Will the Flyer take off any time soon?
By Reggie J
IF, like me, you have been up the Singapore Flyer, your head must be spinning over a host of things.
For starters, I have never understood why it is so named.
It cannot fly and it never will.
Close your eyes and tell me what 'flyer' conjures up in your mind; and I will bet it's not a great ferris wheel on the skyline.
Much has already been written about its wrong choice of location as it's not near any of the tourist hot spots; its admission price is high and it's not value for money, in my view.
But I don't know, for now, if anyone there has taken notice or cares enough.
I am not going to try making comparisons to the London Eye and even the Eye on Malaysia, as I believe to each his own. Maybe, some lessons can be learnt though.
Built at a staggering cost of $240million, the Flyer has been set up to be an iconic landmark, mainly for tourists.
It has notched up one million visitors in five months but fewer than half are tourists. This does not bode well for its immediate future.
To add to the gloom, the tourism board has just announced that overall visitor numbers are down.
It has since been reported that a few feng shui masters and four months of study have concluded that the direction of the cycle should be reversed.
That is now done.
After all, anything is worth a try, including, I suggest, a stronger hand in marketing to make it fly.
The mark of a good attraction is its enduring quality and its ability to make money.
One wag suggested that if all things fail, the pods can be sold off as bus shelters.
But even cynics will accept it's still early days yet for the Flyer.
So, for now, my applause for the Flyer is but a guarded three-and-a-half fingers and not a full hand. Who knows, the Flyer might well take off in time to come.
The writer is a former Singaporean marketing professional.
This article was first published in The New Paper on Sept 9, 2008.
hmmm..
i enjoyed myself up there actually.. i went there with 3 different groups and i actually enjoyed myself each time.
i went to the Singapore Flyer with my schoolmates during the day and we had fun! By just viewing the sights, clowning around in the capsule to taking pictures with each other, each of us enjoyed the flight up!
and i also went up during the night with my friends, and the view was stunning! but yah, the construction did dampen the view a little...
the price may be a issue, but i do feel that the experience is more important to me. The time spent with my friends and family up on the flyer, is actually memories that i would appreciate more..
Posted by: evoben at Thu Sep 11 16:19:15 SGT 2008
It is definitely an iconic flyer for Singapore, nevertheless...location and its view might not be the best. Looking forward the IR will help to attract quite a number of visitors, that is for sure.
On the other hand, I would suggest to lower down the price for local Singaporean, so that it is affordable and worth for a family to take and enjoy the ride. For these kinds of spots in Europe, there is significant discount for local and senior citizen. Let's make affordable to local. I believe, lower down the price will definitely attract more locals, where as for tourism...it is once in a lifetime, therefore...cost might not be the main factor.
Posted by: titansim2007 at Thu Sep 11 15:14:25 SGT 2008
Unless the 'Singapore Flyer' drastically reduce their fees, i reckon i wont be visiting this 'Singapore icon' in my entire life' Y? with 4 kids + 2 adults, its going to cost me almost $200 to have a look @ tis so-called splendic view of Singapore. Not worth my money!
Posted by: Super Gal at Thu Sep 11 15:06:00 SGT 2008
By Reggie J
IF, like me, you have been up the Singapore Flyer, your head must be spinning over a host of things.
For starters, I have never understood why it is so named.
It cannot fly and it never will.
Close your eyes and tell me what 'flyer' conjures up in your mind; and I will bet it's not a great ferris wheel on the skyline.
Much has already been written about its wrong choice of location as it's not near any of the tourist hot spots; its admission price is high and it's not value for money, in my view.
But I don't know, for now, if anyone there has taken notice or cares enough.
I am not going to try making comparisons to the London Eye and even the Eye on Malaysia, as I believe to each his own. Maybe, some lessons can be learnt though.
Built at a staggering cost of $240million, the Flyer has been set up to be an iconic landmark, mainly for tourists.
It has notched up one million visitors in five months but fewer than half are tourists. This does not bode well for its immediate future.
To add to the gloom, the tourism board has just announced that overall visitor numbers are down.
It has since been reported that a few feng shui masters and four months of study have concluded that the direction of the cycle should be reversed.
That is now done.
After all, anything is worth a try, including, I suggest, a stronger hand in marketing to make it fly.
The mark of a good attraction is its enduring quality and its ability to make money.
One wag suggested that if all things fail, the pods can be sold off as bus shelters.
But even cynics will accept it's still early days yet for the Flyer.
So, for now, my applause for the Flyer is but a guarded three-and-a-half fingers and not a full hand. Who knows, the Flyer might well take off in time to come.
The writer is a former Singaporean marketing professional.
This article was first published in The New Paper on Sept 9, 2008.
hmmm..
i enjoyed myself up there actually.. i went there with 3 different groups and i actually enjoyed myself each time.
i went to the Singapore Flyer with my schoolmates during the day and we had fun! By just viewing the sights, clowning around in the capsule to taking pictures with each other, each of us enjoyed the flight up!
and i also went up during the night with my friends, and the view was stunning! but yah, the construction did dampen the view a little...
the price may be a issue, but i do feel that the experience is more important to me. The time spent with my friends and family up on the flyer, is actually memories that i would appreciate more..
Posted by: evoben at Thu Sep 11 16:19:15 SGT 2008
It is definitely an iconic flyer for Singapore, nevertheless...location and its view might not be the best. Looking forward the IR will help to attract quite a number of visitors, that is for sure.
On the other hand, I would suggest to lower down the price for local Singaporean, so that it is affordable and worth for a family to take and enjoy the ride. For these kinds of spots in Europe, there is significant discount for local and senior citizen. Let's make affordable to local. I believe, lower down the price will definitely attract more locals, where as for tourism...it is once in a lifetime, therefore...cost might not be the main factor.
Posted by: titansim2007 at Thu Sep 11 15:14:25 SGT 2008
Unless the 'Singapore Flyer' drastically reduce their fees, i reckon i wont be visiting this 'Singapore icon' in my entire life' Y? with 4 kids + 2 adults, its going to cost me almost $200 to have a look @ tis so-called splendic view of Singapore. Not worth my money!
Posted by: Super Gal at Thu Sep 11 15:06:00 SGT 2008
