Restrictive terms, poor outcomes hobble voucher scheme for tourism sector
From having to top-up additional cash to bad experiences, the SingapoRediscoversVouchers (SRV) scheme is getting a bad rap - to the point where over 2 million eligible adults have still not redeemed their vouchers.
The scheme, which is overseen by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), aims to boost local spending in the beleaguered tourism sector. Each adult citizen can redeem S$100 in voucher credits, which are to be spent on hotels, tours and attractions. A major gripe is that such outings are usually family aairs, which means a fair bit of money will have to be topped up for the kids.
So far, more than S$108 million in redemptions and out-of-pocket payments have been made by the more than 760,000 Singaporeans who used their vouchers at least once. Aurobindo Ghosh, assistant professor of finance in SMU, noted that the vouchers cannot be used for food and beverage.
"Most consumers would look at their total cost of a visit to an attraction or for a staycation and not in isolation… Both a pull and push strategy might work to stimulate the utilisation of the stimulus vouchers that is needed for the economic growth to pick up," he said.
Many who have made purchases using the vouchers have also reported bad experiences, leading to complaints about merchants on social media or in feedback to the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case).
A key gripe: merchants' alleged failure to deliver promised products and services especially as purchases made using the vouchers are generally not refundable under STB rules.
Case received three complaints involving SRV claims between Dec 1, 2020 and March 19, 2021, a spokesperson for the consumer watchdog told The Business Times (BT).
In one case, a customer had booked a yacht tour for two but was told later that the tour could not proceed as at least eight people were needed to set sail. The consumer was asked to accept another tour of lower value, which he did not agree with.
In response to queries from BT, STB said as at end-March that it had not delisted any merchants over "unethical business practices" - such as not delivering products or services that had been bought with SRV.
But the agency will not hesitate to penalise errant merchants, by removing them or their products from the scheme, a spokesperson added.
Only merchants that already meet certain STB criteria can have their products put up for sale on the authorised booking platforms.
Despite the low take-up, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has no plans to extend its end-June deadline for the scheme, and industry watchers said full participation would be an uphill battle anyway.
In written responses to questions raised in Parliament on Monday, MTI said some 2.2 million of the three million eligible adults had not yet used their SRV credits as of March 28. It's monitoring the redemption rate to see whether any extension of the deadline is needed.
Some industry watchers said the muted level of interest is in line with expectations. This utilisation rate of about 25 per cent is reasonable, said Nanyang Business School lecturer Wong King-Yin, who specialises in tourism and hospitality management.
With the June school holidays coming up, the final redemption rate could hit 50%. This "is already considered good", she added, given Singapore's ageing population.
Older consumers are assumed to be less interested in tourism activities, owing to their limited mobility as well as higher risks of getting infected by the deadly coronavirus.
People's Action Party MP Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Radin Mas SMC) was also recently asked about whether there have been any cases of abuse under the SRV scheme, such as fraud, profiteering, and resale of vouchers.
"STB has been monitoring the usage of SRV closely. There have not been any cases of fraud or profiteering detected thus far," the MTI said.
Case received three complaints involving SRV claims between Dec 1, 2020 and March 19, 2021, a spokesperson for the consumer watchdog told The Business Times (BT).
In one case, a customer had booked a yacht tour for two but was told later that the tour could not proceed as at least eight people were needed to set sail. The consumer was asked to accept another tour of lower value, which he did not agree with.
In response to queries from BT, STB said as at end-March that it had not delisted any merchants over "unethical business practices" - such as not delivering products or services that had been bought with SRV.
But the agency will not hesitate to penalise errant merchants, by removing them or their products from the scheme, a spokesperson added.
Only merchants that already meet certain STB criteria can have their products put up for sale on the authorised booking platforms.
Source: The Business Times, 8 April 2021
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