Every year, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) participates in key leisure and MICE trade shows around the world involving 10,000 exhibitors such as airlines, hotels, travel agents, online travel platforms and other national tourism organisations. This is done with the aim of helping to connect and foster collaborations between Singapore Tourism stakeholders and overseas potential partners as well as raise Singapore's profile as a choice leisure and business destination.

Against this context, we were challenged to find a way to stand out in the hyper-distracting context of trade shows and attract people to actively engage with us within a 3m by 3m space.

Our key objectives were as defined: 1. Drive engagement at trade shows and an

Experience that brings singapore to life; 2. Strengthen the positive perception of STB's brand positioning – "Passion Made Possible"; 3. Position STB at the forefront of bold and creative storytelling.

Singapore is innovative, modern, progressive, artistic. So when it came to showcasing it to the world, it had to be well, innovative, modern, progressive, artistic. So we created the City Of Possibilities (CoP)—an entire country packed into a suitcase, and shipped around the world. How? By harnessing the world of tactile and technology. We reimagined the Singapore map. Distorting its scale to pack the entire city into a 1.8m by 1m table, and reinterpreting its landscape to create a whimsical representation of the city. With a physical avatar, you could navigate and explore around the city through immersive 360 location spheres. Hop around, hang out with locals, catch a concert, chill on the beach, marvel at the Supertrees or wander through an aquarium—over 40 mixed-media content showcased the sights, sounds and stories of Singapore.

The project ties together a variety of touchpoints; technology, tactile design and digital content. We begin by building a “console” that is scalable, modular and portable. And that requires a creative interpretation of the singapore landscape, resulting in a one-of-a-kind, composite map specially built for the activation. Thoughtfully crafted as a whimsical representation of the city while offering an authentic experience. The results as a city model that’s big enough to have presence, small enough within an arm’s reach. Buildings, trees, roads and even the river were carefully designed and constructed to be sturdy but playful and approachable.

To encourage deeper exploration, we introduced users to their personal avatar, enticing them to discover over 40 mixed media content hidden the in CoP. Upon placing the avatar down on various RFID-tagged landmarks, users were served up a 360 visual feast of the location that they could control and navigate freely.

By simulating this first-person experience, it enabled event attendees miles away from Singapore to feel the richness of travelling and experiencing the city – without actually being there.

CoP made its debut at the International Tourismus-böse Berlin, where 95% strongly

agreed that it provided greater relevance to travellers of different interests. Originally designed for this one-time showcase in Berlin, CoP was so well-received that it also got picked up by more trade shows across Frankfurt, Las Vegas, Berlin, London, Melbourne and Barcelona.

So far across 4 trade shows, we achieved an average of 1min 41sec per player session. 95% agreed or strongly agreed that CoP provided greater appreciation of our brand purpose and how it can be relevant to travelers with different interests. Qualitative data obtained from the various shows indicated that partners and clients were particularly impressed with cop saying it helped to position Singapore as a “cutting edge” and “innovative destination”. The deliberate combination of technologies, visual audio content and the mash up with the physical act of exploration to simulate a first person’s experience, enabled event attendees miles away from Singapore to feel the richness of travelling and experiencing Singapore. This helped Singapore stand out from a sea of beautiful, albeit wallpaper, floor-to-ceiling visual displays. All of these led overseas viewers to enjoy an immersive and true Singapore experience, without needing to be there physically.