More than 300,000 Singaporeans have spent their SingapoRediscovers vouchers to book hotels, attractions and tours since redemptions began on Dec 1.
As at Jan 1, the bookings amounted to $35.9 million in vouchers and payments, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said yesterday.
The vouchers can be spent on more than 440 products available across the five authorised booking platforms: Changi Recommends, GlobalTix, Traveloka, Trip.com and Klook.
"We are heartened by the interest that Singaporeans have shown in the SingapoRediscovers vouchers," said STB. It added that it would continue to work with the tourism sector to roll out more such deals.
As part of STB's outreach efforts, it has deployed ambassadors at 53 community centres and clubs islandwide to help those with queries about the vouchers. The ambassadors have assisted close to 63,000 Singaporeans as at Jan 1.
Encouraging Singaporeans to make full use of their vouchers over the next six months, STB reminded them to book time slots for attractions and tours beforehand.
"This is to ensure they are able to visit and rediscover Singapore at their preferred time," said STB.
During the December school holidays, many people reportedly could not use their tickets for fully booked attractions.
Some of the attractions that were fully booked for the first week of this month included S.E.A. Aquarium and HeadRock VR.
While various attractions have introduced time slots to avoid overcrowding, not all Singaporeans were aware of this requirement.
Several visitors to Sentosa including Ms Grace Briones, 40, were denied entry at various attractions because they showed up without booking a time slot.
"You assume it's completed because you get a confirmation e-mail but that's just half of the booking process," said the marketing manager, who had purchased tickets for Universal Studios Singapore on Dec 28 but did not book a slot.
If customers do not book a time slot, they may be able to change the date of their visit or get a refund. However, this depends on the terms and conditions of individual attractions and their arrangements with the booking platforms.
To ensure that customers book a time slot, some platforms have issued reminders.
Since early last month, booking platform Klook has required customers to check a box when making payment for a ticket, to acknowledge that they are aware of the need to book a time slot.
Traveloka also said on Dec 30 that it will be adding additional information to remind customers to book a time slot when they purchase the Sentosa FunPass via its website.
