Luck of the Irish smiles on Changi Millionaire

By Doug Newhouse |

top Linda Tobin Changi Millionaire Jan 2016The ‘luck of the Irish’ stayed true this weekend, as 52-year old Ms Linda Tobin beat six other finalists to become the sixth S$1m ($700,438) Changi Millionaire in the history of the event. 

 

All seven finalists battled it out in Changi Airport T3 over the weekend in the ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ face off, egged on by a ‘live’ audience who encouraged three Singaporeans, one Indonesian, one Malaysian and one Briton in their efforts to win.

 

The competition for the grand prize involved three rounds of games followed by another three elimination rounds, with Tracey Tomlinson, 51, from Briton finally taking on Linda Tobin.

 

Linda Tobin (far right) and her niece (centre), are presented with the cheque for S alt=

Linda Tobin (far right) and her niece (centre), are presented with the cheque for S$1m dollars from Changi Airport Group CEO, Mr Lee Seow Hiang.

 

Both took turns to pick the correct half of a giant boarding pass, hoping to match the other half on stage, with Ms Tobin finally selecting boarding pass Number 3 to confirm her victory triggering a crescendo of confetti. [The other finalists were also looked after, winning S$5,000 ($3,504) in cash, plus a three-night stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Changi Airport, with air fares provided for the non-Singapore participants-Ed].

 

Meanwhile, the ultimate winner entered the competition after buying a bottle of Laphroaig 25 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky at Changi Airport’s DFS store for her brother in Australia.

 

ENDURING APPEAL…

As it celebrates yet another successful episode of this very popular event, the Changi Airport Group (CAG) reports that the appeal of this promotion has lost none of its appeal of participants – or those who like to attend the final draws.

 

CAG claims that the grand prize of S$1m remains the biggest cash prize to be given in a local retail promotion – or by any airport in the world – with the 2015 competition generating an astonishing near two million lucky draw entries from 229 participating nationalities.

 

The winner.

The winner expresses more than a little delight at her win.

 

Not surprisingly, the top three groups comprised Singaporeans, Chinese nationals and Indonesians, with Singaporeans making up over one-in-three of all those who entered. In addition, more than 333,000 instant prizes were also given away to lucky shoppers.

 

These apparently included a set of six exclusive premiums by local designers Wang Shijia and Jo Soh, which were specially commissioned to celebrate Singapore’s Golden Jubilee last year. Meanwhile, in addition to the six monthly finalists, one more shopper was picked from those who shopped on Changi’s online retail portal, iShopChangi.com for the very first time.

 

ANOTHER RECORD YEAR FOR CONCESSION SALES…

Congratulating the winner, Ms Lim Peck Hoon, Executive Vice President of Commercial at Changi Airport Group (CAG) also thanked all the passengers and customers for their patronage in 2015. She said: “In 2015, we continued to execute a successful commercial strategy, which saw the introduction of innovative concepts evident in our liquor and beauty duplex stores and the launch of many first-in-Changi brands.”

 

She added: “At the same time, exciting promotions like the Star Wars plushies during the holiday period and Changi Millionaire have contributed to the retail buzz and made shopping that more fun and rewarding at Changi.”

 

Changi Millionaire Jan 2016

There is no doubting the popularity or success of this promotion, with the 2015 competition now in its sixth year, generating an astonishing near 2m lucky draw entries from 229 participating nationalities.

 

Passengers and visitors who enter the draw qualify by shopping or dining at Changi Airport with a minimum nominal spend of S$30 ($21) in a single receipt. Purchases made in both the public and transit areas of Changi Airport are eligible while those travellers who shop on iShopChangi apparently had up to 10 times more chance of being picked as a finalist.

 

NUMBER SEVEN SET FOR MAY

The seventh run of the ‘Be a Changi Millionaire’ Draw will kick-off in May 2016. Meanwhile, the Changi Airport Group also took the draw announcement opportunity to announce that it also achieved yet another record for concession sales in 2015, although it did not give any numbers.

 

However, any improvement on last year’s performance would mean that CAG surpassed the S$2bn ($1.4bn) sales total achieved in 2014 from an average of over 120,000 daily transactions in the airport’s substantial retail and F&B establishments.

 

Click here for more information on sales indicators: http://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/asia-pacific/changi-1-48bn-duty-free-from-120000-sales-a-day/76227

 

 

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