History made: Crazy Rich Asians

Asian audiences around the world have waited decades to see themselves represented on screen in all their diversity. History was made when Warner Bros. launched Crazy Rich Asians featuring an all-Asian cast and Asian-American lead in August 2018. This romantic-comedy, filmed in Singapore, Malaysia and New York, follows the protagonist’s story when she visits her boyfriend, Nick’s, family only to find out he comes from one of the wealthiest families in Singapore. The 2 hour film follows through to show the challenges the protagonist faces to gain the acceptance of Nick’s mother. 

Most scenes were filmed in Singapore, including the iconic Marina Bay Sands, Newton Circus, Gardens by the Bay, CHIJMES amongst many others. There were also scenes shot in Malaysia. This created major commotion on social media and news publications as they spoke about both countries upon realisation of its beauty and existence. 

Source: Google, Newton Circus

That is the power of film tourism, the ability to spark conversations on the locations and create interest once seen in movies. The same was seen once Crazy Rich Asians hit the theatres. It was reported by Singapore Tourism Board (STB) that international arrivals to Singapore increased by 6.6 percent to 16.9 million from January to November 2018. From the United States alone, tourist arrivals increased by 13 percent to 580 thousand that year (Tay, 2019). On top of that, STB tracked that since the movie, there had been a spike in searches on Singapore online, and even tour companies have noticed an increase in enquiries and bookings to the Lion city (Chen, 2019). 

Malaysia too noticed a spike in visitorship and awareness of the country due to scenes featured in the movie. Four Seasons Langkawi, where the luxurious bachelorette party was shot at, reported that the awareness and visibility translated into more bookings with the hotel. Penang’s Cheong Fatt Tze mansion witnessed more tourists showing interest in touring the historic home. Tourists even shared images and referencing the movie’s climatic mahjong scene, on social media (Chen, 2019). 

Source: Google, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

This is an excellent example of how such movies can motivate travellers to visit the country from the movie they have seen which positively impact the country's tourism. Travellers are enticed to visit a country that they have seen for many reasons, including sharing their passion for the film with their friends online. 

With this is mind, film-makers must take note of providing accurate representation of the country they are filming at, so that travellers are not disappointed when they visit. Together with the support of the country’s tourism board, travellers will travel to visit. 

References: 

Chen, M.Y., (2019, January 25). Crazy Rich Asians ‘cine-tourism’: Will it compel more people to visit Singapore? Retrieved March 10 from https://www.mumbrella.asia/2019/01/crazy-rich-asians-cine-tourism-will-it-bring-more-people-to-visit-singapore

Tay, T.F., (2019, February 14). Tourist arrivals, spending in Singapore at record highs. Retrieved March 10 from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/tourist-arrivals-spending-at-record-highs

The power of digital storytelling: A sharing by Azhar Abdul-Salam

Google Search “Reunion” heart-warming video went viral and garnered more than 4 million views in five days (Gesenhues, 2013). Tears were shed when viewers around the world, especially in India and Pakistan, realised the story was about the separation and reconciliation from the Partition of India in 1947. As Azhar Abdul-Salam, lecturer at Nanyang Polytechnic, played the video for the class to view, I watched the girl beside me cry at the thought-provoking storyline which stimulated a discussion between us right after. That is the power of a gripping storyline that evokes emotion and starts conversation.

As part of his sharing on Storytelling on 31 January 2020, Azhar shared with the class six elements of a strong digital story. The first element is to identify the purpose of the story. In “Reunion”, it was to share with the world how far India and Pakistan have come in terms of reconciliation and the pain that friends and family went through when they were torn apart during the partition of India. The second element is to define the story’s point of view. Again in “Reunion”, Google set the perspective to be from the daughter of a man who faced the separation which was caused from the partition of India. This allows other Indians and Pakistanis to feel understood when watching the video. 

The third element is the importance of a clear voice. It is crucial to speak in a voice that the audience will recognise as their own. The mood of a writer’s voice sets the tone of story and provides depth and colour. A monotonous voice will create a mundane video which may not be as appealing to the vast majority. The fourth element is pacing the narrative well. In “Reunion” the daughter was not the only star of the show, the video paces between four main characters with different emotions, keeping the audience invested in the story. 

The fifth element is having meaningful and appropriate audio and soundtrack. Using the right soundtrack can evoke emotion. In “Reunion”, the music builds up at the end as the two characters (and childhood friends) reunite. Together with cries from the actors themselves, it sets the mood for viewers. The last element is the quality of images. Simply put, viewers today will be disengaged when a video is not at least 1080p or in HD. Hence, it is important to invest in proper camera equipment to achieve this. 

Following these elements when creating rich stories online will generate views and spark conversations. Use this to your advantage when you create your next big video for a social or environmental cause! 

References:

Gesenhues, A. (2013, November 18). Google Search “Reunion” Video Goes Viral With More Than 4 Million Views In 5 Days. Retrieved February 1 from https://marketingland.com/google-search-reunion-goes-viral-with-more-than-4-million-views-in-5-days-65510

Engaging travel industry stakeholders channels and content - A sharing by Peng Ee Ooi

“Have a love for continuous learning.” Peng Ee Ooi’s words are still distinctly engraved in my memory even as this reflection is being written a month after his sharing. If his whole session on engaging travel industry stakeholders channels and content could be summarised in a phrase, that would be it. 

Peng Ee Ooi, Head of TTG Global Commerce and Development as well as publisher of Tourism Group (Maps and Guides) gave a one and a half hour talk about how his media company has engaged their stakeholders since 1994, on January 24 2020. 

From the perspective of TTG, he shared how they have engaged throughout the years, the future of the company and their plans to continue staying relevant with the ever-changing consumer demands. The media company started out with database marketing and over the span of 13 years moved into branded trade shows and conferences. Having over 150 corporate buyers, 50 international media and over 30 industry speakers this platform provided attendees to interact and share their knowledge with each other. The adoption and continuous development of technology, prompted TTG to launch its digital offerings such as ttgasia.com, ttgchina.com and ttgmice.com in 2019. 

Due to the high demand for digital, Mr Ooi understands that they must soon venture into other platforms to retain the well-cultivated relationships with their buyers. Hence, their future plans are to invest in channel proliferation, disintermediation, mobile, experiential and segments granularity. This adoption requires a huge investment in time and finance, hence to stay afloat till then, TTG has been introducing materials to stay relevant to its business customers and end consumers. 

Some of these materials include - SG maps and guides which provide recommended trails in audio form to its subscribers and an experience pass featuring almost 6000 destination products and services. These two platforms are to connect advertisers with end-consumers while gaining revenue. Additionally, TTG has realised the massive untapped opportunities in the area of global e-commerce and plants to work with technology partners to bring solutions to the world. 

TTG’s hunger and drive to continuously cater to their consumers is fuelled by the brand’s love for continuous learning. Only through discovering and understanding the needs of their consumers, can they come up with the right resources to engage. Every day, they are making it a point to learn the industry’s trends as well as buyers’ needs and wants to meet the demands of their consumers and provide satisfaction. What about you? Are you making it a point to continuously learn despite your age or occupation?

Quote on Tourism Media

"The phenomenon of people travelling to locations or sites because of their association with a movie or TV series" (Kim & Reihnders, 2018)

Source: Kim, S., & Reijnders, S. (2018). Film Tourism in Asia Evolution. Transformation, and Trajectory (1st ed. 2018.). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5909-4


Example: Crazy Rich Asians movie. Parts of it were filmed in Singapore which will motivate travellers who watch the movie to come to Singapore.

 Link to video