Young Skål Singapore was first launched by Skål International Singapore (henceforth, Skål Singapore) in 2018.

As a category of Skål International for students and young professionals in the travel and tourism industry under 35 years old, the objective of Young Skål is to ensure that clubs around the world attract new and young professionals training for or working in the industry who, when qualified, will automatically graduate to active membership, thus ensuring a continuous supply of new and younger members. 

Following an inaugural Young Skål Singapore networking and mentoring event in December 2018, Young Skål Singapore started with 3 members at the beginning of 2019. and the plan was to expand the membership base, allowing young professional millennials and students the opportunity to network and be mentored by the seniors in the tourism industry.

Skål Singapore Honorary Secretary, Ronald Sathianathan, former Hotelier, Hyatt Hotels, and with a close connection with youths, undertook the role of Director of Young Skål Singapore in 2019. 

Skål Singapore actively organised Young Skål networking and mentoring networking and recruitment drive events which included participation in the Future Leaders Seminar and the Skål Singapore booth at ITB Asia in October 2019. The Young Skål Singapore President and Secretary were appointed in November 2019 and the Young Skål team was officially recognised at the Annual Skål International Singapore Christmas Dinner 2019. 

A more recent event was held in February 2020 at Lyf Funan Singapore, which boosted the Young Skål Singapore membership to 15, a 400% increase from a year ago. 7 months on, Young Skål Singapore now comprises 23 Young Skålleagues. 

Although Covid-19 thwarted some of the initial plans, Young Skål Singapore members continued to engage with their mentors and senior Skål Singapore members over virtual platforms. 

Young Skål Singapore President Dragon Chua and member Swe Hao Yi, together with fellow Young Skålleagues, participated as panellists in a Young Skål Asia Webinar in June 2020, to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the industry. A subsequent report by Swe Hao Yi was also published in the Skål International magazine.  

Young Skål Singapore was recognised for its launch and growth by Skål International Asia (henceforth, Skål Asia). The Young Skål Club of the Year 2020 award was presented to Singapore by Skål International Asia last month during the Skål International Asian Area Annual General Meeting (AGM). 

In addition, Skål Singapore was acknowledged for the launch of New Young Skål Arm 2019-2020 by the Director of Young Skål Asia too.

“Skål Singapore will continue to grow Young Skål and groom Young Skålleagues. While Covid-19 has impacted some of the planned activities, we are optimistic that the tourism industry will thrive once again. We are glad to have a resounding growth in our Young Skål membership despite these challenging times. We continue to engage our Young Skålleagues via small group meetings or over virtual platforms, helping them stay resilient, motivated and connected, not just in Singapore, but across Asia and the rest of the world. Young Skål Singapore members will also be attending the virtual ITB Asia in October 2020,” shared Ron Sathianathan.

“Skål International opens up the opportunity for members to an international network of professionals from the tourism industry. We will continue to work on retaining our existing members and recruiting new ones, for both Young Skål and Skål Singapore. A ‘member-gets-member' plan to encourage existing members to invite their industry colleagues or friends to join the association is underway,” added Michelle Sandhu, President of Skål International Singapore.