Lesser-known sites make list of places to visit in Singapore

HOLLY MATTHEWS Today Online 3 Jun 15;

SINGAPORE — The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, the NUS Baba House and Bukit Brown Cemetery have made it to the to-do list for travellers to Singapore, according to the latest Traveler’s Choice Landmarks ranking by travel website TripAdvisor.

These landmarks ranked third, sixth and seventh, respectively, on TripAdvisor’s list of top 10 must-see landmarks in Singapore, which saw relatively lesser-known sites make the cut, such as the Kranji War Memorial (in fourth place).

Nonetheless, well-known favourites the Singapore Flyer (first), Marina Bay Sands SkyPark (second) and Merlion Park (fifth) still featured on the list. The list did not include attractions such as the Singapore Zoo and Gardens by the Bay, which are classified under “Nature and Parks” on the website.

TripAdvisor releases these rankings annually — for countries, regions, and globally — by taking into account the quality and quantity of reviews on the site gathered over a 12-month period.

Industry watchers were surprised by some of the inclusions. Dr Michael Chiam, a senior tourism lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said: “I am generally quite surprised that those relatively obscure and out of the way sites came out top.”

Ms Shirley Tee, course manager of Nanyang Polytechnic’s diploma in hospitality and tourism management programme, felt the rankings signalled a shift in what tourists look for.

“Travellers going overseas would like to see things that are somewhat off the beaten track,” said Ms Tee, adding that tourists now “want to experience something (they) don’t get back home”.

Singapore’s landmarks did not make the list of top 25 landmarks in Asia, which featured the likes of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Taj Mahal in India and the Great Wall of China.

As a destination, Singapore ranked 18th among the top 25 in Asia, and did not make it onto the list of the top 25 destinations worldwide, according to the rankings released in March.

Singapore’s tourism arrivals have taken a hit of late, with numbers on a continued decline in the first quarter of this year. From January to March, there were 3.6 million visitors to Singa­pore, down 6.1 per cent from the same period a year ago. Last year, arrivals fell for the first time since 2009, by 3.1 per cent.

Ms Tee said the Republic should look beyond its planned star attractions and consider the appeal of community-driven sites, such as Bukit Brown Cemetery, which sits on land slated for development. “I think people want something that is by the community, for the community,” she said.

Dr Chiam agreed, adding that embracing heritage is the way forward. “When people come to a country, they want to know what the locals do, what the local beliefs are, what is the history behind who we are, and I think that has not been emphasised enough. We have a unique thing that is ours, and people would like to hear our story,” he said.