Singapore sells itself as Asian tourism gateway

Singapore sells itself as Asian tourism gateway

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore intends to sell itself to travelers as a gateway to booming "New Asia" in a bid to sustain tourism growth amid rising competition from cheaper regional destinations, officials said yesterday.

Last year, the number of arrivals in the tiny city-state reached a record 7.14 million, an increase of 3.5 percent over 1994, while tourism receipts grew 6.4 percent to S$11.6 billion (US$8.28 billion).

In 1996, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) projects visitor arrivals to grow between three and five percent.

STPB chief executive Tan Chin Nam said the growth rates were creditable despite being lower than in previous years.

"Singapore is a mature destination with a strong currency, and the high growth rates of the early 1990s cannot be sustained indefinitely," Tan told reporters.

"Nevertheless, Singapore needs to respond to visitors' changing travel preferences and to other destinations' increasingly attractive offerings and aggressive promotion efforts," Tan said.

Singapore has evolved in three decades from an exotic seaport with a British colonial veneer to an Asian economic powerhouse with towering skyscrapers and gleaming malls symbolizing modern Asia.

Tan said the board would reposition "Destination Singapore" as a gateway to the region in its new overseas marketing effort, projecting the island as an essential part of the Asian experience.

"Surprising Singapore," the board's sales pitch for several years, will be changed to "New Asia. So easy to enjoy. So hard to forget."

Tan spelled out a "Tourism Unlimited" strategy that looks beyond Singapore's geographical boundaries, combining its tourism resources and appeal with the attractions of neighboring countries.

Trans-border tourism investments will be encouraged as part of the effort to increase Singapore's attractiveness to visitors by "borrowing the attractiveness" of regional destinations, he said.

Asad Shiraz, a senior official at the board, said Singapore would market destinations in Indonesia and Malaysia jointly with tourism authorities there.

One of Asia's largest integrated resorts was launched in Indonesia's Bintan island at the weekend. It is being developed by a group of Singapore and Indonesian companies and promoted by both governments.

Also on the cards is a marketing effort with Western Australia to attract tourists from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Southeast Asian airlines are offering cost-effective "circular fare" packages for travelers in the region.

Asians accounted for 73.3 percent of all the tourist arrivals in Singapore last year. Asia was the only market which posted growth in arrivals, up 6.4 percent, while traffic from Europe, America and Africa declined.

Japan was Singapore's number one tourist source in 1995, generating 1.17 million arrivals, an increase of 6.3 percent on 1994 on the back of the strong yen, relatively lower prices for travel and an increase in airline seats.

Indonesia accounted for 1.05 million arrivals, followed by Malaysia with 681,000.

Hotel occupancy rate in 1995 was 84.1 percent, down 2.5 percent from the previous year, while average room rate grew 3.2 percent to about US$106.

Room supply expanded eight percent to 27,471 and is expected to increase 8.6 percent to 29,846 this year.