Companies are being invited to tender to run the retail concession at two Singapore cruise terminals.

The Singapore Cruise Centre (SCC) is seeking a company to develop and run the duty free and general merchandise concession contract at the Harbourfront and Tanah Merah terminals for five years, with an option to extend for two years.

Meanwhile, SCC is investing in redesigning and upgrading its commercial offer at both terminals, including an expansion and reconfiguration of the main retail space in the departures and arrivals areas. The terminals serve more than 6.3 million ferry passengers and 560,000 cruise passengers annually, and the contract is to govern 542 sqm of retail space.

SCC has also decided to consolidate several separate contracts for the existing duty-free concessions (including liquor and tobacco, perfumes and cosmetics, fashion and travel accessories, and confectionery) into a single contract, to run for five years with a two-year extension option, starting on April 1 next year.

“We are committed to driving passenger growth in our terminals, and retail is a key contributor to overall passenger satisfaction,” says Singapore Cruise Centre CEO Christina Siaw.

The tender is open to companies with “relevant experience in duty-free retailing” until June 30. One incumbent, DFS Singapore, runs the departure-transit and arrivals transit shops alongside the SCC’s Ocean Duty Free outlets, which are run by Gebr Heinemann, which opened its third store in Singapore’s HarbourFront Ferry Terminal in January last year.

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said in March that the country had had encouraging growth in the cruise and business segments, with the Singapore Cruise Centre being named the top cruise port in Asia last year.