About 2.2m Singaporeans have not used their SingapoRediscovers Vouchers

ABOUT 2.2 million Singaporeans, out of some three million eligible, have not used their SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV), which will expire at the end of June.

But there is no extension of the deadline for now, said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing on Monday in a written reply to questions raised in Parliament on Monday. "We will continue to monitor the redemption rate over the remaining months before considering if any extension of the redemption deadline is warranted."

Meanwhile, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), authorised booking platforms and merchants on board the scheme, will step up efforts in the next few months to encourage usage of the vouchers, Mr Chan said.

This includes sharing products and promotions across attractions, tours, and hotels, through STB and the booking platforms' channels.

Merchants are also encouraged to continue creating "interesting products or attractive bundles that will appeal to different groups of Singaporeans", or work with each other to do so, Mr Chan added.

STB and the booking platforms have also worked on improving the user experience, such as placing additional reminders on child discounts and booking of time slots, he said. "We will continue to review and enhance the process where necessary."

Under the SRV scheme to boost local tourism, eligible Singaporeans - citizens at least 18 years old in 2020 - were given S$100 each in voucher credits. These can be spent on products such as tours and hotel stays, booked using the five authorised booking platforms: Changi Recommends, GlobalTix, Traveloka, Trip.com and Klook.

Redemptions began on Dec 1 last year.

As at March 28, over S$108 million in vouchers and additional expenditure had been spent under the scheme.

There have not been any cases of fraud or profiteering detected so far; STB has been monitoring usage of the vouchers, Mr Chan said on Monday. The digital nature of the scheme also "minimises fraud", he noted.