Clara Yap
Singapore
Summary
Business development and marketing strategist with 20+ years of cross-sector expertise across hospitality, healthcare, education, and real estate. Proven track record of commercial success from brokering an en-bloc residential development, project management to driving international marketing initiatives. Multilingual professional (English, Chinese, French) with established networks across Asia (China, India, ASEAN) and Europe. Combines strategic vision with operational excellence to create compelling brand narratives, forge high-value partnerships, and deliver measurable business growth in diverse cultural contexts.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Assistant Director, Global Markets & Brand Partnerships
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2018 - 01.2024
- Undertaking innovative marketing to ensure Singapore maintains its desirability and ranking as a preferred ASEAN destination by leading:
- Creative Brand Development: Enhanced brand desirability through branded IP content and entertainment opportunities including collaboration with influencers and celebrities to improve destination storytelling e.g
- Nicole Scherzinger music video, etc
- Global Brand Partnerships: Identified and brokered partnerships with global brands to create joint marketing campaigns that inspire travel to Singapore
- Global Market Strategy: Oversaw marketing collaboration with STB’s 20 overseas offices, maintaining brand consistency and local market relevance for higher audience engagement and campaign impact, ensuring Singapore’s brand health rankings for respective markets remain within the top 3
- Branded Content Ideation: Led campaigns such as Baby Shark’s global expansion and Jackson Wang’s bilingual social media initiative, achieving over 100 million in global reach
- Agency Management & Collaborations: Managed content partnerships with global media giants like NBCU, VICE, and Discovery, achieving positive brand perception and higher engagement rates than industry benchmarks; guided and collaborated with creative agencies for brand guideline adherence, innovative campaign ideation, market-nuanced applications to ensure higher brand impact and engagement
Area Director, Western China (Chengdu-based)
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2015 - 01.2018
- Leading the China outpost from Chengdu to jumpstart the 2nd and 3rd-tier cities outbound travel to Singapore and managing team to spearhead:
- Market Expansion: Spearheaded outreach to 10+ Tier 2 cities, driving a 71% increase in visitors
- Key cities included Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi’an, Chongqing, and Kunming, each showing significant growth (e.g., Chongqing at 170%, Kunming at 40%)
- Partnership Development: Brokered strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, including C-trip, Bank of China, and Sichuan Airlines, contributing to strong growth in visitor numbers and market engagement
- Campaign Leadership: Led joint marketing campaigns (e.g
- STB-CAG) that contributed to a nearly 20% growth rate in visitor arrivals from Sichuan and 40% from Xi’an through online initiatives and on-ground outreach events
- MICE Development: Secured major incentive groups, including Ping An (Chongqing), which generated over 1,800 visitor arrivals and 3,700 visitor nights
- Innovative Product Marketing: Pioneered collaborations with travel agents and airlines like Tigerair to target Free Independent Travellers (FITs) and expand travel offerings during off-peak seasons with online and offline activation events
- Efficient Office management: Managed the administration and operations of Singapore Centre in Chengdu, outpost for Economic Development Board, IE Singapore and Singapore Tourism Board, and successfully negotiated for lease renewal of Singapore Centre with cost savings of 15%
Area Director, South Asia (Delhi-based)
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2012 - 01.2014
- Directed the Northern and Eastern regions of India to grow both leisure and business travel to Singapore, deepen trade engagement to increase buy in to augment marketing preference for Singapore through the following:
- MICE Development: Conceptualized and launched the “In Singapore Incentives and Rewards” (Inspire) scheme, to ramp up demand for incentive travel to Singapore and exceeded MICE India targets with more than 33,000 visitor nights in 2014
- Cruise Marketing: Led campaigns driving 30% year-on-year growth and 3,000 fly-cruise passengers
- Integrated Marketing Campaigns: Achieved bookings for 3,100+ travellers, increasing travel partner conversions by 48%
- Brand Partnerships: Developed an IP partnership with an FMCG brand, promoting Singapore via TV, outdoor ads, retail and school activations, reaching regional audiences
- Trade Engagement: Expanded presence in Tier 2 cities (Lucknow, Jaipur, Kolkata) through B-2-B events, leading to 9% growth and successful digital campaigns driving visitor conversions
- Whole Of SG Government support: collaborated with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Ministry of Trade & Industry agencies to coordinate and support Ministerial and senior management delegation for in-market events, facilitating meetings, stakeholder engagements, logistic arrangements (e.g
- Transport and hotel accommodation)
Manager, Enrichment Healthcare
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2006 - 01.2011
- Succeeded in the following:
- Market Expansion: Spearheaded SingaporeMedicine’s participation in Ukraine International Travel and Tourism, resulting in a 200% increase in healthcare spending from Ukraine
- Patient Experience Innovation: Led the conceptualization of patient experiences for Russian and Middle Eastern markets to enhance service delivery in private healthcare
- Segment Marketing: Collaborated with healthcare providers to target markets through both b-2-b and consumer events utilizing medical receipt data to prioritize key markets and medical specialties treatments for overseas patients, augmenting Singapore’s reputation as the leading healthcare destination in Asia
- APEC Liaison Officer for Russian Foreign Minister: Ensured the efficient coordination of meetings and logistics for delegation
- ASEAN Tourism Forum Liaison Officer for Laos Tourism Minister: Ensured the smooth running of event logistics
Program Coordinator, Executive Education Program
INSEAD, Fontainebleau
01.1999 - 01.2000
- Embarked on 1st full time overseas stint in France to help academia in coordinating and managing the following:
- Course & Event Coordination: Coordinated all aspects of pre-course preparations in collaboration with course professors, ensuring all materials and logistics were in place for senior executives attending executive education courses
- Executive Training Management: Managed the seamless execution of training sessions, ensuring all details were attended to, from scheduling of curriculum to participant support and engagement
- Logistical Arrangements & Travel Coordination: Organized end-to-end logistics for course participants, including international travel from home countries to France, and coordinated transport, accommodation, and hotel reservations to ensure a smooth experience
- Handled any last-minute changes or special requests efficiently, ensuring executives’ schedules remain uninterrupted
- Post-Course Experience & Participant Engagement: Facilitated a positive post-course experience by balancing course work with business and social networking opportunities for participants
- Worked closely with attendees to ensure a rewarding and well-rounded experience during the program
- Performance & Feedback Management: Successfully achieved a feedback performance score of 4.9 out of 5 for the Young Managers Program, which included 90 participants, demonstrating exceptional event coordination and customer satisfaction
Education
Bachelor of Arts (Soc. Sci) - Economics & Sociology
National University of Singapore
01.1990
Skills
- MS Office Prog (Outlook, Excel, Word, Power point)
- Negotiations and Persuasion
- Organizational and time management skills
- Team Leader
- Cross Functional Teamwork
- Global brand and marketing
- Cross-cultural experience with overseas stints
- Fluent in English, Mandarin and French
- Project management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Business development
- Negotiation
- Organizational skills
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Team leadership
- Excellent communication
- Decision-making
- MS office
- Good judgment
- Negotiation and conflict resolution
- Administration and reporting
- Team development
- Analytical thinking
- Interpersonal relations
- Idea development and brainstorming
oenophile, treasure hunter, choral singer
Enjoy wine tasting events and pairing wine with food
Seek out hidden gems and local flea markets when travelling
Passionate vocaliser who sings every Sunday morning.
Languages
English
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Chinese (Mandarin)
Advanced (C1)
French
Upper intermediate (B2)
Timeline
Assistant Director, Global Markets & Brand Partnerships
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2018 - 01.2024
Area Director, Western China (Chengdu-based)
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2015 - 01.2018
Area Director, South Asia (Delhi-based)
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2012 - 01.2014
Manager, Enrichment Healthcare
Singapore Tourism Board
01.2006 - 01.2011
Program Coordinator, Executive Education Program
INSEAD, Fontainebleau
01.1999 - 01.2000
Bachelor of Arts (Soc. Sci) - Economics & Sociology
National University of Singapore
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