My recommended attraction for your report...
Monday, May 20, 2013
Hey Bella,
How have you been doing?
It has been quite a while since I have met you ever since your last visit to Singapore a few years back. However, I am so glad that we are still able to catch up with one another through Skype despite our hectic schedule previously the week before, and no doubt it is good to hear that you have been doing well at the other side of the globe, in Australia.
And prior to the attraction that that you had asked me for recommendations to your report, I had view the list of attractions from trip adviser that you are currently having dilemma with and decided that the Singapore Zoo will be a better option as compared to the rest of the attractions after doing much research on it. In fact, I have also made a trip down to the Singapore Zoo with my friends a few days ago for a site visit, so that you can have a better understanding about it after reading my post about it.
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| That's Joeleen and me at the entrance of Singapore Zoo |
Before my trip, I had learnt from my Attraction Management lecture that the Singapore zoo is an attraction built for tourism and it can be further categorized into the different followings:
- Ownership
- Primary and Secondary Attractions
- Catchment Area
- Location
- Size
- Target Markets
- Benefit Sought
As stated above, there is 7 ways to classify an attraction based on their respective characteristics, however I will only be looking into a one main factors,that is related to the Singapore Zoo on target market.
1) Target Markets
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| A Tourist Family Taking picture with the Orangutans |
Age
While I was at Singapore Zoo, the target market that was usually observed by me were and mainly family, students, couples, tourist, tour groups, local organisations like the old folks home and the handicapped association that helps the needy. Since Singapore Zoo's is one of the family based attraction in Singapore, the visitors age ranges from as young as 1 to about 70 years of age on average.
Place of Residence
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| Singapore Zoo is geographically located on the "Cross Marking in Red" on the map of Singapore |
Singapore Zoo, begin located a small country state of Mandai, made transportation more convenient for the its residence (tourist or locals living in Singapore) allowing easy access to mostly every part of Singapore. In addition, its geographically located in the center of the Singapore map, as a result, residence from all around Singapore regardless of place of stay had find travelling efficient and effective to and fro from the Zoo of Mandai.
Stages in family life cycle
The stages of a family life cycle that are usually influence and attracted to the Singapore Zoo were mostly from the parenting and family stage.This is so as most of the consumer buying power comes from the parents themselves,resulting them to often make decisions instead of the kids in the family.
Parenting is usually involved in nurturing their kids to increase their knowledge everyday. Parenting can be form through many ways,one of the few were telling them stories as well as bringing them to different place providing them with a pleasant learning experience while enhancing one's childhood.
Whereas for the family stage, as standards of living are constantly increasing, parents are usually working on weekdays from the morning till the evening. Thus, it creates an opportunity cost to forgo half a day at work and only another half a day at night before their kids turn in for the day. Therefore, by bringing the whole family on the weekends to places like Singapore zoo provides greater bonds within the whole family.
Means of transport
As stated above, Singapore being a small country that provides efficient and effective transportation services around the city state. Many locals and tourist travel by public buses from several places around Singapore to the zoo and some of which are mention in the site were Ang Mo Kio, Marsiling, Woodlands and Choa Chu Kang.
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| One of Singapore Attractions Express Services(ASEAX) buses |
The Singapore Attractions Express Service (ASEAX) also provides bus services to and from the Singapore Zoo at selected locations like Orchard roads, Beach road , Little India and Suntec. Tickets are also based sold on a single trip ranging from $5 for adults and $2.50 for kids and also a daily pass at $13 for adults and $6.50 for children.
Alternatively, taking a taxi or self driving from the city to the zoo will take about an average 30mins.
When they visit
The different target groups also visit the zoo based at different period of time. Tourist and local couples usually visit the zoo all year round, whereas the students only visit the zoo when their school are carrying out excursion/ site visit trips and lastly families are usually seen during the weekends and also on the school holidays when the parents can take leaves to accommodate their kids schedule leaving some time out for family bonding.
Visitor personality and lifestyle
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| Designs that are use on towels as well as photo booklet |
The lifestyle of a visitor can be observed by the way the amount of disposable income one possessed which eventually affects on spending pattern. Most visitors comes from the mid range income family,thus spending will only be involve in participating in a basic activities like purchasing the tickets as well as food and perhaps only tram rides. Whereas,for the high income visitors, having more disposable income creating more spending power will usually spend more on the services that is provided by the Singapore Zoo,for one instance it will be the Photo-Taking services provided at every prominent spots of the zoo.The visitors then will be given slips of paper with code to collect their photos at the exit point deciding if they were to buy them as the edit photos are printed in design booklet like the ones shown above which will be slightly costly.
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| Interactions Occurring Between The Animals & The Visitors |
In the 21st century, learning in a fun filled environment is very essential , thus shaping the visitor market personality to be highly enthusiastic with contact with interactive medias, like the shows carried out in different time slots in the morning and afternoon, bringing the animals closer to the target market as well as some of the services provided. One of the example of services provided, will be feeding of the animals as well as taking pictures with them which enhances quality of experience.
Motivating Factors
There are also several motivating factors that attracts and draw large crowds to the zoo to the Singapore zoo every now and then. Some of which I had research will be stated in the below...
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Map of Singapore Zoo
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Firstly,the animals are categorized accordingly into different classifications into several different zone of Wild Africa, Fragile Forest, Australian Outback, Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia, Treetops trail, Gibbon Island, Primate Kingdom, Reptile Garden, Critters Long House as well as Tropical Crops and Orchid Garden. This makes it easier for the visitor to roam around to their preferred zones with the zoo map in their own groups, providing a them with first hand experience while viewing the animals from afar and taking picture with them. Since you are in love with many wildlife animals, I believe you will be amazed with the different animals you can find in the zoo.
Secondly, interactive shows are also provided in the zoo catering to both the young old, mainly at two separate timing in the morning as well as in the afternoon.There are also a variety of shows to choose from at different venue of the zoo enabling one to explore the whole zoo while waiting for the shows. The list of the shows includes, Splash Safari Show, Animal Friends Show, Elephant at work & Play Show as well as Rainforest Fights Back Show casting various trainers and animals interaction through displaying different sets of abilities an animal possessed while appreciating the bonds they had with one another.
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Thirdly, River Safari and Night Safari are also located closely to the zoo, this also enables the visitors of the zoo to go over to river safari to view the well-known panda from beijing, once they are done with their itinerary at the zoo. Whereas, for the night they will also be able to visit the the night safari to observe those nocturnal animals at night in a tram ride enjoying the whole day at the attractions of Mandai.
Fourthly, interesting animal facts signage are also placed near the animal enclosure to provide more knowledge for the visitors about the animals they are viewing. This allows the customers to better understand the animal,widening one's knowledge to a whole new level than just barely observing them with their naked eyes.
Lastly, itinerary for the zoo had also been planned at the Singapore zoo's website for the visitors to ensure that they will not miss out the popular shows and experience while they are at the zoo. The itinerary can be further classified into both the
morning as well as the
afternoon. This will also motivates one to go as they will not have to think much about planning their itinerary for day at the zoo being worried that they will miss out an animals exhibits or perhaps a shows while they are on their zoo trip making the zoo trip a worthy one.
Core Product of the Singapore Zoo:
Fun-filled learning experience, Education and Excitement.
Tangible Product of the Singapore Zoo:
Brochures, Tickets, Souvenirs, Trams and boat rides, Direction signage, Restaurant, Facilities, Quality of service by the zoo staff, Shows, Website, Feeding of animals and Atmosphere.
Augmented products of the Singapore zoo:
Opening hours,Recycle bins, Carparks, Shuttle buses, Landscape architecture and User friendly facilities (E.g wheelchairs and prams) and Animal statue decorations.
Unique Nature of Service Products
The staff involved in producing and delivering the product are part of the product itself. Thus, the Singapore zoo staff are highly trained to deals with customers demands as well as their needs. For example, staff are located at almost every prominent areas to take quality pictures as well as well as to direct them to the next destination of their preferred choice. Therefore, pleasant services will create more satisfied consumers retaining them to come back to the zoo generating more revenue to it.
The customers themselves are involved in the production process. This greatly affects the customers experience based on their own perception, expectations as well as their attitudes towards receiving the product. Singapore zoo also enhances one's interaction with the animals in the zoo by providing interactive media like shows to create more involvement of customers into the product.As the saying goes, "its takes two hands to clap" thus the greater the interaction the louder the applause you will receive.
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| The search of the "Missing Python" in the show |
The service product is not standardized. The production process is continuous with customers directly involved, thus different crowds at the animal shows will affect the ambiance of the show and eventually affecting the satisfaction received from watching those shows. For example, if the crowd is high on a certain day, the satisfaction received from the visitors will be higher than average and vice versa.
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Zoo Vouchers & Tickets
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The product is perishable, cannot be stored. This also means that zoo tickets, zoo cash voucher that are suppose to be sold on a period of time, as well as food services that are not sold on that day, could not be kept for the day after as they could not be stored for later used. This greatly results in the loss of service for generating its revenue,posing a great challenge to the Singapore Zoo.
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| Zoo Brochure |
There is no tangible products to carry home. Since the Singapore zoo is a service product, all services that are usually provided on that day cannot be inspected, exchanged nor refund if experience is unsatisfactory.Visitors have to do their research to acquire certain information like reviews or brochures to gain a better understanding of the service product.
The surroundings of the service delivery process are a feature of the service. Singapore zoo also possessed many type of special viewing features like the elevated platforms, underwater galleries, glass observatories and its landscaped that had been built for their habitats in the wild, providing visitors with the best views from it's facilities enabling them to capture the special moments with the animals living in a well developed surroundings build to accommodate the animals respectively.
Challenges Pose For The Attraction
The Singapore Zoo also faces challenges in maintaining itself as a service provider and some of the challenges shown are that its goods and services are perishable that I had mentioned above, the external environment like rain that affects the visitorship as well as the limitations of family based segmentation.
External environment
Since the zoo is consist of more outdoor enclosure, visitor rate might be greatly affected as they might feel that many of the places around the zoo will be hard to get by due to rainy conditions and it will be quite a hassle to travel around the zoo with an umbrella and a poncho.As a result, the zoo might experience sharp decrease on visitorship on days like this.
Limitations of Family based segmentation
The Singapore zoo is classified as a family based attraction built for tourism, thus its service to its customers area usually more family oriented. For example, feeding of the different animals at different timings at respective venues around the zoo and spending time with their kids at the kidzworld enjoying the facilities the zoo provides.Thus, the there is an opportunity cost forgo for the zoo as its unable to cater to the needs of other target markets and for if it does cater to all it will experience a strain in their resources.
Reasons to why the Singapore zoo is highly ranked
The Singapore Zoo, previously known as Singapore Zoological Gardens was opened in the year of 1973, attracting about more than 1.6 million visitors each year. It is equipped with the most beautiful wildlife setting in the world occupying 26 hectare worth of land, accommodating about 2,800 animals of the 300 different species ranging from mammals,birds and reptiles. Thus, allowing animals to roam freely in their natural habitat-like enclosure, enabling the visitors to observe them in their respective habitat. Over the years,it had also proven itself to be an attraction that enhances it's customer's experience, achieving itself the 9th time "Best Leisure Experience" award presented by the Singapore Tourism Board(STB). Therefore, this also explains to why the Singapore zoo have been made the number 1 attractions in the zoo and aquarium category.
Meeting the needs of the customers
Singapore zoo had indeed met the needs of the customers and could be further explain into from the Maslow's hierarchy of needs from the lowest level of physiological to the highest level of self actualization.
Physiological needs is satisfied as there are many push carts located at mostly every corner of the zoo selling drinks like ice blend in unique bottles to satisfy the the thirsty customers. Most restaurants, like Ah Meng Restaurants and fast food restaurant,like KFC, are also located at the entrance as well as at the kidz corner so that customers and recharge themselves after a hearty meal.
The Singapore zoo has also met the safety needs of the customers,as it even go the extra mile to provide user friendly services like prams for the young with belts and wheelchair handicapped at the entrance of the zoo. This provides the basic safety needs for the customers ensuring that the whole family including taken off before they explore the zoo.
Kidz corner at the zoo provides the whole family to bond with one another, through playing with the water facilities, pony rides and wild animal carousel, it enhances the parent and child relationship closer with one another creating a sense of belonging with the zoo.
Events like 40th birthday promotions, satisfy the customers needs through providing 40% off for the customers who are born between 1st of March to 31st December. This allows the customers to be values and appreciated as they are able to bring along 4 of their friends to the zoo together with them, increasing one's self esteem.
Interactive medias like the respective animal shows satisfy the needs for self actualisation, allowing the volunteer to gain recognition from the crowd through the deafening cheers that he/she will receive. This provides the volunteer with a chance to learn about the different unique techniques of interacting with the animals of the show.
Promoting of the Singapore zoo
The Singapore zoo has also been successful in promoting itself to the public to draw attention and potential crowds to visit the zoo. Advertising had been made through videos and events like Zoo Hoo Jungle Out Loud and Safari Run are also organised to gain publicity for the Singapore zoo.
Singapore Zoo Advertisement
Impact the zoo has on Singapore
Economic Impact
By advertising itself constantly, the Singapore zoo brings in more visitorship attracting both the locals and the tourist at the same time. Thus, many jobs were created during the process, as transportation, food & beverage , retail as well as the hospitality industry will experience a sharp increase of revenue when customers purchase goods and services from the different respective industry. This brings in more tourism receipts into the country creating a domino effect resulting in a positive economic impact.
Environmental Impact
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| Bins at the zoo |
Since there are many push carts and food and beverage outlet around selling food and drinks, the Singapore Zoo might be facing a risk of having customers to dispose their wrappers and litters on the floor when the recycle bins are not in sight. To make matters worse, some of the customers will also bring in food from outside resulting in more litters around the compound of the zoo creating a loss of impression on Singapore as the clean and green city state.
Socio-cultural Impact
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| Visitors overcrowding the area |
Large crowds can also ruin the atmosphere and sense of space and peace although the Singapore zoo is rather large in its compound. For example, many visitors may crowd around an outdoor enclosure during the feeding time wanting to have the best views to capture an image of the animals, resulting in most visitors to block the oncoming visitors that are coming to view the animals. This affects the visitor's experience of the Singapore zoo as a whole when overcrowding occurs.
References
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Singapore Zoo. (n.d (no date)). Singapore Zoo. In Singapore Zoo. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.zoo.com.sg/images/dining/img-jungle-breakfast.jpg.
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River Safari. (n.d (no date)). River Safari. In River Safari. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.riversafari.com.sg/images/home/banner-gp.jpg.
Night Safari. (n.d (no date)). Night Safari. In Night Safari. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/images/home/banner-attractions-tramride.jpg.
Mappery. (n.d (no date)). Mappery. In Mappery. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://mappery.com/maps/Singapore-Zoo-Map.gif.
AsiaOne. (Wed, Mar 6 2013). Singapore Zoo to celebrate 40th anniversary with special programmes. In Relax. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://www.relax.com.sg/relax/news/1634584/Singapore_Zoo_to_celebrate_40th_anniversary_with_programmes.html.
MapSingapore. (n.d (no date)). MapSingapore. In MapSingapore. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from http://mapsingapore.com/images/maps/singapore-big.jpg.
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