One of the earliest literary pieces I read and that left a big impression on me was “Lady Precious Stream”, written by S.I. Hsing.
To cut a long play short – it was a Chinese play written in English circa 1933 – it’s about the adventures of a restless warrior who, in the end, after all his travels, returns home and realises that everything he’d ever looked for was right at home, in his case, his dutiful wife.
I think I was about 13 when I read it, and I identified more with Xue, the restless warrior, than the dutiful wife. He clearly had all the fun. She just stayed home.
The story came back to me as I was listening to Singapore Tourism Board’s CEO Keith Tan announcing its $45m domestic tourism campaign and how it would run over nine months, and I think it was then that the realisation hit me that there would be no more travelling abroad for at least that period.
Welcome to the final stage of grief, acceptance. I’ve arrived.
The message from Tuesday’s media briefing and Wednesday’s Tourism Recovery Dialogue was loud and clear – borders won’t be open anytime soon. And even if borders were open, who would come? Not many.
The STB did a Brand Health survey in April, which showed that only 24 percent of travellers across 14 key markets felt confident to travel internationally and only 33 percent of them felt confident to visit Singapore. I’m sure the numbers will be even lower now.
There is some hope in those Safe Travel Corridors but there are also huge hurdles to surmount there. Right now, only China is in place and Malaysia will begin from August 10 and Minister of Trade Chan Chun Sing said talks are ongoing with countries like South Korea, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and some European countries to agree on common protocols to allow the safe resumption of travel.
The grief is not for me personally but for the entire tourism industry in Singapore and all those who work in it. We are warriors-in-arms fighting the toughest battle we’ve ever encountered, with unknown terrain and an invisible enemy.
The very harsh reality that confronts tourism businesses in Singapore that have for the last 50 years relied completely on foreign travellers is that for the next nine months, at least, the only way to survive is from the domestic market. (To put this in perspective, according to UN data, at mid-year, Singapore’s 2020 population is estimated at 5,850,342 people, which is equivalent to 0.08% of the total world population.)
How big is the domestic tourism market? No one really knows, although Thien Kwee Eng, chief executive officer of Sentosa Development Corporation, did say at the media briefing that 20% of visitors to the island were locals and honestly, as the only destination with decent beaches and hotels, Sentosa will no doubt become the most crowded holiday spot in the country.
Too bad the Southern Islands weren’t developed as had been talked about at least a decade ago. There’s a lovely, lonely-looking glass building on Lazarus Island, that was clearly built for some official government event years ago. Other than that, the southern islands do not have much infrastructure, let alone accommodation. You could have glamping sites though, and there are alcoves on Lazarus beach which could be converted into dining areas, if we get creative enough.
Which is what we will have to do if the industry is to get even a sliver of the S$34b Singaporeans spent on foreign trips in 2018. The reality is, it will be hard to make up for the S$27.7b in tourism receipts last year.
The STB and its partners, SDC and Enterprise Singapore, are throwing everything at the campaign and locals are being asked to “rediscover Singapore with fresh eyes”. The VisitSingapore app has been re-purposed to offer a selection of promotions around accommodation, attractions, dining, shopping and tours. They can also be found on this microsite. Clearly, a lot of work has gone into the campaign and product, and executed in record time.
Checking out the tours, I was intrigued by the “30% off creepy tales of Singapore tour” – ghosts at a bargain, who can resist.
When Minister of Trade Chan Chun Sing was asked for advice on how tourism businesses can appeal to local travellers, he said, “the easiest way is to ask ourselves, what would attract us, encourage us … if we are not interested, then chances are people would not be interested”.
He said that when we travel, we want to see what locals do and if this period meant that Singapore will dig deep to create “richer, more experiential, deeper” products for locals, this means it would emerge stronger when inbound travel returns.
“I find things that are inconspicuous to the average citizen, things keep the society going, interesting,” said Minister Chan, citing the stories behind the things that make Singapore work – water purification, for example, or learning how the Jewel operates behind the scene.
So the challenge and opportunity is to “rethink our offering to our own people and later to other travellers”, he said.
I think for this campaign to work, Singapore might also need to rethink how to align the working week with school schedules so as to manage the weekend peaks and the weekday lulls. Already there are comments that weekend prices on Sentosa are too high for the average family, and with social distancing measures, facilities such as pools and spas cannot operate at full capacity which means you might not be able to use them when inhouse. It might also make sense from a social distancing perspective to spread out the week.
There’s no sugarcoating it though, more job losses are inevitable. My Grab driver today said, “It will get worse before it gets better.”
The good news is, a few weeks into Phase 2 of Circuit Breaker, it’s beginning to feel a bit normal again. Going out now has become the norm for me, rather than staying home, and I now leave home automatically with mask, mobile and sanitizer, today’s three essential items. Part of the new lifestyle. It’s amazing how quickly one adapts.
I was at Prego today at the Fairmont which is opening for staycations and the Italian restaurant was packed, albeit with lower capacity. General manager Marcus Hanna said covers have been healthy since re-opening and the Anti:dote bar was also packed with JAAN executive chef Kirk Westaway running a pop-up British kitchen there while JAAN was closed, but it’s due to reopen soon.
You can see businesses getting creative and resourceful, and doing the best they can under the circumstances. Necessity, after all, is the mother of invention.
Desperation could also be the mother of inspiration. Given we are unable to travel abroad for months and months, we are also going to have to get creative with our breaks and, let’s face it, if there’s ever a good time for locals to save Singapore, this is it.
And who knows, like Xue, the restless warrior, we may find that everything we’ve ever looked for is right at home.
Told you, acceptance.