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SINGAPORE – Singaporeans aged 18 and over this year will each receive $ 100 in digital coupons to spend on stays, tickets to leisure attractions and local tours.
SingapoRediscovers coupons will be accessible through SingPass starting in December and can be used to offset ticket purchases and hotel stays until the end of June next year. Permanent residents will not be eligible for the vouchers.
Adult Singaporeans will also be able to purchase up to six subsidized attraction and tour tickets, each $ 10 off, for those under 18 from December through the end of next June.
Announcing the details on Wednesday (September 16), Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said that the duration of the coupon program is scheduled to coincide with the June and December holidays and to spread the demand in the middle. .
The initiative is not a social assistance scheme, he added.
“This is an inexpensive scheme to help our tourist attractions preserve their capacities that have been developed over their years while consolidating capacity in the meantime,” Chan told reporters during a visit to the Jurong Bird Park.
The $ 320 million SingapoRediscovers Vouchers voucher scheme was first announced last month and is part of the government’s efforts to shore up the tourism sector, which has been decimated by travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic. .
The coupons, which will come in $ 10 denominations, can be used at all licensed hotels, leisure attractions and for local tours by operators who have received approval from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to reopen or resume.
There are currently 214 hotels, 40 attractions and 438 tourist itineraries that have received the green light to resume operations with safe management measures. They include Singapore’s four nature parks, a number of Sentosa hotels and activities, and guided tours of Pulau Ubin.
The coupons complement the $ 45 million SingapoRediscovers marketing campaign, launched in July to encourage locals to vacation at home and support local businesses.
More than 200 offers and packages have been launched so far, and the coupons will give Singaporeans more incentives to rediscover their backyard, STB said Wednesday.
The tourism board said specific details on how coupons can be redeemed will be announced in November.
While STB expects the voucher redemption process to “go digital by default,” it will provide support to those who have difficulty using such methods.
Industry players have said that coupons will act as a form of indirect discount for companies, as lowering prices is a challenge with capacity limits on their operations.
HIGHER CAPACITY LIMITS FOR ATTRACTIONS
However, tourist attractions, which are currently restricted to 25 percent of their operational capacity at any time, can request to increase this to 50 percent starting Friday.
They can also request permission from STB to expand the capacity of their outdoor shows to 250 people, up from 50 today. But shows must be divided into five zones with a maximum of 50 people in each one, with safe distances between groups and zones.
This means that the limit for outdoor shows at attractions will be in line with the maximum number of participants that will soon be allowed at approved Mice events (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions).
STB said Wednesday that the easing of the rules for the attractions comes when operators have been effective in preventing and dispersing crowds, as well as maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
All attractions have also introduced online reservation systems for scheduled entry or pre-booking of activities to monitor and control the number of visitors, he said.
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