Pandemic forced a rethink to adapt to changing trends
It often takes a foreigner to appreciate what locals take for granted about their countries and no one has been more passionate about showing off and sharing Singapore’s heritage, culture and story to foreign visitors and locals alike than Jane Iyer, owner of Jane’s Tours Singapore.
Iyer first came to Singapore in February 1963 when her father, an engineer with the British broadcasting network, BBC, was posted to the BBC station in Tebrau, Johore Bahru, which was the BBC Far Eastern Relay Station between 1953 and 1979.
“We came by boat to Singapore,” she recalled of her early years in which she spent four years in school in the Malaysian southern state.
Her father was then relocated to Belfast and Iyer went to boarding school in the Northern Ireland city. She did not return to Singapore until 1995 on a business trip for a management consultancy firm she was working with. “I was so excited,” she said. “I had always wanted to come back to live. The place had changed tremendously, of course, but it was like coming home.”
She got her wish to “come home” when her husband, working for Bank of America, was given a posting to Singapore. “I couldn’t believe my luck, I took to it like a duck to water and I have loved it ever since.”
Jane Iyer: “I’d rather focus our limited resources to delivering the best experiences for people who want to know more about Singapore beyond what is out there.”
She started Jane’s Tours eight years ago, a tour company that has gained a huge following especially among the expatriate communities in Asia, and their networks around the world. It won the “Best Bespoke Heritage Tours Company 2019” in the Singapore Tourism Awards, organised by Singapore Tourism Board.
“I did not want to be a trailing daughter, then spouse. I wanted to do something for myself and I felt it a shame that visitors were not seeing what I considered the interesting things.
“I felt there was a lot more to Singapore than its attractions, shopping and eating. The story of how Singapore did it, and why, it’s so important to what it is today. If you don’t understand where it’s come from, then your experience of it is very superficial – how it was bankrupt in 1965, its social and political troubles, then you start to understand why things are the way they are.”
Thus, her tours delve deeper into the story of Singapore, with a focus around history, heritage and culture, and weaving in nature, food, art and architecture within those stories. Her walking tours, for example, cover stories around WWII, Peranakan culture and black & white houses.
Jane’s walking tours cover themes such as Peranakan culture and its shophouses.
The pandemic though has prompted Iyer to revise Jane’s Tours from a tour company offering a menu of leisure tours for visitors to one that now caters to private groups. “It was financially challenging during Covid, we lost money and we’ve had to rethink how to adapt to the changing times.
“There is a trend towards private groups and excursions and at the same time, it is easier for us to manage. Having a menu of leisure tours is harder to manage, you don’t know how many are going to book and show up, and then there’s the business of marketing. We are pretty rigorous on social but that takes time and resources. I’d rather focus our limited resources to delivering the best experiences for people who want to know more about Singapore beyond what is out there.”
Jane’s Tours now mostly relies on referrals and also works with local DMCs. “Our tours are priced at the higher end, we pay our guides above market rate because we want to ensure interesting content,” she said. She works with around 25 active guides.
Most of her customers come from the US and Europe, and she’s trying to expand to Australia. “Australians tend to think they know Singapore, but they tend towards the superficial. They have interest in World War 2 history and I hope to be able to deepen their experience with our private, curated tours.”
Customers from Asia are few and far between. “They mainly want selfies with the Merlion and Instagrammable moments.”
Fortunately for her business, she said there are plenty of others who are interested in deeper experiences “beyond gawking at nice buildings and eating”.
She said in the past eight years, it’s been easier for guides like her to access more interesting things. “Since the formation of the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority), we now have 75 gazetted monuments we didn’t have before, and new conservation areas. The National Gallery is a good example of adaptive reuse, as is Victoria Hall.”
She’s not a believer in self-guided audio tours because she believes “nothing beats a human guide”. She sees a place for them though, given the changing tastes and preferences of travellers.
Financially, Jane’s Tours is now on a better footing with its pivot towards private tours but she admits, “it’s never made money. I do it for the love of it. The guides make money, it’s my contribution to the place I call home.
“My dream was to come back to love here, not the run a tour business. The fact that I can do it is icing on the cake.”
