Rethinking the Singapore River Cruise

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Rethinking the Singapore River Cruise GE2218 Group K Analysis 1

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GE2218/2011-2012 Semester 2/Group K/Group Analysis 1/Rethinking the Singapore River CruiseMuriel Ruth Manning (U091636X), Neo Zhi Wei (A0004662N), Tan Kee Hwee Esther (A0084452E), Woon Wei Seng (A0002916N)

National University of Singapore

Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

Department of Geography

GE2218: Leisure, Recreation & Tourism

Year 2011/2012 Semester 2

Group Analysis 1: Assessing a Singapore Tourist Space

Rethinkingthe Singapore River Cruise

Muriel Ruth Manning, Neo Zhi Wei, Tan Kee Hwee Esther & Woon Wei Seng

Tutorial Group DE3, Group K

Word Count: 1183words


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Introduction

The Singapore River Cruise (SRC), established in 1987 (Singapore River Cruise, 2011),

has been using bumboats retrofitted in traditional colours from the historical twakows1that

plied the rivers since British colonial rule (Cornelius-Takahama, 2000) for its tour operations.

Due to increasing competition from rival company Singapore DUCKTours, we undertook a

critical analysis of the current promotional model to identify weaknesses and in our report

below, also suggest possible improvements.

Weakness 1: An Insipid Promotional Model

As Crang (2008) asserts, advertising is important in shaping tourists perception of a

certain place as it lures people to the site of their imagination. In our analysis, we find that

SRCs contemporary promotional model is insipid, in this digital age and when compared to

its rival HippoTours (HT). In examining SRCs promotional brochures2, we note that they

market the heritage of the River and the authenticity of its bumboats. However, the

brochures seem impersonal, portraying Singapore as devoid of people (besides statues), the

focus of heritage solely on cultural artifacts such as the twakowand physical landmarks such

as the Merlion and Esplanade, a trend which runs through the bumboat experience as well.

This contrasts with rival HTs promotional brochures3depicting people and liveliness of the

River. Similarly, we notice that the SRCs website4has taken the people out of the River as

well. It pales especially in comparison to HTs website5 which shows endorsements and

targeted products for different market segments, although heritage offerings of SRCs

cruises are strongly emphasized, with pages dedicated to the history and landmarks of Our

River6.

Furthermore, the website is not very interactive, utilizing neither videos nor social

media platforms, besides a button linking to its Facebook page and a link to its Flickr

1According to Dobbs (2003), twakowsare light Chinese crafts that were traditionally used for transporting

goods.2See Appendix 1.

3See Appendix 2.

4

See Appendix 3.5See Appendix 4.6See Appendix 3.3 & 3.4.


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photostream showing its press coverage7. This does not tap into the full potential that social

media provides in this digital age, with the full plethora of platforms ranging from YouTube

to Twitter that can engage the tech-savvy of todays youth.8This affects the marketability

and awareness of SRC amongst youths, especially since an informal poll conducted by us

shows that a good percentage of youths are unaware of the SRC9.

Strategy 1: A New Niche Market for Students and Social Media

We propose focusing on a new niche market of visitors - students, as a starting point

to reaching out towards locals as well. A differentiated pricing scheme could be introduced

to cater to them, especially since they are financially less empowered. This will also

encourage repeated visits. Package deals could also be introduced: for instance, the SRC

could partner with certain restaurant(s) to offer lunch and a boat ride at competitive rates.

Both locals and foreigners would potentially be attracted by the value-for-money aspect of

such a marketing strategy as well.

In addition, we recommend maximizing the usage of social media platforms such as

Twitter and Facebook in advertising, especially to cater to our new proposed niche market

of students. For example, in order to increase viewership on the SRCs Facebook page, we

propose to introduce a competitive setting: local patrons of the boat rides will upload

photographs of themselves on the boat, with the best photograph winning a prize. The

winner will be determined by a process of public votes. In this way, awareness of the

product is increased amongst not only those who submit photographs, but their circle of

contacts as well. This is relevant particularly to the student demographic, as they are ardent

users of social media and are an appropriate target audience due to their willingness to try

new activities. Consequently, with the hype of the uploaded photographs and word-of-

mouth publicity, a significant number of peoples impressions of the SRC experience might

be reshaped.

7See Appendix 3.5.

8Facebook, Twitter & foursquare are social networking sites that perform different functions. These functions

vary from allowing users to post short posts (tweets in Twitter) to checking-in at a location via ones

smartphone (foursquare). YouTube is a video-sharing website that allows users to upload and share videosthey have made on their own onto the website for public viewing and commenting.9See Appendix 5.


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Weakness 2: Non-Interactive and Repetitive River Cruise Experience

Experience, to us, is considered a promotional model as tourists may help to further

advertise the river cruise through word of mouth. Hence, we personally took the River

Cruise to better understand the weaknesses in the current boat cruise experience.

First, we noted the lack of interaction between tourists and locals due to the

absence of a human tour guide10

as a weakness. Furthermore, descriptions of the Singapore

River and famous landmarks along its banks are broadcasted in the bumboat on a pre-

recorded tape11

. We feel that the digitalized commentary of the Singapore River might

result in a highly inauthentic experience of the Singapore River for tourists, especially as

Conran (2006) contends that intimacy and interaction with locals is important for the post-

modern tourist, and might even be the main objective of travel.

In addition, the route along Singapore River is repetitive since the bum-boat only

travels to and fro along the same route.12

We presume the tourists may be bored by the

time it returns from the same stretch of the River. The pre-recorded audio is also not in sync

with the locations we passed by. For example, the video gave a concise description and

history of Fort Canning even though the boat had not yet reached the area. These small

weaknesses combine to form a major deficiency in the overall experience of the River Cruise.

Suggestion 2: The Multi-Sensory Promotional Model

To maximize the authenticity of the SRC experience, we suggest a new multi-sensory

conceptualization of the SRC experience that will increase tourist interactivity with each

other and the surroundings. Research has suggested that taste-scapes, smell-scapes,

sound-scapes, touch-scapes (Franklin, 2001:123) all contribute greatly to the touristic

experience as well (Everett, 2008).

10The bumboat driver was accompanied by a man who helped us board the bumboat but did not interact with

any of the passengers thereafter until the end of the trip to help us alight from the bumboat. See Appendix 6.1.11

See Appendix 6.2.12

The route is a loopdepending on where you start, you will head downstream towards the Marina Bay,loop around it and head back upstream, towards Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay before making a loop and

returning to the start-point downstream.


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We suggest replacing the accompanying pre-recorded audio that currently serves as

the impersonal tour guide aboard the bumboat to a human tour guide with whom tourists

can engage with, as the inter-personal approach is important in enhancing the tourist

experience (Giordmaina, 2008:45). Here, the tour guide will be in the best position to allow

tourists to engage in intimate, authentic encounters with locals, for example through

revelation of personal experience and answering questions about Singapores culture.

Adding on to the current visual and audio engagement, we also propose that a

section of the bumboat could be remodeled as a food-tasting site. In her study on food

tourism, Everett (2008:340) suggests that food is increasingly seen to encompass the very

identity of a place or individual. Thus, local snacks from Singapores various cultural groups

for example, Peranakansnacks could be sampled on board to cement the Singaporean

sense of place. Another study further suggests that olfactory marketing helps in the

enhancement of brand communications (Giordmaina, 2008:44); in our case, smells from

food samples on board would serve enhance and retain tourists memories of the cruise

experience aboard the bumboat through further sensory engagement.

Conclusion

To improve the SRCs promotional model so as to attract both tourists and locals

alike to ride the river cruise, we have identified two main weaknesses in the current model -

a lackluster advertising model and an impersonal and jaded boat cruise experience. Hence,

we suggest a two-pronged approach to improve it - identifying a new niche market of

students and tapping into social media to reach out to visitors, and developing a new multi-

sensory experience for visitors. While we acknowledge that there are more weaknesses

than what has been outlined above, we contend that these are the most important and that

the strategies we have developed are not only low-cost but also aimed at having the

greatest impact in changing visitors impressions of the Singapore River Cruise.


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Bibliography

Crang, M. (2004) Cultural Geographies of Tourism, in Lew A., Hall C.M., and Williams A. (eds.)A

Companion to Tourism. London, Blackwell, pp. 74-84.

Conran, M. (2006) Beyond Authenticity: Exploring Intimacy in the Touristic Encounter in Thailand,

Tourism Geographies, vol. 8(3), pp. 274-285.

Cornelius-Takahama, V. (2000) Bumboats[Online]. Available at:

[Accessed 12 February 2012].

Dobbs, S. (2003) The Singapore River: a social history. Singapore: Singapore University Press.

Everett, S. (2009) Beyond the visual gaze?: The pursuit of an embodied experience through food

tourism, Tourist Studies, vol. 8(3), pp. 337-358.

Franklin, A. (2001) The Tourist Gaze and Beyond. An Interview with John Urry, Tourist Studies, 1(2),

pp. 11531.

Giordmaina, J. (2008) Multi-sensory marketing and its application in tourism, Journal of the

Institute of Tourism Studies, vol. 2, pp. 42-25.

Singapore River Cruise (2011) Company History[Online]. Available at:

[Accessed 12 February 2012].


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Appendix 1: Brochures of Singapore River Cruise (SRC)

(1) Exterior of Singapore River Cruise Brochure, depicting Singapores heritage and landmarksbut devoid of people (besides statues).

(2) Interior of Singapore River Cruise Brochure, similarly full of landmarks.


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Appendix 2: Brochures of HippoTours (HT)

(1) Front of Hippo River Cruise Brochure, which shows people whether local worker or tourist.


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(2) Rear of Hippo River Cruise Brochure showcasing the performers on their themed cruis

(3) Interior of Hippo River Cruise Brochure, which is similarly peopled even though it also

highlights the landmarks like in the SRC Brochure.


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Appendix 3: Website of Singapore River Cruise

(1) Title Page of Singapore River Cruise Website (http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/)

(2) Some Photo Transitions on Title Page of Website (http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/)
http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/


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(3) Menu Bar of Website

(4) Our Rivers Page (http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/ourriver.php)

(5) Links to Facebook (Facebook logo at bottom-left hand of page) & Flickr (Press Coverage link)(http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/about.php?p=history)
http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/ourriver.phphttp://www.rivercruise.com.sg/ourriver.phphttp://www.rivercruise.com.sg/ourriver.phphttp://www.rivercruise.com.sg/about.php?p=historyhttp://www.rivercruise.com.sg/about.php?p=historyhttp://www.rivercruise.com.sg/about.php?p=historyhttp://www.rivercruise.com.sg/about.php?p=historyhttp://www.rivercruise.com.sg/ourriver.php


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Appendix 4: Website of Hippo Tours

(1) Title Page of Duck & Hippo Tours Website (http://www.ducktours.com.sg/)
http://www.ducktours.com.sg/http://www.ducktours.com.sg/http://www.ducktours.com.sg/http://www.ducktours.com.sg/


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(2) Hippo River Package Page (http://www.ducktours.com.sg/tours_hipporiver.php)
http://www.ducktours.com.sg/tours_hipporiver.phphttp://www.ducktours.com.sg/tours_hipporiver.phphttp://www.ducktours.com.sg/tours_hipporiver.phphttp://www.ducktours.com.sg/tours_hipporiver.php


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Appendix 5: Facebook Poll

Question: Have you heard of the Singapore River Cruise? Or have you been on board one of the

bumboats of the Singapore River Cruise? (Not the Hippo / Duck Tours!)

Response 1: Yes I have heard of the bumboats of the Singapore River Cruise, but not been on it 45responses

Response 2: Yes I have been on the bumboats of the Singapore River Cruise 16responses

Response 3: No I have not heard of the Singapore River Cruise and its bumboats 0responses

(Poll results as of 16 February 2012 11pm,https://www.facebook.com/woonweiseng?sk=questions)

Appendix 6: Photographs of Singapore River Cruise Experience

(1) The man (in yellow) who helped us to board the bumboat but subsequently did not interactwith us throughout the trip.
https://www.facebook.com/woonweiseng?sk=questionshttps://www.facebook.com/woonweiseng?sk=questionshttps://www.facebook.com/woonweiseng?sk=questionshttps://www.facebook.com/woonweiseng?sk=questions


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(2) White square loudspeaker on side of bumboat broadcasting pre-recorded commentary thatplayed at certain key locations along the tour.

(3) Wei Seng, Zhi Wei & Esther (from left to right) on our virgin bumboat experience, on the firstfieldtrip to Singapore River.

Rethinking the Singapore River Cruise

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