What went on behind the scenes to make this happen and concerns remain over the fate of smaller agents and operators who may not be able to outlast Covid.
ON midnight December 1, Singaporeans were able to redeem their SingapoRediscover Vouchers (SRV) through the five chosen platforms – Trip.com, Traveloka, Klook, GlobalTix and Changi Travel Services. Barring some hiccups and glitches, the launch seems to have gone smoothly.
Klook reported across the first two days “such overwhelming demand for certain popular activities that caused some hiccups for our supply”.
Sarah Wan, Southeast Asia marketing director (ID, MY, SG), Klook, said, “Unfortunately, due to this high demand a small handful of our customers may have experienced some difficulties completing their bookings as popular activities were snapped up within the first few hours.
“In order to rectify this our team has been working around the clock and with our merchant partners to ensure that our inventory is restocked as quickly as possible. As the campaign gets into full swing we will continue to monitor our supply levels and ensure that we have a healthy inventory.”
Chan Chee Chong, CEO of GlobalTix, said, “Just like most launches, there were teething issues which we quickly resolved. On the whole, I think it went pretty smoothly. STB spent a lot of effort to educate the public on the scheme, eg how to redeem the voucher, terms and conditions and how to utilise it. This made it easier when the launch eventually happened. Educating the public should be a continuous effort throughout the next three months.”
Wan said that “while it is still early days yet, we have seen quite an even spread of booking across hotels, attractions and tours verticals.”
Trip.com reported “healthy interest in a wide range of products from hotels to attractions, tours and bundle packages on the first day of this seven-month-long campaign”.
Monumental task by all parties to make it happen
As the first national digital-only voucher programme to be rolled out by the Singapore government, you can imagine the heavy lifting and pressure placed on the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) ensure the scheme is executed well and fairly.
STB’s chief executive Keith Tan described the development of the scheme as a monumental task. “We have designed the redemption process to be safe, easy and inclusive for all Singaporeans, and we hope that they will take this opportunity to support tourism businesses while rediscovering what they love about Singapore,” he said at a media briefing.
First, it has to be seen to be fair in the industry and that all players are given equal opportunity. Of course though, you can never please everybody and there have been questions raised by local travel agents about the selection of the five platforms, and why not more of them were involved.
While it can be argued that GlobalTix and Changi Travel Services are two local players, they are partnered with government-owned entities – the former with Singpost, the national post office, and the latter, owned by Changi Airport Group.
On its website, STB said, “These authorised booking partners were appointed through a tender process, which invited proposals from interested parties on how to reach out to those who may require digital assistance, among other requirements. This is to ensure that every eligible Singaporean can benefit from the scheme.
“The authorised booking partners will provide digital and/or physical touchpoints for ease of redemption of the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers. Users can also seek assistance at physical touchpoints provided by these authorised booking partners.”
Second, it has to make sure the scheme is easy to use for Singaporeans who have been given up to S$100 worth of S$10-denominated vouchers. The vouchers can be spent on approved hotels, attractions and tours, but cannot be redeemed for cruises, retail shop purchases or food and beverage, unless as part of a bundled package. Redemption can be done both online and offline – 69 physical counters have been set up across the island.
Third, it has to ensure the process is as air-tight as possible to minimise fraud. The vouchers are transferable and STB has said those who abuse the scheme may have their vouchers forfeited, and may even be referred to the police.
“Lots of blood, sweat and tears to make it work”
For the platforms chosen, it has been equally monumental to stitch it all together, while being mindful of the constantly-changing rules.
There was an earlier controversy over the charging of commission fees by the platforms, with the Business Times reporting that the STB “has said it will monitor the commission rates charged by the booking platforms handling the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers redemption and penalise errant platforms, following concerns from the industry over reportedly eye-watering fees proposed by some”.
It quoted the STB as saying it had secured “lower-than-average” commission rates and shorter credit terms for merchants as part of its tender for booking partners, and that the five authorised platforms are “contractually required to honour these rates”.
Asked what was the biggest challenge, GlobalTix’s Chan cited the short timeframe. “We had to put together a nationwide working system that included creating API links with the government followed by intense testing and testing. In short, lots of blood, sweat and tears to make it work.”
Klook’s Wan said, “In terms of preparing for SRV, it has really been all hands on deck. The main challenge with so many different parties involved was coordination, but I am grateful that it was much smoother than expected. From tech integration on the back end, to inventory management and marketing – there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that we present a cohesive product to the customers.
“For a good portion of the last couple of months since the tender the entire team in Singapore has been working hard to ensure that we deliver the best customer experience possible. We even had colleagues from other offices around the world help out on this. That said, we will continue to observe initial interest and allocate our resources accordingly.”
Both companies partnered with offline distribution partners to win the tender – GlobalTix went with Singpost and Klook with UOB Travel Planner.
Said Wan, “We wanted to find a partner who could synergise well with our efforts. While planning for the SRV campaign we forecasted that some customer groups, such as the elderly and digitally excluded, may require further assistance and guidance when redeeming their vouchers.
“As such, we decided to partner with UOB Travel Planner as they were able to help alleviate this concern. With this partnership we were able to set up an additional 16 physical booths across Community Centres in Singapore to support the elderly and digitally excluded. Additionally, we also worked together to make cash payment available at these physical locations across Singapore.”
Said Chan, “GlobalTix’s role is to provide the technology and SingPost’s is to provide help to the citizens through their post office network. We work closely together to ensure that GlobalTix’s technology is able to support the workflow and setting up the platform was complicated but not difficult. When I say not difficult, this was only made possible by the constant communication between the both of us and the determination to make it work well.”
A Trip.com spokesman said, “Over the seven-month campaign, Trip.com is also committed to increasing visibility and supporting product sales of all merchants on our platform through marketing campaigns and collaborations with corporate partners. To further support our hotel partners in their cashflow management we will also facilitate expedited payment, processing payment on the same day or the following day – depending on the individual partner’s preference.” Trip.com is offering more than 1,000 SRV products.
Klook goes for “exclusives”, GlobalTix focuses on B2B strength
Klook has done particularly well out of Singapore’s pivot to domestic. It scored a S$2 million marketing partnership with the STB earlier, and some parties claim this has given it an advantage in the voucher scheme. It asked suppliers for exclusives, with the promise of marketing support in exchange.
Wan said that of the 200 merchants where customers can use their vouchers, 14 are exclusive to Klook. They are: Hotels: Andaz Singapore, Grand Hyatt Singapore, Lloyd’s Inn, The Warehouse Hotel. Attractions: AIRZONE, Asian Civilisations Museum, Big Bang Seabreeze Pte Ltd (Ola Beach Club) HydroDash Singapore, Nestopia, Snow City. Tours: Singapore River Cruise, Tour East, Trishaw Uncle, Tribe Tours.
For Chan, it was a big win for his small startup against the big platforms. “My team is proud to fly the flag of a Singapore startup. We are extremely small compared to the giants, an underdog, you might say. However, we play to our own strength, which is helping our merchant partners (attractions and tour operators) power their direct selling channels.
“Once they are able to do that, it makes sense for them to invest in marketing, ride on their own brand and reach out to their customers directly. When they do that, the collective efforts of our partners becomes a classic case of the sum of the parts being larger than the whole.”
With the campaign running till June those involved are taking the time to finetune the redemption process.
Said Wan, “At the beginning we were slightly concerned about offline redemption, but so far the process has been pretty smooth. There is always an initial hurdle when it comes to customers getting used to new processes. Some initial feedback we received was that once customers had completed an initial redemption, the process and flow became much easier the second time around.
“Klook will continue to work closely with STB and UOB Travel Planner to ensure that there continues to be a smooth redemption of vouchers. Additionally, we’ve launched step-by-step guides on how to redeem the vouchers on our blog and our social media accounts that customers can follow as well.”
Said Chan, “We have to continue to monitor the performance of the system and enhance it. I believe the surge is yet to be, so we cannot let our guard down.”
From the tour provider’s perspective, scrambling to “onboard” on tight deadlines
For tours and activities providers it has been equally monumental with Jane Goh, director of Xperience Singapore, saying, “Everyone was working on super tight deadlines of about one month – lots of delays and scrambling to onboard the listings after confirming the agreements with the platforms.”
Her company chose not to go for Klook exclusivity and onboarded with Changi Travel Services, as well as others. Xperience is offering two tours specially created for the scheme – Gin, Tonic & The Empire, which involves a visit to a gin distillery, and “Fascinating World of Aviation PLUS Exclusive Hangar Tour” of Seletar.
“We hope to be able to get a share of the tour bookings, it seems the attractions are better received due to the ease of use,” she said. “We saw a steady stream of bookings on the first day, but the dates requested are spread throughout the month. Our unique and exclusive tours require a minimum to run to enable a lower price per person.”
The future of Singapore’s inbound ecosystem at stake
It is tours and activities providers such as Xperience Singapore that the scheme aims to help most but the reality is, the odds are stacked against them. And there is real concern that if the crisis is prolonged till late into 2021, there will be long term damage to Singapore’s inbound ecosystem.
Said Chan, “I am truly worried about the smaller tour operators, as well as the travel agents. Without business some might not be able to make it till late 2021. The Singapore Rediscovers initiative is certainly a right step from a government support perspective. From GlobalTix we promise to put up as many as these tour operators as possible onto the SRV platform.”
He said tour operators must continue with digitalisation. “That is a priority to enable them to extend distribution reach and also comply with all safe management practices. While GlobalTix has created low-cost solutions available to achieve just this, I urge all tour operators and travel agents to look for a solution that suits their needs. There are a wide range of products out there.
“Thirdly, help the tour operators to lower distribution costs by ensuring that they can reach out to as many resellers as possible. The more selling channels that they have, the cheaper it will be for them to sell.
“In the long run the public and Singapore tourism will only win only when we have a variety of interesting products and offerings as well as diverse channels of sales, each providing a different booking experience.”
Said Wan, “The smaller tour operators need to continue to be innovative and creative in order to survive this crisis. A great example of this is Chinatown Murders Game Tour by Tribe Tours. They dramatised the quintessential Chinatown experience in Singapore – where participants can go around to solve different puzzles while learning the history of Chinatown through characters and their stories.
“The launch of SRV is just a starting point, and as we progress through the next few months I’m optimistic that we will start seeing even more tour operators come up with packages that will encourage locals to enjoy their activities. This may not be sustainable in the long run, but our industry needs to capture every opportunity that is in front of us.”
