It was Benjamin Franklin who said, 'He that is good for making EXCUSES is seldom good for anything else.'

In ZUJI Singapore's case, that also includes not going on holidays which is why the company launched its "No More Excuses" campaign.

Melissa Siew (left), general manager of ZUJI Singapore, got the idea for the campaign, which is running till the middle of this month, through a survey of its customers.

"We learnt that the top excuses for not travelling were lack of time and money. Through this insight, and with the commitment of "Helping Holidays Happen", ZUJI Singapore launched its "No More Excuses campaign" to enable Singaporeans to travel without the burden of the usual excuses for not going on a short break."

To spread the message, it used channels such as targeted press, online (display banners and paid search), CRM and social networking sites and worked with partners.  

It also leveraged on public relations to target its stories at the daily newspapers and travel media to generate awareness of the campaign and the activities it was doing.

"To enhance our digital reach, we have shared our initiatives with targeted online influential. The rest of the communications just go round virally," said Siew.

Beyond the offering of great travel deals on zuji.com.sg during the campaign period, ZUJI also 'employed' Dave to help fix excuses for not going on a short break at www.nomoreexcuses.com.sq

For those who believe they do not have the time to take  a holiday, ZUJI held a petition for an extra public holiday in Singapore on its Vote! Holiday site.

The aim is to gather at least 10,000 signatures before submitting the petition counts to the government. "To expand the reach of this
initiative, we have also developed badges for online users to upload to their websites and blogs to show their support for this potential milestone achievement," said Siew.

Internally, all staff at ZUJI Singapore were given four consecutive Fridays off, between July 24 and August 14.

"To showcase how we are paving the way to help holidays happen and are leading by example, we have developed a viral video, in which every staff is featured doing the things they want to do on their extra long weekends for four weeks, and getting away! Trust us. We did," said Siew.

Lastly, to encourage companies to follow its Fridays off initiative "so that the Singapore workforce can have no more excuses for not taking a short break", ZUJI is also hosting a competition to encourage employees to persuade their employers to announce a Friday off for the whole company. ZUJI will give four lucky companies $5,000 to go on a holiday, said Siew.

She said the results of the petition have been very encouraging and it hopes to hit its target when the "No More Excuses" campaign ends mid September.

Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com

Get your weekly cuppa of news, gossip, humour and opinion at the cafe for travel insiders.

4Hoteliers is the "Official Daily News" of WIT09 - www.webintravel.com