Gardens by the Bay takes SBR National Business Awards for Hospitality & Leisure

The garden proved to be resilient as it embraced change in the fast evolving leisure business environment.

Gardens by the Bay won the Hospitality & Leisure category of Singapore Business Review National Business Awards, which aims to honour exceptional local businesses in Singapore and give recognition to their outstanding initiatives.

Gardens by the Bay is well-known both locally and internationally for horticultural excellence, floral artistry, and garden design. Its gardens incorporate technological elements, enabling its landscapes to be of high interest yet sustainably maintained. Its cooled conservatories are anchor attractions, whilst the outdoor gardens and programmes attract and enthrall visitors.

Since opening in 2012, the Gardens has experienced annual YoY growth with visitorship jumping from 3.9 million visitors in 2012 to 14 million in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the dynamics of the Gardens’ visitorship and prolonged social-distancing measures have affected visitor throughput.

Responding swiftly to the changing environment, Gardens by the Bay embarked on three areas to stay relevant to customers and ensure long-term resilience within the industry.

It restructured and reviewed its business processes and systems to reduce costs, and developed new or enhanced existing products to continually engage customers and expand the customer base. From retail to education and outreach, the Gardens shifted its content from onsite to online, bringing its products and services to customers’ homes. Its expertise in landscape design and horticulture are now extended to external parties, whilst its venue provision services now include event management options.

Amidst evolving business circumstances, Gardens by the Bay intensified training to upskill and cross-train staff. During the circuit breaker period, it channelled its immediate energies to conduct an organisation-wide learning journey, with different departments coming together to develop and implement 13 sets of in-house courses, concluding with a Change Management module to steer the organisation towards reflecting on the challenges ahead and establishing new practices.

To enable gainful and meaningful employment, over 80 staff were deployed to national agencies to support the planning and execution of government quarantine facilities and to undertake roles as safe-distancing ambassadors at public areas, whilst 30 staff volunteered to support community care facility operations. Internally, the Gardens’ staff also stepped forward to support work beyond their primary functions, augmenting security officers and horticulturists and assisting with facilities maintenance as needed.

By embracing change and innovation, Gardens by the Bay overcame many of the challenges brought on by the pandemic to remain resilient amidst the fast evolving leisure business environment.

Watch the interview below to know more about their winning project: