Flurry of bookings under new tourism voucher scheme

The SingapoRediscovers voucher scheme got off to a strong start yesterday with a flurry of online bookings, resulting in some offerings being sold out by midday.

As at 4.30pm yesterday, the five appointed booking platforms had received more than 11,900 bookings, totalling about $1.86 million in vouchers and payments, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said in a statement last night.

The $100 tourism vouchers credited yesterday to all adult Singaporeans have so far led to a good mix of bookings across hotels, attractions and tours, said STB, adding that there has been healthy interest in bundled packages.

Ms Angel Ho was among those who began browsing the offerings at midnight, when the five booking platforms - Changi Recommends, GlobalTix, Traveloka, Trip.com and Klook - went live with their voucher-applicable staycations, attraction tickets and tours.

Ms Ho, 32, said the multiple platforms made for a tedious search, although the redemption process was smooth.

She booked a package on GlobalTix for two adults and two children to visit the Singapore Zoo and River Safari, paying $60 after the $100 voucher discount.

"To me, $60 for my family of four to both parks is reasonable. Without the vouchers, I doubt I would want to spend that much," said the logistics administrator.

While no major technical issues were reported yesterday, some said they had problems redeeming their vouchers.

Housewife Shin-Yu Tan said she tried to book tickets to Snow City for her family of four on Klook yesterday morning, but was met with an error message after applying the generated voucher code.

As her husband had already taken leave for their intended date, Mrs Tan, 33, ended up paying the full price of $86.20 for the tickets and glove rentals.

In response to queries, Klook said customers may have experienced difficulty completing their bookings as some popular activities were sold out.

Ms Sarah Wan, Klook's marketing director for South-east Asia, apologised to customers for the inconvenience, adding that Klook has been working with merchants to ensure that inventory is restocked as soon as possible.

More than 280 products are available for redemption across the five platforms, STB said yesterday, adding that more value-for-money deals will be rolled out over the next seven months.

While tour and attraction operators had expressed concern that a large part of the vouchers' worth would go towards staycations, the restriction against pooling vouchers for a single transaction ended up discouraging some consumers from picking this option.

Operations manager Caleb Tan, 48, said the staycation packages on offer were too expensive and that he would book holiday activities for his two children instead.

"The $100 can barely cover half the cost of one night at a decent four-or five-star hotel," he said.

The $320 million SingapoRediscovers credit scheme, meant to boost Singapore's tourism sector, is the first national digital-only voucher programme to be rolled out by the Government.

Those who face difficulties navigating the online sites and need assistance can visit any of the 69 physical counters set up at community centres and other locations.

Taxi driver Ng Beng Lam, 72, and his wife Ong Choon Hwa, 68, were the first in line to make a booking at Tampines East Community Centre yesterday morning. They arrived an hour before the counters operated by Klook and UOB Travel Planners opened at 10am.

The couple booked tickets for the Sands SkyPark and Observation Deck at Marina Bay Sands, and the Singapore Flyer, spending about half of their vouchers.

"This is a chance for my family and I to visit these attractions after this tough year," said Mr Ng.

There seemed to be no rush to make a booking at the physical counters yesterday, with no more than 10 people seen visiting the counters at Tampines East Community Centre between 11am and noon.

Bank employee Josh See, 38, plans to wait until the school holidays are over before using his vouchers. "I'll probably use them for attractions but I don't want to deal with the crowds. Plus, the booking process sounds messy so I'll let them work out the kinks first."