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Singaporeans are looking for things to do in Singapore, says online tour company Viator’s Anita Ngai

SINGAPORE — Anita Ngai is just months into her new job, but the Asia-Pacific general manager of online tours and experiences booking company Viator is already raring to add new tours and itineraries to cater for this region’s travellers. Think: Outlet shopping and more food experiences.

Anita Ngai, General Manager of Viator Asia Pacific is keen to give us more outlet shopping and food tours. Hooray.

Anita Ngai, General Manager of Viator Asia Pacific is keen to give us more outlet shopping and food tours. Hooray.

SINGAPORE — Anita Ngai is just months into her new job, but the Asia-Pacific general manager of online tours and experiences booking company Viator is already raring to add new tours and itineraries to cater for this region’s travellers. Think: Outlet shopping and more food experiences.

“I’ll give you an example — our outlet tours get picked up a lot by Asian travellers. Asian travellers love shopping. It’s a critical aspect of their holiday so they want to make sure they have a day marked out for it,” said Ngai, who moved from Hong Kong to San Francisco, where the company is based in for this newly-created position.

There are differences among Asian travellers, too, she added. “The Japanese enjoy shopping at farmers’ markets and learning to cook in kitchens, while travellers from Hong Kong aren’t as keen on these and want to be served during a holiday.”

As for the Singaporean globetrotter, Ngai said Viator data revealed that European cities Rome, London and Paris remain popular picks, but what’s even more interesting is the growth of bookings to Iceland.

“And Singaporeans seem to enjoy looking at experiences in Singapore itself!” she revealed. “Not so much (in terms of) bookings, but we get a lot of page views, so it looks like Singaporeans are searching for things to do here.”

We do have a suggestion which Singaporeans might sign up for: How about wet market and hawker centres tour of Singapore on Viator sometime soon?

Q: How does Viator ensure a consistent level of standard for its tours?

A: We know the quality of our operators and we meet each of them before they’re listed on our sites. It is impossible to try every tour right now as we have so many, but our team does try as many as it can. We also have a review system, which only allows for those who booked the tours to leave reviews so that ensures customers know what they’re getting.

Q: Will there be more exclusive tours on Viator such as the Game Of Thrones tours in Dubrovnik and Split?

A: There will always be exclusives as we have such a good relationship with our operators that they trust us to be the sole distributor of these tours or we feel that there’s a demand that no one is meeting and we’ll suggest it to our operators. Our latest exclusive is a champagne lunch at the Eiffel Tower where you don’t have to wait in line. It took us more than a year to negotiate to get this but it’s really worth our while.

Q: What’s your advice to travellers to enjoy a day tour?

A: Go with a whole bunch of questions for your guide and make it as personal as you want. The good thing with these day tours is the guide is usually a local so he or she will be able to share their local stories and experiences. I remember during my day tour of Bosnia, my guide was a former firefighter and he said to ask him anything. I asked him how does he keep warm during winter and he told us how he would walk into the forest with his brother to cut for wood. Before leaving, he also got us to sign his book and write where we’re from as he hopes to visit these countries someday. Part of the experience is the interaction and stories you hear — it’s not just about the sights.

Q: Have you had a bad tour experience?

A: Big group tours. My parents had signed us up for a three-day tour to Taipei when I was 16 and part of the programme was a visit to a theme park. None of us were fans of theme parks and we just spent the entire six hours there at a restaurant. It wasn’t quite a family bonding time either. SERENE LIM

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