Travel Operators Appreciative of SingapoRediscovers Vouchers, But Only 2 in 5 Say They Make a “Significant Difference”

By
Shawn Ambrose
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For many of us, the main purpose of the SingapoRediscovers vouchers is to allow us to have that staycation we’d been dreaming of for a long time.

But the reason the gahmen introduced these vouchers was to revive the battered tourism industry.

With few tourists arriving on Singapore shores, operators of hotels, tours, and attractions have seen their revenue plunge to alarming depths, and have struggled to keep their business afloat.

While the SingapoRediscovers voucher scheme was not supposed to be a magic bullet, it was believed that it would at least give a boost to these struggling companies.

But that may not be the case for some.

Tour Operators Appreciative of SingapoRediscovers Vouchers, But Only 2 in 5 Say They Make a “Significant Difference”

Only 2 out of the 5 tour operators who spoke to TODAYonline said the SingaporeRediscovers scheme made a “significant difference to their business”.

While it led to an increase in the number of people signing up for their services, it wasn’t enough to cover overheads.

As a result, some companies had to dip into their savings to survive.

Company Projected to Make S$5 Million in Revenue for 2020, But Earned Less Than S$50,000

Some of these business previously held overseas tours, and were forced to switch to conducting local tours due to the pandemic. These overseas tours included a tour of Pulau Ubin, for example.

One such business who spoke to TODAYonline, Actxplorer, said it projected to make S$5 million in revenue for 2020 based on confirmed sales, but ended up earning less than S$50,000.

And the SingaporeRediscovers vouchers hardly helped—they’ve brought in less than S$15,000 from the voucher.

“It’s been tough for us, and we have to look for other forms of income,” development manager Jeremy Lee said.

X-Trekkers, an adventure travel company, said they saw an increase in customers thanks to the vouchers, but it wasn’t enough to cover their overheads.

Consequently, the director of the company has been forced to get a secondary job as a safe distancing ambassador.

Redemption Difficulties For the Elderly

As of 5 Apr, more than 760,000 adult Singaporeans have redeemed their SingapoRediscovers vouchers at least once by 28 March, but another 2.2 million have yet to do so.

And this may not just be because they can’t decide what to use it on.

Since redemption of the vouchers involves logging into one’s SingPass account, many folks who are not tech savvy have been finding it difficult to redeem their vouchers.

Some elderly residents can’t even remember their own passwords.

For those who don’t know, the vouchers expire on 30 June, meaning you have around a month and a half to make use of that S$100.

If you’re one of the 2.2 million Singaporeans who have yet to redeem your vouchers and you need some inspiration for how to use them, click here. Or, if you’ve decided to donate your vouchers to needy families and migrant workers, click here.

Feature Image: May_Lana / Shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]