The year tourism boomed

While a record number of visitors spent a record sum of money in Singapore last year, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said yesterday it is expecting a slower pace of growth this year.

The Republic met its target in international visitor arrivals with 11.6 million visitors last year and surpassed its tourism receipts forecast with $18.8 billion collected. The latter includes expenditure at the integrated resorts, which opened last year, underscoring their role as industry game-changers.

Receipts from sightseeing and entertainment in particular - which includes money spent in the casinos - grew a jaw-dropping 1,834 per cent from the previous year to hit $4 billion.Numbers for tourism expenditure excluding receipts from the IRs are not available due to commercial sensitivity and the challenge of segregating IR and non-IR expenditure.

STB chief executive Aw Kah Peng stressed tourism's "broad-based" growth last year, noting that shopping, accommodation and dining receipts also saw double-digit percentage increases.The STB will announce this year's tourism forecasts on March 22. While growth should be good, "we cannot expect every year to be an exceptional year", said Ms Aw at a media briefing yesterday.

CIMB Research economist Song Seng Wun told MediaCorp a 6- to 8-per-cent growth in visitor arrivals this year is "achievable". The 20-per-cent spike in visitor arrivals last year was partly due to Singapore coming "from a low base" as visitor arrivals had fallen in both 2008 and 2009, he said.The Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa integrated resorts have likely spurred the jump in Indonesian and Malaysian tourists and induced a longer stay in Singapore, he said.

While Singapore is not the only country reporting record visitor numbers, Mr Song noted that its official figures "under-state the actual number of visitors who came by buses, coaches and private cars across the Causeway". The STB does not track land arrivals from Malaysia.

Last year's outstanding report card was tempered by expectations for this year. Two issues that might dampen tourism growth were raised yesterday: Rising hotel room rates and higher costs in hiring foreign workers.

Average hotel occupancy was 86 per cent last year, despite 23 new hotels opening, and the average room rate growing 12 per cent to $212. Asked if Singapore might become too costly a destination, Ms Aw said delivering value to visitors was more important. "There will be a whole range of different customers, and customers will pay according to whether they see value in the product," she said.

Rising hotel room rates may prove prohibitive for lower-end travellers, noted Mr Robert Khoo, chief executive of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS). But it is part of making Singapore a quality destination.

"I think we have to realise, sooner or later, Singapore being such a small country and having lots of space constraints, we have to come to a day when our tourist arrival numbers cannot be growing endlessly," he said.

On the challenge of attracting more locals to the tourism and hospitality sectors, in the face of costlier foreign labour, STB's Ms Aw said jobs could be redesigned and customised to get more people interested.

Mr Song expects the labour crunch to have minimal impact on tourism growth but said businesses have to adapt as the Government pushes productivity and reduces dependency on foreign workers. Wages could get more competitive, he said.

Cruise industry hits rougher waters

While the integrated resorts helped propel Singapore tourism to new heights last year, they spelled doom for two gaming ships, the Asian Star and Royale Star.

The former's last call at the Singapore Cruise Centre was on Feb 4 last year, while the latter's was on May 31.

News reports last year told of gaming ships struggling in the face of competition from the glitzy new IRs, with junket operators' takings plunging 70 per cent. Posts on online forums also pointed to the downturn in gaming ships' business.

Gaming ships Long Jie and Leisure World - run by Asian Cruise International and New Century Tours Corporation, respectively - still call at the Singapore Cruise Centre. An industry player who requested anonymity told MediaCorp that takings picked up for those ships still in the business after the exit of Royale Star and Asian Star.

Their exit caused a decline in cruise passenger numbers and ship calls last year, said STB. Cruise passenger figures dipped by 11 per cent to 1.014 million, while ship calls fell 31 per cent to 642.STB said the drop was "no cause for alarm as yet", and added that cruise companies have added capacity in Asia, which will benefit Singapore as a cruise hub.

Source = todayonline