SINGAPORE - From New Asia Singapore to Uniquely Singapore and YourSingapore, and now - Passion Made Possible.

Passion Made Possible is Singapore's new brand and was unveiled on Thursday (Aug 24) after a year of planning.

For the first time, the branding will go beyond targeting tourists and will also be used to woo businesses.

While previous brand campaigns were Singapore Tourism Board (STB) efforts, this one is a partnership between STB and the Economic Development Board (EDB).

The idea is to have a "unified" brand that can be used across all campaigns to market Singapore - whether to tourists or businesses.

The new tagline, the agencies said, puts forth Singapore's attitude and mindset: "A passionate, never-settling spirit of determination and enterprise that constantly pursues possibilities and reinvention."

Other statutory boards and agencies under the Ministry of Trade and Industry will also adopt this branding when reaching out to international audiences.

A key feature of the new campaign is a shift towards storytelling.

Instead of talking about the different things a tourist can do in Singapore, STB will use local personalities and share stories about their passion.

For example, a 4½-minute video has been made of wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai talking about his love of nature as he walked through Pulau Ubin and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

To showcase such videos, the agencies intend to partner sites such as CNN, BBC and National Geographic, as well as digital platforms such as Mafengwo and WeChat.

The new branding was launched at Infinite Studios, near Ayer Rajah, by Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S. Iswaran.

Mr Lionel Yeo, chief executive of STB, said: "Today, Singapore's iconic attractions such as Orchard Road, Marina Bay and Sentosa are well known in our major source markets, and we are also well known for our attributes of security and efficiency. We will build on this by telling stories of passion made possible to develop an even more positive affinity between our target audience and Singapore."

The logo that accompanies the Passion Made Possible tagline features the letters SG inside a circle.

Said Mr Yeo: "It draws on the widely recognised SG50 logo. We are calling it the SG Mark, and this can be applied to visuals or text to immediately connote the Singapore stamp of quality and trust, which underpins our spirit of passion made possible."

The revamp comes on the back of stiffer competition for tourism dollars from other countries.

For example, Britain has the "GREAT Britain" tourism campaign, while New Zealand has billed itself as "100% Pure". There are also the "Malaysia, Truly Asia" and "Amazing Thailand" campaigns.

To come up with the new brand, STB and EDB surveyed close to 4,500 respondents in Singapore and 10 other countries on what the Republic stands for.

They said respondents thought "passion" and "possibilities" best reflected Singapore's spirit.

"While 'possibilities' was strongly associated with Singapore as a destination, the 'passion' to strive was what drove these possibilities," said STB and EDB.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic tourism senior lecturer Michael Chiam thought it was interesting that this new tagline makes no mention of Singapore, unlike previous campaigns such as Uniquely Singapore and YourSingapore.

He added that Passion Made Possible is flexible enough for business and tourism purposes.

"For the tourism sector, the new tagline invites tourists who are passionate about something to explore different possibilities relating to their passion when they are in Singapore. For the business person, he can explore what drives Singaporeans, which can open up business possibilities," he said.

Singapore's tourism numbers have grown in recent years after a 7.6 per cent dip in tourism receipts in 2015 to $21.8 billion.

The number of visitors grew by 7.7 per cent to 16.4 million last year, while tourism receipts rose by 13 per cent to $24.6 billion.

In the first quarter of this year, there were 4.3 million visitors who spent $6.4 billion - a 15 per cent increase in tourism receipts over the same period last year.