This presentation was made during the second of the three phase recruitment interview. Took a twist on one of the popular Indian folklore called "The blind men and the elephant" to drive across my message.

1. HELEPANT
Victoria Koo

2. The breakdown
1. STB is now a key contributing agency for the Singapore economy and
2. its mandate has grown “To be a leading economic development agency in
Tourism.”
3. To achieve this important mandate by the Singapore government and meet the
organizational goals, STB now needs to evolve
4. from a role of the ‘Industry Coordinator-Funder-Marketer’ of Singapore, to one
that is of a ‘Industry Shaper-Facilitator-Innovator’. Discuss.

3. STB personified
• Let’s name STB, Helepant.

4. 1. CURRENT POSITION
“STB is now a key contributing agency for the Singapore economy”
• Tourism is one of Singapore’s key economic drivers, STB plays a key role in
sustaining growth of this industry.

5. 2. THE MANDATE
“To be a leading economic development agency in Tourism”
• Authority
– To dictate industry’s direction
• Responsibility
– To grow this industry --> economic development
• Leadership
– To provide the vision for growth and its sustainability

6. 3. DUTY
“To achieve this important mandate by the Singapore
government and meet the organizational goals, STB
now needs to evolve”
• To move from current position of sustaining growth
in the industry, to future position of driving growth
from within the industry

7. 4. TO RISE UP
“from a role of the ‘Industry Coordinator-Funder-Marketer’ of Singapore, to
one that is of a ‘Industry Shaper-Facilitator-Innovator’.”
• From Coordinator to Shaper
• Funder to Facilitator
• Marketer to Innovator
The question to ask is:
• How do we provide the leadership and vision?
• How do we influence?
• Where must we go? (New grounds)

8. From Coordinator to Shaper
• To move from the administrator role to one that molds the future of
Singapore's tourism industry
• We need to have a vision of where we want to be in the next 10, 20, 50
years from now.
•In the short term,
– understand profile of travelers
– current trends of globetrotters
• In the Mid term,
– how are these trends changing with the world becoming more globalized
• In the Long term,
– how do we cater to this global shift
– Prepare ourselves for the future generation’s new appetite for travel
This determines what Singapore’s tourism is to become and the strategy it takes for us to get there.

9. From Funder to Facilitator
To move from nursing to guidance.
• It takes a collected effort to realize the vision, and it takes influence
for this effort to take off.
1. Who are the industry players?
• Market opportunities for current and upcoming players.
• What aid can be provided for them to expand and reach their potential?
2. How do we engage & involve them?
• Understand needs, listen to feedback from the ground.
• Working in collaboration, co-creating solutions.
3. ‘Befriending’
• Providing support
Being out there, accessible and open, STB is able to gather more accurate feedback and thereby
have the power to influence and steer industry’s direction.

10. From Marketer to Innovator
To get from the position of talking, to doing.
• Do things differently to achieve new results.
• First lead by example so that the industry will follow.
1. What must be thrown out?
• Old mindsets and cultures. (relook at current SOPs & processors)
2. What must be embraced?
• Innovate from from within: your people are the best assets. (Listen)
• Cultivate an environment of failure: where people aren’t afraid of expressing their ideas.
(Take risks)
• Culture of Inclusiveness, sharing, collaborative teamwork & synergy
Innovation takes place when great and different minds come together in harmony; that is when
growth happens.

12. HELEPANT is actually an
ELEPHANT

13. Inspired by ‘The blind men and an elephant.”