More than 300,000 Singaporeans have used SingapoRediscovers vouchers, with $35.9m in bookings made

As at Jan 1, the bookings amount to $35.9 million in vouchers and payments, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Tuesday (Jan 5).

The vouchers can be spent on more than 440 products available across the five authorised booking platforms: Changi Recommends, GlobalTix, Traveloka, Trip.com and Klook.

"We are heartened by the interest that Singaporeans have shown in the SingapoRediscovers vouchers," said the STB. It added that it would continue to work with the tourism sector to roll out more such deals.

As part of the STB's outreach efforts, it deployed ambassadors at 53 community centres and clubs islandwide to help those with queries on the vouchers. The ambassadors have assisted close to 63,000 Singaporeans as at Jan 1.

Encouraging Singaporeans to make full use of their vouchers over the next six months, the STB reminded them to book time slots for attractions and tours beforehand.

"This is to ensure they are able to visit and rediscover Singapore at their preferred time," it said.

During the December school holidays, many reportedly could not use the tickets they bought, as the time slots for the attraction were fully booked.

Some of the attractions that were fully booked for the first week of January included the S.E.A. Aquarium and HeadRock VR.

While various attractions have introduced time slots to avoid overcrowding, not all Singaporeans were aware of this requirement.

Several visitors to Sentosa such as Ms Grace Briones, 40, were denied entry because they had shown up without booking a time slot.

“You assume it’s completed because you get a confirmation email but that’s just half of the booking process,” said the marketing manager who had purchased tickets for Universal Studios Singapore last Monday but did not book a slot.

If customers do not book a time slot, they may be able to change the date of their visit or get a refund.

However, this depends on the terms and conditions of individual attractions and their arrangements with the booking platforms.

To ensure customers book a time slot, some platforms have issued reminders.

Since early December, booking platform Klook has required customers to check a box when making payment for a ticket to acknowledge that they are aware of the need to book a time slot.

Traveloka also said last Wednesday that it will be adding additional information to remind customers to book a time slot when they purchase the Sentosa FunPass via its website.