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While the campaign provides residents with a good opportunity to explore Singapore, local attractions still have to meet up to 80 or 90% of their capacity to break even.
The Singapore Tourism Board, along with Enterprise Singapore and the Sentosa Development Corporation, has recently launched a $45 million marketing campaign to encourage Singaporeans to spend their holidays locally to drive domestic tourism and support local businesses.
However, while the government’s campaign to encourage domestic tourism is a step in the right direction, observers believe it will not make up for the decline in overseas tourists resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Channel News Asia (CNA).
As part of the campaign, precinct itineraries are being launched by the three agencies for areas such as Chinatown and Little India, while hotels offer staycation deals bundled with local tours. Tour companies, on the other hand, tailor their offerings with Singapore residents in mind.
In welcoming the plan, Christopher Khoo, Managing Director for international tourism consultancy Masterconsult Services, said the campaign provides residents with a good opportunity to get to know activities and attractions they may not have known prior to this.
“I think that Singaporeans can be encouraged to explore their own neighbourhood, and it doesn’t have to be expensive,” he said as quoted by CNA.
However, Khoo was ‘very conscious’ that staycations will not solve the problems facing tourist attractions and hotels in Singapore.
This comes as attractions may have to meet up to 80 or 90% of their capacity to break even. Such target is hard to achieve considering the lower number of visitors as well as safe distancing and health protocols.
As such, Khoo expects to see attractions, travel agencies and hotels closing shop over the coming months.
In concurring, Dr Wong King Yin, Marketing Lecturer at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said that while encouraging domestic tourism would not make up for lost profits due to travel restrictions, it would help keep business afloat.
“And I think the objective or the goal of the industry is not to make a lot of profits, because we know that it’s not possible during this moment. So it’s really (a matter of) trying to break even, trying to keep employees and paying the necessary expenses,” she said as quoted by CNA.
To help stimulate the tourism industry, Khoo suggested the establishment of “travel bubbles”, or restricted travel arrangements where visitors are assured of safe travel between certain countries.
However, short-haul travel within the region would have to be established first, he said.
In May, Singapore entered into “fast lane” business travel arrangements between six areas in China and Singapore. Under these arrangements, visitors are required to undergo a swab test as well as be tested negative for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Singapore and Malaysia have also unveiled plans to resume some cross-border travel between such countries by 10 August.
Khoo noted that Singapore’s cachet on matters such as security, safety and medical standards, places it in good stead when it comes to re-establishing travel.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg