STB monitoring commission fees on SingapoRediscovers Vouchers booking platforms

Singapore

THE Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has said it will monitor the commission rates charged by the booking platforms handling the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers redemption and penalise errant platforms, following concerns from the industry over reportedly eye-watering fees proposed by some.

The vouchers - S$100 for every Singaporean aged at least 18 this year - are intended to help the local tourism industry, which has been hard hit by the pandemic. They can be redeemed online through five authorised booking platforms: Changi Recommends, Klook, Trip.com, GlobalTix and Traveloka.

However, The Business Times (BT) understands that some of them had intended to charge commission fees ranging from 8 to 10 per cent, and as much as 25 per cent, on bookings made using the vouchers, drawing backlash from tourism operators.

In response to queries, STB said that it had secured "lower-than-average" commission rates and shorter credit terms for merchants as part of its tender for booking partners, and that the five authorised platforms are "contractually required to honour these rates".

"We will monitor prices of SingapoRediscovers Vouchers products and impose penalties on errant merchants and authorised booking partners, such as removing them from the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme," STB added.

When approached, the five booking platforms declined to disclose their commission fees for the voucher scheme. Some said they have reduced fees significantly, while others said they are offering rates below their usual.

Trip.com has lowered its fees "tremendously" by 47 to 82 per cent depending on the type of merchant, said Ru Yi, area general manager. The platform charges each type of merchant a standard rate - for instance, all hotels listed on Trip.com are charged one rate, while all attractions operators are charged another.

She added that Trip.com has "very reasonable" commission fees compared to other players.

Similarly, Klook has reduced commission fees "significantly" for this project, said Sarah Wan, South-east Asia marketing director. The platform has been known to charge 15 to 25 per cent in fees.

Traveloka, which has been said to charge 10 to 15 per cent in commission fees, said that it is offering merchants "specially lowered" rates under the voucher initiative.

Alan Ang, managing director at EU Holidays, said the commission fees, as well as the audience commanded by each platform, will play "a huge part" in the travel agency deciding which platform to partner.

"Travel packages are already losing out in terms of popularity and demand in the local market. To increase the interest, we have to make the packages attractive or unique. Huge commissions will have a detrimental effect on further increasing the selling prices," Mr Ang added.

On the other hand, a spokesperson for the Parkroyal Collection Pickering hotel - which is partnering Trip.com, Traveloka and Klook - said the commission rates are "a small considering factor".

"More importantly, we assess our partners as a whole; based on system integration and their ability to market our packages."

The five platforms were picked to offer redemption services for SingapoRediscovers Vouchers following an open tender earlier this year. The contracts were valued at around S$340,300 in all, BT reported in October.

Apart from price, the platforms were considered for their plans to support merchants and customers, implementation capabilities and track record, and accessibility, STB had said.

They told BT they are ramping up their capabilities to handle a potential surge in bookings once voucher redemption starts Dec 1.

Changi Airport Group's Changi Travel Services is increasing its customer service headcount for deployment to physical counters where people can seek help in redeeming their vouchers, said head of outbound products Carine Chew. The company will have 30 such counters islandwide. At the same time, it will maintain a 24/7 hotline for customer enquiries about the vouchers.

Chan Chee Kong, chief operating officer at GlobalTix, said the company secured a partnership with Singapore Post to leverage the latter's branch network as physical voucher redemption points.

Traveloka said it is enhancing its technology integration system, dedicated marketing and product team, as well as reinforcing its customer operations to provide 24/7 service.

Trip.com and Klook are investing in additional support for merchants, by each planning to spend about S$2 million from their own pockets on marketing. Trip.com's Ms Ru said part of the sum will go towards engaging partners like Shopee and Shopback to promote the vacation deals within their customer bases.

Notwithstanding the matter of commission fees, industry players are optimistic that the voucher scheme will stimulate domestic tourism and will employ a variety of strategies to tempt locals to spend, with or without the vouchers.

The Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, which is partnering all five platforms, said it will offer "specially curated packages" on its website as well as exclusive packages for each partner platform.

Dynasty Travel, while working with Changi Recommends and Klook, will also employ "different marketing strategies" for bookings done directly with the company, since customers won't be able to redeem the vouchers for such transactions.

Still, there are some that feel consistency is their best bet to win customers over. Chan Brothers, which is partnering GlobalTix to offer staycations and day tours, said products offered on its own platform or GlobalTix will be "equal in packaging and pricing". It intends to allocate bookings based on demand, instead of to specific platforms.

Mae Cheah, president at Trafalgar Asia, said the company will keep prices the same no matter what platform is used to book its deals. "We are optimistic that the vouchers will help customers to offset the prices of our tours and expect to see an increase in bookings in December," she added.

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