of flights that Singapore carriers, for example, can operate to China and India depends on government agreements."  Which means, if there was no agreement between the government of China, India & Singapore, Singapore's Tourism would not be growing as much as it is considering that China and India are the two countries to have a huge amount of tourists visiting Singapore. I would say that seeking approval between two countries to allow the increment of tourism is vital as the government plays a big role in the country as they are the one who decides what is best for their people. By having an agreement, it allows tourists to be able to visit Singapore with more ease as this will benefit both local and foreign governments.

- Anisah Syazwani

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A marketer has to know how to assemble the right kind of marketing mix programme to fit a given type of market segmentation.
In this case, we are talking about geographic segmentation, a common strategy when you serve customers in a particular area.

It can be seen from the article that "InterContinental Singapore, for instance, teaches staff Chinese etiquette like presenting a name card with two hands." and  "Indian tourists like the convenience of packing for one trip but being able to travel to several countries at one time, the spokesman added."
“We do understand that some of them may have strict dietary requirements and, therefore, we have menus available to cater to those needs,” she said."

Hotels in Singapore are trying to satisfy the needs and wants of their overseas customers, trying to make them feel at home by teaching their staffs some cultural practices and providing their guests with suitable food that they can consume. And also by research, it has been concluded that Indian tourists prefers convenience.

-Hui Yi

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The type of macro environment that have an impact on SG tourism is economic . One of the factor of economic environment is economic contribution, from the number of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts.

Singapore tourism receipts have been boosted by rapid increase of tourist visitors from China and India with total amount of 4.49 million visitors. The tourism receipts rose by 5% from China with SG$3,083 million while tourism receipts from India is $SG1,133 million in 2017. Therefore, with increasing number of visitors and tourism receipts it will contribute to Singapore GDP to increase.

Also, according to Mr Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group’s managing director for air hub development told The Straits Times that “The projected growth in Asia provides good opportunities for us to expand our regional links and strengthen the Singapore hub.” Thus, with the expansion of air links and traffic it will improve the control of airline system and routes which create better projection of Singapore hub. Furthermore, it helps to improve Singapore economic growth which leads to positive economic impact.

-Dessy

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A micro environmental force that is likely to have an impact on Singapore's tourism is suppliers.

Suppliers can make an impact  on tourism by changing the product that they are selling to customers accordingly. In this case, its a cruise company modifying their product to better suit tourists need and wants.

"To cater to their needs and taste buds, Norwegian’s vessels also offer vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian menus."

The cruise company acknowledges that there are much more Indian travellers coming on board their cruise. Thus, by changing their menu on the cruise, they can cater better to more Indian tourist.

-Lee Zhi Yang

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Companies play a big part in luring or attracting tourists to come to Singapore. They work together to figure out what are some customers' likes and dislikes.

As can be seen from the article,  to satisfy and cater to customer's needs and preference, Norwegian vessels offer both vegetarian and non vegetarian menus for the Indian customers. This shows that the Norwegian vessel companies cater to the different preferences of the Indian tourists and are satisfying their needs and wants.

Another example is, "InterContinental Singapore general manager Michael Martin said that since 2015, the hotel has made itself a “China-ready” establishment. The staffs are taught Chinese etiquette, such as using both hands to present a name card. There are also Chinese speaking staffs available to cater to the needs of these Chinese guests. This will thus lead to a positive impact on SG Tourism as more Chinese guests would like to visit Singapore and it will also lead to loyalty from the Chinese guests.

- Sandra

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One of the forces from the macro environment that will likely have an impact on SG Tourism is technological forces. Technology has helped make travelling much more easier and convenient for everyone.

An example is Skyscanner. Skyscanner is an online travel search site where people can plan and book direct from many travel options at the best prices. The website or mobile app allows people to also compare the prices of different airline and allow them to compare and choose the most suitable and best for them. This allows travelers to be able to book and manage their flights just from their homes, on their computers or mobile phones which makes it very effective and efficient. They can also save money as the website shows the best prices that is being offered by airlines.

Hence, this shows that technological forces has impacted SG Tourism in a positive way.

-Ming Wei

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Demography is the study of human population in terms of age, gender, race and more and this can result in a large impact on SG tourism.
This is because, SG tourism can use 'Generational Marketing' to market our tourism to a bigger market.

From the article of 'Chinese tourists favour shopping and sightseeing', it can be inferred that many Chinese tourists like Ms Yang Jing, loves to come to Singapore to sight-see and shop. Ms Yang Jing mentioned in the article that many Chinese tourists that is around the same age as her, 25 years old, prefer to not be in a tour group and likes visiting tourist sites such as Merlion, Sentosa and Gardens by the Bay.

Since, most of the Chinese tourists visiting Singapore has similar demography as Yang Jing, it's impact on SG tourism will be large since most tourists visiting Singapore are from China. SG tourism can focus on marketing their tourist sites and shopping sites especially since most tourists visit Singapore for these. With more marketing on these areas, it will increase the amount of tourists visiting, leading to a positive impact on the SG tourism.

-Wei Qi

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Public is a micro environmental force that is likely to have an impact on SG Tourism. More specifically, government public is present in the article in which, companies take government developments into account.

According to the article, it was mentioned that, “ About one in five travellers at Changi Airport today is either from China or India, and this proportion is set to increase significantly in the coming years as Singapore goes all out to lure visitors from two of the world’s fastest growing air travel markets. ” This shows that majority of the visitors to Singapore come from China. Companies such as InterContinental Singapore has thus worked on how to cater to these China visitors. As stated, “InterContinental Singapore, are also adapting their products and services to lure Chinese and Indian travellers. InterContinental Singapore general manager Michael Martin said that since 2015, the hotel has made itself a “China-ready” establishment.” By catering to the needs of these visitors, they would be satisfied with their experience in Singapore and this could lead to them re-visiting Singapore. Hence, the actions by the companies positively influence and impact the SG Tourism.

- Juline

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A company should monitor three variables when analyzing each of its competitors:

Share of market: The Company's share of the market
"Visitors from China increased 13% since 2016 and Visitors from India increased 16% since 2016."

Share of mind: The percentage of customers who named the competitor in responding to the statement, "Name the first company that comes to mind in this industry."
"From Singapore, the tourists are able to visit a number of other countries, depending on the cruise package they have booked with the travel agent."
This shows that Singapore have competitors as the visitors will increase for the countries that the tourist are visiting through the cruise package. Even though Singapore have competitors, not all tourists will book the cruise package, other tourists visit Singapore to shop and sight see. Therefore, Singapore will have more tourist than other countries.
(The first few countries that come to mind are China, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Macau and India as they have more international tourist arrivals.)

Share of heart: The percentage of customers who named the competitor in responding to the statement, "Name the company from whom you prefer to buy the product."
"Chinese tourists favor shopping and sightseeing" "More Indian travelers cruising to and from S'pore"
This shows that Chinese and Indian tourist prefer Singapore.

-Rachel Tan

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Competitors play an important role when it comes to gaining market share. If one is able to increase its brand awareness and appeal to its customers, they will gain a larger market share and vice versa.

As seen in the article, industry players like the Cruise Line Holdings had modify their packages to cater to their target customers.

As such, other industry players like InterContinental Singapore had adapt their products and services to appeal to their target customers.

Hence, to stay in the tourism industry, these industry players need to constantly improve and adapt their products and services to appeal to their target customers.

-Eunice

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Companies are one of the factors of the micro environment that is likely to have an impact on SG tourism.

Companies are the only factor in the environment that the firm has control over. For example, they can decide what goods to produce to cater more to specific tourists or they can price their products accordingly. For example, Regent Hotel Singapore adjusted their menus to cater more towards the increasing Indian tourists visiting Singapore.

To know what caters more to customers and to develop new ideas for products to cater more to customers means that the company must "think consumer". This means that the employees, supervisors and managers have to think with the minds of the consumers.

Not only that, the company has to know how to market their products to attract the customers that they plan to cater to. These methods used help the company to provide customer value and satisfaction which encourages more customers to visit Singapore.

-Joey

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Technological force is one macro environmental force that is most likely to have an impact on the tourism of Singapore.

As technology is more and more involved in our daily lives, the number of people dependent on it has increased constantly.

Technology has created new distribution channels to provide more potential businesses for hospitality and travel products which allow organisations to earn more at a faster rate.

For example, tourists are able to use the internet to research on the country they plan to visit and gets a sense of what to expect. It also simplifies the process of burdensome tasks such hotel reservation and checkout since technology allows continuous communication with the organisation and the guests.

Overall, this shows that the tourism industry has to incorporate technology so as to provide satisfactory customers service and keep the industry alive.

-JiaHui

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An astute marketer must know how to assemble the right kind of marketing mix programme to fit a given type of market segmentation.  This means that different types of marketing are needed to reach out to different types of target audience.

For example, InterContinental Singapore teaches their staff Chinese etiquette to appeal to Chinese tourists.
For Indian tourists, a Regent spokesman explained that there are different menus to cater to the Indian tourists as some of them have strict dietary requirements.

This shows companies effort of attracting more tourists to visit Singapore as they are willing to cater to them and satisfy  their different needs.

-Jing Xuan

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One of the sub-categories under social forces would be cultural forces.
Culture incorporates values, ideas and attitudes that are learned and shared among members of a group.
The article states that "About one in five travellers at Changi Airport today is either from China or India, and this proportion is set to increase significantly in the coming years as Singapore goes all out to lure visitors from two of the world's fastest growing air travel markets."
This suggests that both China and India contribute greatly to singapore's tourism receipts. Thus, it is vital that our service staff are aware of their respective cultures and understand their cultural norms and practices. This is to ensure that we do not do anything disrespectful or that is considered inappropriate in their presence.
For example, the article states that "This means, for example, that staff are taught Chinese etiquette, such as using both hands to present a name car. Mandarin speaking staff are also readily available to attend to guests' needs." This suggests that it is important to treat guests with respect and knowing the right gestures will definitely come in handy when dealing with guests from around the world.
Furthermore, the article also states that "To cater to their needs and taste buds, Norwegian's vessels also offer vegetarian and non-vegetarian indian menu, she said."
This shows that companies are modifying their products and services to ensure that it meets the needs and wants of different customers of different races and ethnicities.

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Cultural force is one of the macro environmental force that is most likely to have an impact on SG's tourism.

According to the article, "A spokesman for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said: “India’s outbound leisure market is taking off, and we are seeing increasing numbers of Indian tourists booking fly-cruise packages in Singapore, as the island is a regional hub and port.". With that, "To cater to their needs and taste buds, Norwegian’s vessels also offer vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian menus".

This shows that companies are adapting to changes to meet the cultural needs of their customers.

Hence this would lead to a positive impact of SG's tourism.

-Ericia