Singapore is targeting a rise in visitor arrivals from Japan, following the signing of a major new agreement with JTB Corp, Japan’s largest travel agency.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has penned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JTB to promote Singapore as a destination for Japanese travellers in 2017 and 2018. This agreement will see the two organisations collaborate in areas, including product development, marketing, sales and public relations.

“This is the first MoU that is committed by STB with a commercial tour agency in Japan and marks a significant milestone in promoting Singapore in this important market,” said STB chief executive, Lionel Yeo. “Through this MoU, Japanese travellers can look forward to brand new travel experiences and promotions tailored to suit their needs.”

Hiroyuki Takahashi, JTB’s president & CEO of JTB added that the MoU would help to “stimulate interest even among travellers who had not considered Singapore as a destination”.

The partnership will start with the joint development and promotion of new travel packages targeting a range of different customer segments, including first-time Japanese travellers. For example, JTB customers will be offered night tours of Singapore on an open-top bus.

The overall goal of the year-long campaign is for Singapore to attract 90,000 Japanese visitors between April 2017 and March 2018.