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Tours in Singapore attract close to pre-pandemic interest, but local participation dwindles

LaksaNews

Myth
Member
SINGAPORE: As the holiday season draws near, the number of participants signing up for local tours is at about 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, said tour companies.

Foreign tourists make up the bulk of their bookings.

The number of Singaporeans joining these tours, however, has dwindled as more locals head overseas for holidays following the widespread lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions and reopening of borders.

“Business has kind of almost reached pre-pandemic levels,” said Mr Robin Loh, founder of Let's Go Tour Singapore.

“Right now, I would say it's almost 100 per cent tourists. I think locals are all heading out of Singapore. It’s a pent-up demand for now, people are flying out because all the countries are kind of opening up.”


Despite fewer locals signing up, tour operators said an influx of tourists since Singapore’s borders reopened is making up for the numbers.

The firms also noted an increase in large groups of travellers, especially for business bookings, as companies hold regional corporate activities in Singapore.

PANDEMIC BUMP IN LOCAL INTEREST​


When COVID-19 brought tourism to a standstill in the last two years, one upside was when Singaporeans started taking an unprecedented interest in local tours, said operators.

This was helped by the distribution of SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV), a pandemic initiative by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to boost the tourism sector with domestic participation.

“In the last two years, we were very dependent on the local travellers, they have kept the industry alive,” said Mr Jason Loe, founder of Tribe Tours.

“The vouchers were very instrumental in helping people dip their toes in, to experience what local tours can offer,” he added.

STB said in January that 2.6 million transactions were recorded, amounting to S$300 million spent on tours and attractions. This comprised about S$180 million in vouchers and around S$120 million in out-of-pocket payments.

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Firms said the pandemic forced them to rethink their business strategies and tweak their tours to cater to Singaporeans, as most of tours then had been designed for foreigners.

“Pre-pandemic, we were just on bicycle tours and cooking classes, but the pandemic forced us to think (of) other avenues to reach local audiences,” said Mr Loh from Let's Go Tour Singapore.

“That was when we started (a) series of walking tours as well as boat tours like the kelong tours and junk boat tours.”

Mr Loh added that with more variety and creativity in their tour line-up, his firm is now doing even better than pre-pandemic, with offerings attracting both foreign travellers and local sightseers alike.

STILL WOOING LOCALS​


Despite waning local interest since the restart of international travel, companies said that many tours designed during the pandemic to target Singaporeans are still doing well.

“It’s good that locals are (still) looking at local tours. We have five bookings in December. These are not large numbers but at least (there’s interest),” said Mr Loh.

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The SRV vouchers have piqued interest in local tours, and Singaporeans are still seeing them as an option if not heading overseas, tour operators said.

"Instead of going overseas, since we're already in Singapore, I think we can just learn more about Singapore's culture,” said a local participant during a tour of Chinatown.

Companies said they were making efforts to draw in locals by getting creative and switching up typical walking tours with more interesting topics, niche workshops and interactive elements.

For Tribe Tours, one of its most popular offerings is its game tours, where participants learn about local attractions like St John’s Island or Jewel Changi Airport through solving puzzles, completing missions and at times competing with each other.

“We are Singaporeans but sometimes we are not too clear about this area," said a local participating in the Chinatown game tour, which has a murder mystery theme.

" think it's good that we join this game and we can explore a little more about Chinatown.”

Mr Loe from Tribe Tours said local operators are increasingly creating different experiences to keep participants – both locals and foreigners – interested in Singapore.

"The key for us in the industry is to come up with very interesting tours that will inculcate a bit of curiosity ... That would be the natural magnet for travellers,” he said.

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