SINGAPORE, 23 January 2018: On-demand transportation provider, Grab and Singapore Tourism Board are partnering on projects to extend cashless transactions, undertake consumer studies linked to transport and link Grab services to a wider group of travel providers.
A three-year Memorandum of Understanding was signed last week between Grab and STB.
The MOU will see Grab and STB collaborate to extend cashless transactions on Grab car hires through GrabPay
Grab and STB will roll out GrabPay at tourist hotspots such as hawker centres, dining establishments, cultural and lifestyle precincts, shopping centres and tourist attractions.
It should proliferate the adoption of cashless payments in a more targeted manner across Singapore, the media statement read.
Grab and STB will also exchange insights on visitor preferences. Tourists can experience hotspots without having to change for local currency, and redeem GrabRewards points through the Grab app to discover and pay for other experiences and events.
In addition to understand visitors’ mobility preferences, Grab and STB will launch a joint study on behavioural patterns and transport preferences to get around Singapore. They hope to gain insights to ensure Grab and STB can tailor offerings that are more relevant to visitors.
Grab commits to sharing its booking APIs [1] in phases through STB’s Tourism Information & Services Hub (TIH), allowing select tourism businesses to integrate Grab’s various tools into their own digital platforms. This will enable visitors to plan travel routes by providing easier access to information about estimated fares and waiting times.
Grab will offer mobility solutions through its range of services, from GrabCoach to GrabCar Premium, to STB’s partners in the Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry in Singapore.
“Our collaboration with Grab extends beyond transportation to include sharing of consumer intelligence data and spearheading innovation and technological initiatives,” said Singapore Tourism Board chief technology officer, Quek Choon Yang.
[1] Application Programme Interface (API) is a set of formalised protocols and tools that allow for seamless communication between various software components.
STB’s Tourism Information & Services Hub (TIH) will serve as a central API gateway that aggregates destination content and services easily, and distributes them seamlessly across TIH-linked tourism-related digital channels such as websites, mobile application and kiosks.
