Every Singaporean aged 18 and above to receive S$100 worth of local tourism vouchers

SINGAPORE: Every Singaporean aged 18 and above in 2020 will receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, to be used between December 2020 and end of June 2021. 

Speaking to reporters at Jurong Bird Park on Wednesday (Sep 16), Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said: “This is not a social assistance scheme. This is an economic scheme to help our tourist attractions to preserve their capabilities that have been built up over the years, while they consolidate capacity in the interim.” 

The vouchers will be provided in denominations of S$10 via SingPass, and can be used to purchase tickets for tourist attractions and tours, and accommodation bookings at licensed hotels, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a separate fact sheet on Wednesday. 

More details on the redemption mechanisms will be announced in November. 

READ: Extra stimulus for aerospace, aviation and tourism sectors; Singaporeans to get S$320m worth of local tourism credits

This comes after Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced in August that the Government would be giving out S$320 million worth of vouchers to encourage Singaporeans to support local tourism businesses. 

A S$10 subsidy will also be provided for children and youth tickets for attractions and tours, said the STB. Each person can purchase up to six children or youth tickets at subsidised prices. 

The scheme will complement the ongoing SingapoRediscovers campaign launched in July, said the STB. 

Over 200 deals and bundled packages have been launched “to encourage locals to explore different precincts and aspects of life of Singapore”, the STB said. The vouchers will provide more encouragement for Singaporeans to do so, it added. 

All licensed hotels, tourist attractions and tours that have been approved by the STB to operate or reopen can benefit from this scheme. 

READ: STB inks S$2m deal with online booking platform Klook to promote local tourism

“We’ll expect a certain multiplier effect because when people come here, they will also spend on other things. We have kept the scheme relatively simple. So for example, they can use this to pay off the tickets or defer the cost of the tickets for coming in.

“But when they come in, they will spend on some of the F&B and other services that the attractions, hotels or the tours provide,” said Mr Chan on Wednesday. 

“So with that we think that there will be a catalytic effect. As to the exact extent of the catalytic effect it will be hard to predict at this point in time, but we hope that is at least a few times what we have provided for in the budget.” 

Thanking tourist attractions for “putting in an effort” to put safe management measures in place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Chan said: “The other thing that they have done very well over the last few months or so was to help us work out the arrangement to have safe cohorting for the live performances.” 

READ: S$45 million tourism campaign launched urging locals to explore Singapore

From Sep 18, attractions that have received approval to resume operations can apply to the STB to increase their operating capacity from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, subject to approval from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. 

Attractions can also apply to increase the capacity of their number of outdoor shows to five zones, with 50 people in one zone, subject to safe management measures. 

Outdoor shows were previously limited to a maximum of 50 people. 

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram