Study panda poo, tour sports museum with STB's Rediscover

A chance to analyse panda droppings at the River Safari, a tour of Singapore Cable Car's back-of-house and a guided tour of the Singapore Sports Museum by sports personalities.

These are some of the activities the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has lined up from April to October for the second phase of its Tourism50 celebrations.

The STB was set up in 1964 as the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board and is marking 50 years of tourism development and promotion.

The new string of activities, called Rediscover, was launched yesterday. It offers a glimpse into how tourist attractions in Singapore are run behind the scenes. STB hopes it will help Singaporeans rediscover their country's tourism offerings and appreciate the people behind them.

"It's not always about discovering the new," said Ms Melissa Ow, assistant chief executive of STB's experience development group.

"It's also important to help people revisit, reconnect and understand that there's so much we offer as a city and destination."

Rediscover will kick off over the Easter weekend, from April 18 to 20, with a family carnival at the 43-year-old Jurong Bird Park.

More than 20 events from the arts, attractions, cruise and sports industries will be held during the seven-month celebrations.

Other highlights will include free guided tours of the artworks displayed at MRT stations on the North-East and Circle lines next month, and a "Be a Panda Researcher" programme with experts at River Safari in June.

Every Sunday in September, sports personalities such as marathon runner Mok Ying Ren and national sprint legend C. Kunalan will lead guided tours of the new National Stadium and Singapore Sports Museum at the Singapore Sports Hub. These will cost $25 per person.

Attractions such as the Singapore Flyer and Gardens by the Bay will also be offering promotions such as free admission and discounts for locals.

The first Tourism50 event, offering free tours of Haw Par Villa, attracted more than 13,000 visitors over two weekends last month. More information on Tourism50 can be found at www.xinmsn.com/rediscoversg

mellinjm@sph.com.sg

This article was published on April 11 in The Straits Times.

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