- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
- Points
- 113
SINGAPORE: After operating cruises along the Singapore River for the past four-and-a-half years, Singapore Ducktours will be stopping its HiPPO River Cruises in the area - not before crying foul over the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) tender exercise after it did not win the bid to run water taxi services.
Among other things, it took issue with the emphasis on bid price instead of the bidder's track record and argued that the requirements - including the S$3 price cap on the standard service.
Ducktours said this would make operations financially unsustainable, with potential annual losses of between S$1 million and S$1.6 million.
On Thursday, Ducktours, which also runs other cruises and tours in Singapore, took out an advertisement in this newspaper to inform readers that it is ceasing operations on the Singapore River in December.
Referring to the URA tender, which was put up in December last year, the advertisement stated: "We put forth a bid we believed was business sustainable. We lost."
On July 24, Ducktours set up a blog and published eight entries at one go to provide details of the tender that it took issue with.
It also put up an open letter - signed by Ducktours Chief Executive James Heng - to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to appeal for a review of the tender, which has been awarded to Global Yellow Pages Limited & Leisure Empire Pte Ltd and Singapore River Cruise Pte Ltd.
According to Ducktours, the result of the tender was released on July 12. In the open letter, it said it had earlier written to Mr Lee and the Ministry of National Development on the issue.
"There should be more feasibility and market (studies) prior to crafting the tender requirements. Most would say we are a poor loser crying foul. But it is not so," it said.
The water taxi services will commence in January. When contacted, Ducktours Deputy Director Pamela Wee said it had little choice but to go public.
"We have only five months to move out of the river. We need to inform our trade partners and customers of our exit," said Ms Wee.
She added that the blog was set up to share, among other things, "the rationale behind our bid and the feedback we have given to the authorities".
'SIX PROPOSALS RECEIVED': URA
Responding to MediaCorp's queries, a URA spokesman explained that the price cap on the river taxi services were needed to ensure affordability and encourage people to use the services when moving around the Singapore River and Marina Bay area.
He reiterated that the provisions of other services such as sightseeing cruises and themed boats were not subjected to price control under the URA's tender. This was to allow the interested operators to work out a financially viable proposal, he added.
URA received six proposals at the close of the tender.
"The number of bids received indicates that there was sufficient interest... by vendors who were confident they can run a viable business and meet all its requirements, mandatory or otherwise," the spokesman said.
Still, Ms Wee pointed out that services targeted at tourists will be cannabalised under the tender requirements.
She said: "With a S$3 water taxi service available at all times, the tourist market (priced at S$18) will be cannibalised. Tourists will opt for the more affordable S$3 water taxi's DIY tour and tour agencies will also have the same problem of incorporating an S$18 cruise into their tour package."
Ms Wee said that based on Ducktours' projections, the tourist market for river cruises "could crash by more than 50 per cent".
"As incumbent, we know the cost, we know the potential loss, we factored that into our bid and we were out-bidded," she said.
The URA spokesman noted that the evaluation criteria were clearly set out in the tender documents "to ensure transparency to all interested parties".
"Care was taken to ensure suitable flexibility in the tender specifications... For example, a smaller vessel may be proposed for periods when there is less anticipated demand for the provision of on-demand services," the spokesman added.
The proposals were evaluated by an inter-agency committee made up of representatives from the PUB, Singapore Tourism Board and URA.
Their recommendation was then put up for review and approval by the Ministry of National Development's Tender Board which comprised the ministry's senior officers.
The URA spokesman said the tender was awarded "after careful evaluation which included study of the design of the routes offered and cost competitiveness".
Transport analysts said it was difficult to predict how a water transport system will fare here - given that it is untested.
Still, National University of Singapore (NUS) transport expert Lee Der Horng felt that Singapore's road traffic conditions "is not so bad for people to consider water taxis that seriously".
Citing examples of cities such as Bangkok and Hong Kong, Prof Lee said that the water taxi services worked in these places as the services are "not replaceable".
In fact, the water taxis actually help commuters in these places save time, he noted. "But in our local context... it's quite doubtful," he added.
But Dr Park Byung Joon, head of urban transport management programme at UniSIM's School of Business, felt that is was "pessimistic" for Ducktours to project just 300 daily passengers.
"It looks if they are overlooking the fact that such low fare may increase the number of leisure riders," he said.
- TODAY
Among other things, it took issue with the emphasis on bid price instead of the bidder's track record and argued that the requirements - including the S$3 price cap on the standard service.
Ducktours said this would make operations financially unsustainable, with potential annual losses of between S$1 million and S$1.6 million.
On Thursday, Ducktours, which also runs other cruises and tours in Singapore, took out an advertisement in this newspaper to inform readers that it is ceasing operations on the Singapore River in December.
Referring to the URA tender, which was put up in December last year, the advertisement stated: "We put forth a bid we believed was business sustainable. We lost."
On July 24, Ducktours set up a blog and published eight entries at one go to provide details of the tender that it took issue with.
It also put up an open letter - signed by Ducktours Chief Executive James Heng - to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to appeal for a review of the tender, which has been awarded to Global Yellow Pages Limited & Leisure Empire Pte Ltd and Singapore River Cruise Pte Ltd.
According to Ducktours, the result of the tender was released on July 12. In the open letter, it said it had earlier written to Mr Lee and the Ministry of National Development on the issue.
"There should be more feasibility and market (studies) prior to crafting the tender requirements. Most would say we are a poor loser crying foul. But it is not so," it said.
The water taxi services will commence in January. When contacted, Ducktours Deputy Director Pamela Wee said it had little choice but to go public.
"We have only five months to move out of the river. We need to inform our trade partners and customers of our exit," said Ms Wee.
She added that the blog was set up to share, among other things, "the rationale behind our bid and the feedback we have given to the authorities".
'SIX PROPOSALS RECEIVED': URA
Responding to MediaCorp's queries, a URA spokesman explained that the price cap on the river taxi services were needed to ensure affordability and encourage people to use the services when moving around the Singapore River and Marina Bay area.
He reiterated that the provisions of other services such as sightseeing cruises and themed boats were not subjected to price control under the URA's tender. This was to allow the interested operators to work out a financially viable proposal, he added.
URA received six proposals at the close of the tender.
"The number of bids received indicates that there was sufficient interest... by vendors who were confident they can run a viable business and meet all its requirements, mandatory or otherwise," the spokesman said.
Still, Ms Wee pointed out that services targeted at tourists will be cannabalised under the tender requirements.
She said: "With a S$3 water taxi service available at all times, the tourist market (priced at S$18) will be cannibalised. Tourists will opt for the more affordable S$3 water taxi's DIY tour and tour agencies will also have the same problem of incorporating an S$18 cruise into their tour package."
Ms Wee said that based on Ducktours' projections, the tourist market for river cruises "could crash by more than 50 per cent".
"As incumbent, we know the cost, we know the potential loss, we factored that into our bid and we were out-bidded," she said.
The URA spokesman noted that the evaluation criteria were clearly set out in the tender documents "to ensure transparency to all interested parties".
"Care was taken to ensure suitable flexibility in the tender specifications... For example, a smaller vessel may be proposed for periods when there is less anticipated demand for the provision of on-demand services," the spokesman added.
The proposals were evaluated by an inter-agency committee made up of representatives from the PUB, Singapore Tourism Board and URA.
Their recommendation was then put up for review and approval by the Ministry of National Development's Tender Board which comprised the ministry's senior officers.
The URA spokesman said the tender was awarded "after careful evaluation which included study of the design of the routes offered and cost competitiveness".
Transport analysts said it was difficult to predict how a water transport system will fare here - given that it is untested.
Still, National University of Singapore (NUS) transport expert Lee Der Horng felt that Singapore's road traffic conditions "is not so bad for people to consider water taxis that seriously".
Citing examples of cities such as Bangkok and Hong Kong, Prof Lee said that the water taxi services worked in these places as the services are "not replaceable".
In fact, the water taxis actually help commuters in these places save time, he noted. "But in our local context... it's quite doubtful," he added.
But Dr Park Byung Joon, head of urban transport management programme at UniSIM's School of Business, felt that is was "pessimistic" for Ducktours to project just 300 daily passengers.
"It looks if they are overlooking the fact that such low fare may increase the number of leisure riders," he said.
- TODAY
