S'pore hotel rooms up

S'pore hotel rooms up

SINGAPORE (Reuter): The number of hotel rooms in Singapore will rise by 2,000 this year to 33,013, the Straits Times newspaper reported yesterday.

It said the increase would be largely due to the opening of big hotels such as the 612-room Ritz Carlton and the 507-room Pontiac Marina. There will also be more hotels with over 100 rooms, it added.

It quoted Pakir Singh, chief executive of the Singapore Hotel Association, as saying the industry might be able to absorb the extra rooms if tourism growth continued healthy.

"A lot will also depend on how much stronger the convention, exhibition and events market is this year," Pakir said.

Visitor arrivals rose 3.5 percent last year to 7.14 million from 6.9 million in 1994. The Singapore Tourist Promotion Board has projected that tourist arrivals will rise by three to five percent this year.