Singaporeans aged 18 and above this year will receive $100 each to spend on staycations, tickets to leisure attractions, and local tours. This is a practical move to stimulate domestic spending and save jobs in the tourism sector. It is practical because the duration of the voucher programme is timed to coincide with the March, June and December school holidays, and to spread out demand in between. It coincides with the announcement that tourist attractions can apply to increase their operating capacity to 50 per cent - up from the current 25 per cent. The $320 million SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme should help attractions to carry over their capabilities, built up over the years, and look ahead, even as they consolidate capacity in the interim.
The severity of the downturn that marks the interim cannot be overstated. The coronavirus pandemic has all but decimated the industry after four years of consecutive growth. In February, the Singapore Tourism Board said the sector was facing its biggest challenge since the occurrence of Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003. The extent of that challenge became clear in subsequent months as Covid-19 ravaged globalised economies, including Singapore's, particularly in sectors associated with international travel. Unlike Sars, whose lethality proved to be relatively short-lived, the economic after-effects of Covid-19 could be expected to linger for quite some time.
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