Thousands of Singaporeans shopped GST-free, took up hotel rooms at discounted rates and visited places of interest such as the Singapore Flyer and the Jurong BirdPark for free.

The largesse came courtesy of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), who besides targeting tourists, has set aside part of a $90 million kitty to support tourism industry players in these lean times by also courting those who live here.

Until the last weekend of this month, free admission tickets to certain attractions on weekends are up for the taking; some malls are also offering free parking along with retailers' waivers of the 7 per cent in goods and services tax.

Some businesses saw an overwhelming response.

Singapore River Cruises & Leisure, for example, which offered free bumboat rides for the first 2,009 visitors last weekend, played host to over 10,000 people on its boats. This was 70 per cent more than its usual number of weekend passengers.

Its business development manager, Mr See Toh Yew Leong, said half the passengers were Singaporeans. Usually, they take up only a quarter of the seats, with tourists filling the rest.

Jurong BirdPark, which is offering free admission all day on Saturday and Sunday during this campaign, had 6,000 visitors last Saturday, twice its usual number.

The Singapore Flyer and the National Museum had 25 per cent more visitors each over the last weekend.

Some eager visitors even queued overnight to ensure they got the free tickets to ride the Singapore Flyer.

Hotels which discounted their room rates and the four which sold rooms from $209 also enjoyed a healthy response.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Straits Times.