About Straits Tours

Six guides, twelve routes, and a rule we have not broken: eight guests, no shop visits, no commissions.

How it started

Two of us were showing visiting friends around on weekends and kept being asked the same questions about hawker centres. In 2016 we turned that into a route, then a second one, and eventually into a licensed travel agency with six guides who all live within a few kilometres of the routes they lead.

How we are paid

Only by the tour price. We take no commission from stalls, shops, restaurants or hotels, and we do not accept payment to put a place on a route. If a guide recommends a shop on the way, it is because they shop there.

Licensing

Travel agent licence 0000, issued in Singapore. Our guides are trained in first aid and two of them are certified in wilderness first response.

What we will not do

• Run a group larger than eight, except as a private tour with two guides.
• Take a booking we cannot staff with a guide who knows that neighbourhood.
• Send you to a restaurant we would not eat at ourselves.