[Big read] Why Chinese study tours are flocking to Singapore, drawing some concern from locals
With Singapore’s solid education system and a host of attractions for tourists, a growing number of study tours are heading here to combine tourism with learning, and perhaps to identify a future location for further studies. Lianhe Zaobao senior features writer Wang Hwee Wen speaks to parents and tour operators to find out more.
Huang Peng, 42, is a social media influencer from Wuhan, China. During the recent summer vacation, he and his wife brought their eight-year-old daughter to Singapore for a study tour which included a learning trip to the Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC) for an overnight camp and to find out more about its nation-building journey.
After a week in Singapore, Huang and his family headed to Thailand for another week of summer camp, as the couple took two weeks off work to see the world with their child.
Since his daughter turned one, Huang has brought her on annual study tours to different places to give her a deeper sense of the world. “We want her to feel and understand the world, and learn through immersion, instead of being fed knowledge.”
As an example, Huang said when they came to Singapore, they met many ethnic Chinese, but everyone spoke English, so his daughter saw a different environment and understood the usefulness of learning the language.
Huang also mentioned that the middle class in China spends around a third of family income on education, so Chinese parents are very willing to pay for their children to participate in summer vacation study tours. Such tours allow participants to be more deeply immersed in local life, culture, and education, and provide them with a deeper understanding of it.
Chinese parents making plans for their children
Du Fangfang, a 34-year-old from Taiyuan in Shanxi, admires Singapore’s diversity and inclusion, and hopes to impart this thinking to her six-year-old daughter, Liu Miaoran. So, for their first ever study tour, she chose a 10-day trip to Singapore.
“There are different races, cultures, and languages here, so my daughter can see that the world is very diverse.”
... travel agencies interviewed also said study tours accounted for the bulk of their business in July. Based on their observations, such tour groups are mainly from China, but there are also some from other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.
Given that children have demanding school schedules and limited time for overseas study tours, all the parents interviewed made considerable efforts to research their options. In addition to exploring intriguing and unconventional itineraries online, they also sought advice from friends living in Singapore before making their final decisions.
For instance, Du is very interested in the sustainable development activities of her study tour, and feels that they are aligned with the life values she hopes to inculcate in her daughter.
At the same time, both Huang and Du hope to use their time here to have a closer look at and better understanding of Singapore’s education system. Huang is also considering whether to send his daughter here for her secondary education.
According to the latest data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), 1.6 million tourists entered Singapore this July, of which a quarter, or 412,940 were from China. This is the first Chinese summer school vacation since the two countries implemented visa-free travel back in February, so the number of Chinese tourists in July increased by nearly 80% over the same period in 2023.
Many travel agencies interviewed also said study tours accounted for the bulk of their business in July. Based on their observations, such tour groups are mainly from China, but there are also some from other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.
Michelle Koh, director of Amazing Travel and Tour, has been serving inbound travellers for around a decade. She said 85% of the Chinese travellers she handled during this summer vacation were here on study tours and hailed from all over China.
“Some groups are organised by schools to come to Singapore for competitions and do some touring while they’re here, while others are organised by the instructors of hobby classes for the children to travel and learn.”
A Xinjiang ski school organised a trip to Singapore for 60 of its students. Other than visiting local schools, the group also tried local food and visited tourist attractions such as Universal Studios Singapore.
After obtaining its Chinese travel group visa qualification in 2022, Amazing Travel and Tour began to serve more Chinese groups. At the time, given Chinese group visa regulations, it was not eligible to run business and study tour groups. After visa-exemption travel between Singapore and China came into effect this February, Chinese group travellers no longer needed to apply for group visas. It then received a number of inquiries and began to receive study tour groups.
“Parents who can afford study tours for their children are very willing to spend and they usually request for good accommodation and meals. So, they stay in four or five-star hotels and budget S$25 for each meal, much higher than the S$15 average of other tour groups.” — Michelle Koh, Director, Amazing Travel and Tour
Industry expected to heat up next year
Different organisations have different purposes for study tours. Some focus more on learning and arrange for their students to attend two to three days of lessons in international schools in Singapore, while others are more geared towards learning while having fun, so their itineraries include visits to local attractions like the Science Centre and Botanic Gardens.
STB data indicates that in July, visitors to Singapore stayed an average of 3.66 days. Amazing Travel and Tour’s Koh pointed out that many study tour groups stay in Singapore much longer than other tour groups because of time catered for classes. These groups spend an average of eight days and seven nights here, with some even staying for nine days and eight nights.
At the same time, these study tour groups also have much higher budgets than the average tour group. Koh observed, “Parents who can afford study tours for their children are very willing to spend and they usually request for good accommodation and meals. So, they stay in four or five-star hotels and budget S$25 for each meal, much higher than the S$15 average of other tour groups.”
Koh added that for some Chinese public schools, plans for overseas trips have to be made at least a few months or even a year in advance, so they might have been unable to finalise study tour plans for this summer after the implementation of visa-free travel between China and Singapore. She predicts that there will be even more Chinese study tour groups coming to Singapore next summer.
Educational resources and creative itineraries the highlights
Local tour organiser Le Yeah Lifestyle started specialising in study tours during the summer school holidays of 2023. Liang Wern Ling, its co-founder, feels that in her line of business, it is necessary to concentrate on Singapore’s strengths, and the excellent learning environment and educational resources here are selling points that Singaporeans are most proud of.
Liang, who is also the secretary general for the local chapter of the World Research Travel Organisation, also pointed out that after visa-free travel came into effect, Singapore became the most popular educational tourism destination in China. Over the last few years, many Chinese parents are also very interested in Singapore’s educational resources and hope to come and take a look.
In terms of itineraries, Le Yeah’s focus is on making learning fun, so that students can play and learn at the same time. For example, it collaborated with the Shangri-La Group to organise a “Swing Science with Ultragolf” programme so that participants can learn physics while playing golf.
... previously, most study tour groups were from tier-one cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, but following the visa-free travel arrangement, groups from third, fourth, and even fifth-tier Chinese cities are also coming.
It also co-organised a learning camp with the SDC to provide participants with a better understanding of local history and defence concepts, including a sleepover at the discovery centre.
Even Chinese from third and fourth-tier cities are coming
Some local organisations that organise exchange programmes have also started hosting study tour groups, such as the Sino-Singaporean Talents Exchange Centre (SSTEC), which hosted many Chinese exchange students during the summer holidays.
Hebe Liu, who heads its Business Coordination Department, said that the demand for study tour groups more than doubled this year. In July, the SSTEC received one to three groups of 20 to 30 participants each day; it was not until the start of August that the frequency dropped to two to three groups per week.
Liu shared that previously, most study tour groups were from tier-one cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, but following the visa-free travel arrangement, groups from third, fourth, and even fifth-tier Chinese cities are also coming.
SSTEC started organising study tour groups around 2017. “Initially, the demand was more on sight-seeing and not so much on learning.” As the study tour market matured, the importance of the learning component grew. So, the SSTEC teamed up with travel agencies for them to handle meals and sight-seeing while it focuses on lessons and learning.
During the summer holidays this year, the SSTEC organised a robotics competition for the Chinese students it hosted to have a feel of how coding and technology subjects are taught locally. Liu shared that her centre tries to let the students “experience what it feels like to learn or compete in an all-English language environment”.
Besides classes, the students also have leisure activities. Given the reputations of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), naturally many study tour groups want to visit.
Dr Derrick Lee, a senior lecturer at the Republic Polytechnic School of Hospitality, told Lianhe Zaobao that according to Future Market Insights, the global educational tourists exceeded 6 million in 2022, offering various benefits for host destinations, local communities, and educational tourists.
He pointed out that Singapore is highly attractive in the educational/study tour market, offering high-quality higher education and educational tours, particularly in the areas of sustainability, urban planning and cultural heritage. Singapore is a rich multicultural society with a mix of four official languages, and students can expect to immerse themselves in Singapore’s harmonious, multiracial society.
Since they no longer need to apply for group visas to visit Singapore, some groups no longer engage local travel agencies, much less a licensed tour guide, making them difficult to control and unlikely to understand the visiting hours and route recommended by NUS.
The downside of too many study tour groups
While study tour groups have undoubtedly brought plenty of business opportunities for travel companies, food and beverage operators, and the hotel industry, the influx of swathes of tourists to certain public places have made some unhappy.
For example, NUS and NTU are ranked 8th and 15th in a global university ranking, prompting many study tour groups and families to visit.
After the winter school break in China at the start of this year, NTU imposed entry fees on cars and buses in response to student protests, and also required visitor registration. These measures have greatly reduced the number of tourists visiting the university during the summer vacation.
During the summer, NUS attracted hordes of tourists and its students complained about over-congestion on its campus shuttle services and in its canteens. Following this, the school authorities decided to impose stricter controls on its campus buses and canteens for future winter and summer holidays.
At the same time, it also made it compulsory for visitors to be accompanied by teaching staff or students before entering canteens, for its students to register themselves prior to leading campus tours, and for travel coaches to register before entering its premises.
Yang Xiaozhong, chairman of the Singapore Chinese Tour Guides Association, pointed out that there has been a marked increase in the number of incoming study tour groups following the visa-exemption. Since they no longer need to apply for group visas to visit Singapore, some groups no longer engage local travel agencies, much less a licensed tour guide, making them difficult to control and unlikely to understand the visiting hours and route recommended by NUS.
Also, to cut costs and make their itineraries look fuller, some local travel agencies stretch their NUS visits to half a day or more, but leave participants to roam the campus on their own. Some tour operators do not even charter buses for the campus visit, but get participants to use the free campus shuttle services, thereby hogging the school’s resources.
Yang also disclosed that some study tour agents bring their groups to the university’s canteens for lunch to lower costs and increase profits. “It costs an average of S$7 to S$8 or at most S$10 per student to dine in the NUS canteens. But local restaurants that serve tour groups charge at least S$15 per person.”
Managing limited resources appropriately
Yang suggests that NUS considers imposing fees so that travel companies and individual visitors would treat their appointments more seriously. He also feels that the NUS authorities can consider prioritising visit requests by secondary and high school students. “There is not much point in letting kindergarten and lower primary students visit a university.”
Yang added, “An unsuitable itinerary wastes resources, burdens the school and leads to a poor tourist experience. Proper resource allocation is essential to prevent misuse and ensure effective use of limited resources.”
Local universities also need to consider whether an open approach allows them to reach out to their target audience. Since campus shuttle services and canteens are finite resources, tourists that simply want to “check in” should not be allowed to use them.
Yang also supports NUS rejecting student groups and study tour agencies that lack licensed tour guides or official school tour guides. “It is very difficult for NUS to manage and control the quality of unlicensed guides.”
“My daughter experienced what an open and inclusive university is like. She gained a clearer understanding of how overseas universities are different and came to appreciate the diverse approaches and perspectives in the world.” — a Chinese parent visiting NUS
It is just a university, what is there to see?
Many Singaporeans are curious: why would tourists want to come and see Singapore’s universities?
According to Huang Peng, who took his daughter on a study tour to Singapore, visiting NUS offered insights into how a leading Asian university differs from Chinese institutions like Wuhan University. After the visit, Huang’s daughter wondered why NUS did not have gates and why it could be accessed from so many different points.
“My daughter experienced what an open and inclusive university is like. She gained a clearer understanding of how overseas universities are different and came to appreciate the diverse approaches and perspectives in the world.”
In his reply to enquiries from Lianhe Zaobao, Professor Daniel PS Goh, NUS’s associate provost (undergraduate education), pointed out that NUS is first and foremost an academic institution and not a tourist destination. So, its priority is its community of staff and students, and the school is doing everything it can to ensure they can pursue teaching, learning, and research in the most conducive environment possible.
“While we are not in the space of driving tourism, we are committed to being an open and inclusive campus, as we collaborate with many visitors for our work and mission as a public university. Similar to the practices of other leading global universities, we have curated special itineraries led by our student ambassadors where tourists follow a route away from teaching, study, and residential areas. We will continue to engage all our staff and students to calibrate and improve the measures to manage tourists.”
Not promoting universities as tourist attractions
In its reply to Lianhe Zaobao’s enquiries, STB said that it does not promote educational institutions as tourist attractions. It understands that many travellers are now seeking more local and unique experiences, and local travel agents are constantly developing interesting tours to meet their evolving needs.
While STB encourages the travel agents to incorporate interesting elements to showcase the diverse offerings in Singapore where feasible, they should also comply with the stipulated policies of the premises.
Finally, STB said it recognises that tourism must be developed and managed in a sustainable manner for both visitors and local communities. Since 2013, it has been pursuing “Quality Tourism” to attract its target audience with quality tourism offerings to prioritise growth in tourism spending over growth in tourism arrivals.
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国游学团杀到 谁家欢喜谁家愁？”.
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