A $90-million boost for tourism in Singapore

Leong Wee Keat, Today Online 10 Feb 09;

Wildlife Reserves Singapore — the company behind attractions such as the Singapore Zoo — will be creating a “River Safari” in Mandai. River habitats from around the world will be re-created to complement existing attractions around the area. Details will be announced at a later date.

AGAINST the backdrop of a projected slide in visitor arrivals, the Government will roll out a $90-million boost — literally — to the tourism sector.

The initiative “Building On Opportunities to Strengthen Tourism” (Boost) aims to stimulate demand in the immediate and short term, Senior Minister of State(Trade and Industry) S Iswaran said yesterday in Parliament.

First, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will partner stakeholders in a marketing campaign — “2009 Reasons toEnjoy Singapore” — targeted at key regionalmarkets and the Republic’s resident population.

Second, STB will gun for Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition events aligned to Singapore’s economic priorities, such as digital media and environmental technology.

Some examples include the Anime Festival Asia and the inaugural Clean Energy Expo Asia, which are expected to attract more than 11,000 visitors, saidMr Iswaran.

Besides enhancing the tourism sector’s capabilities, such as workers’ skills, new projects are in the pipeline, he added.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore — the company behind attractions such as the Singapore Zoo — will be creating a “River Safari” in Mandai.

River habitats from around the world will be re-created to complement existing attractions around the area. Details will be announced at a later date.

During the Committee of Supply debate yesterday, the Trade and Industry Ministry used the tourism industry as an illustration of how Government agencies will partner the private sector to seek opportunities to boost demand whenever possible.

Visitor arrivals this year could fall by as much as 11 per cent as the global recession curtails consumer spending and holiday plans. Tourist arrivals may decline to between 9 million and 9.5 million this year, down from 10.1 million last year.

“In 2009, the global tourism industry faces a difficult year,” said Mr Iswaran. “Nevertheless, our tourism industry approaches this challenging period from a position of strength.”

He added that tourism projects secured in recent years would generate an estimated 3,000 jobs this year.

This will be in addition to the 9,000 jobs this year from the two integrated resorts, which are set to hire a total of 20,000 people when completed.

STB gives tourism a $90m boost
Nisha Ramchandani, Business Times 10 Feb 09;

TO keep tourism ticking in the short term and build capacity for the upturn, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is putting together a $90 million package - Building On Opportunities to Strengthen Tourism (Boost).

A key initiative is a promotional campaign based on '2009 Reasons to Enjoy Singapore' - aimed at regional markets as people turn to short trips amid the economic slowdown.

'STB will also reach out to the resident population as a complementary strategy to generate demand,' Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran told Parliament yesterday.

Mr Iswaran also said Singapore collected $168 million in incremental tourism receipts from the Formula One motor race last year - significantly more than the $100 million forecast.

'Hotels across all tiers benefited substantially in terms of revenue per available room during the race weekend,' he said, adding that a review of plans for 2009, including the F1 accommodation levy, is in its final stages.

Last year, trackside and non-trackside hotels had to fork out respective levies on room revenue of 30 and 20 per cent during the race weekend.

In light of the economic climate, STB has set a lower target of 9-9.5 million visitor arrivals this year. Total receipts are also expected to come in lower, at $12-12.5 billion.

Under Boost, STB will also provide more support for businesses to train and upgrade employees.

In addition, it will ramp up efforts to bolster the MICE sector by securing more events that are in line with Singapore's 'economic priorities such as digital media and environmental technology', which will mean spin-offs for hoteliers and F&B businesses.

Meanwhile, tourism projects landed in recent years will create 3,000 new jobs, on top of the 9,000 jobs stemming from the integrated resorts this year.

Singapore to roll out $90m plan to boost tourism
938LIVE, Channel NewsAsia 10 Feb 09;

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Tourism Board will roll out a S$90m initiative to stimulate demand in the tourism sector.

Speaking in the Committee of Supply debate, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran, told Parliament that the new initiative is called Building On Opportunities to Strengthen Tourism, or BOOST.

Mr Iswaran said the key initiative under BOOST is a marketing campaign with the theme "2009 Reasons To Enjoy Singapore".

He said: "Travel patterns are expected to change in the current climate with a switch from long-haul to shorter-haul holidays. The campaign will target this potential higher intra-regional traffic from our key regional markets.

"STB will also reach out to our resident population as a complementary strategy to generate additional demand for our tourism sector."

In addition, STB will continue to work on attracting more events to Singapore over the next two years.

It will target MICE events that are aligned to Singapore's economic priorities such as digital media and environmental technology as well as other specific segments that are resilient in the global downturn.

As part of BOOST, STB will also provide more support for businesses to train and upgrade the skills of their employees under the Training Industry Professionals in Tourism scheme.

Singapore expects visitor arrivals to drop as much as 11 per cent this year as the global recession curtails consumer spending and holiday plans.

Mr Iswaran said 2009 will be a difficult year for the global tourism industry and that tourist arrivals may fall to between 9 and 9-and-a-half million this year. Tourist arrivals fell 1.6 per cent to 10.1 million last year.

Total tourism receipts generated are also expected to fall to a range of S$12b to S$12.5b this year, down from S$14.8b in 2008.

- 938LIVE.