FIRST fraction of these passengers might schedule their flights a day later so as to enjoy the sights and attractions in Singapore, that number in reality should be fairly minimal and not of a major concern at this point. In addition, we note that the average length of stay for Australians is closer to 2.7 days, while that of Europe is closer to 2.3 days.”
Groupon for bankS?
Singaporeans are familiar with group buying for cheap deals on sites such as groupon.com. But can the concept be applied to other industries such as banks? Well, DBS certainly thought it was worth a try and in a world’s first they decided to launch a new savings product which would only be offered to customers if enough of them agreed to buy in to the offer. The resulting promotion, called uGoiGo, was an unexpected hit, reaching the 100% target in just five days as customers shared the deal with their peers online. Besides the attractive fixed deposit savings rates, customers were also awarded 10,000 bonus miles on their DBS Treasures Black Elite American Express Card. The campaign offered new DBS Treasures customers the opportunity to enjoy interest of 1.08% per annum with a three-month fixed deposit of SGD$350,000. Customers also received an e-coupon on their mobile phones and could open their accounts at any DBS Treasures Centre. Koh Kar Siong, Managing Director & Regional Head, DBS Treasures & Treasures Private Client, said that in Hong Kong, they have also launched the second wave of the campaign on the back of a successful pilot launch in February. They will also be rolling it out in China, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Will other banks follow suit? We will all find out in the coming days. 10 SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | APRIL 2013
Sorry mates, but the budget buck will do
W
hen Qantas decided it would bypass Singapore in favour of Dubai for its European routes the news landed like a bombshell among tourism players. After all, Australians are the fourth largest inbound tourism market for Singapore, with almost a million visitors a year. Many feared re-routing these potential visitors would have a devestating effect on certain parts of Singapore’s tourism sector. Not a cause for concern The last flight to Singapore was made on March 31, so what will the impact be? Not as great as some may think, at least according to DBS Vickers analyst Derek Tan who calculated that at most the 2 daily flights being rerouted to Dubai had a maximum annual seat capacity of 300,000, which represents just 0.7 % of the 51.2 million passengers that Changi handled last year. Of course not all Aussies will get off at Singapore and “stay an extra day”, notes Tan, who says that transit passengers do not count as a “visitor arrival” statistic into Singapore and they are also probably not a main driver for accommodation demand. “While we do not rule out that a
Australians heading into Europe might skip Singapore as a transit stop
Still too early to gauge One business that would have noticed a difference is Boomerang, the hugely popular Australian restaurant at Robertson Quay. Boomerang managing director Martin McGettigan said that it was still early days since the ending of the kangaroo route but that he did not expect it would have a major impact. “Most people on that route would have just gone straight through to Europe, whereas people who want to come to Singapore will still come,” he said. What he has seen is big growth in passengers who have come in from Scoot or Jetstar, and are staying in four star hotels like the Copthorne or Mirimar. “We have definitely seen more coming up. They are getting to Singapore as cheaply as possible and staying a night or two and the then they get a flight to Phuket or somewhere else.” The one segment of his business which may suffer is the early retirees, who typically would break a trip from Australia to Europe with a longer 5 or 6 day break.” However those that do want to take the break in Singapore may opt to fly British Airways which still hubs here. Of course Qantas still offers direct flights to Singapore, just not on-going ones to Europe. But with more budget airlines like Scoot and Tiger increasing capacity on the Australia to Singapore legs, Singapore may still get the same or more number of Aussies, but they may be of the more budget variety.
Estimated upcoming hotel supply by Tiers
Source: Urban Redevelopment Authority, Knight Frank Research