S'pore set for challenges of 21st century tourism

JAKARTA (JP): Singapore does not allow itself to be constrained by its severely-limited space, natural resources and labor.

The island republic therefore always not only tries to be several steps ahead of its competitors but also moves to transform its challenges and competition into opportunity.

This is the main thrust of Tourism 21, the blue print of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB), as explained yesterday by Tan Chin Nam, the board's chief executive.

"We have been successful as a destination but we are moving beyond that," Tan told The Jakarta Post in reference to Singapore's vision for tourism which was launched this year to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The aim of the vision is to strengthen the competitiveness of Singapore's tourist industry, and to maintain high growth rates for visitor arrivals and tourism receipts.

"Tourism 21 is designed not only to further enhance Singapore's role as a tourist destination but also as a tourism hub for the region and a world tourism business center," said Tan, who was here to attend the Indonesian Tourism Mart.

Singapore, Tan said, is working to create a totally new experience for visitors by further capitalizing on its progressiveness, sophistication and unique multicultural Asian identity.

He said the New Asia-Singapore theme, chosen to replace Surprising Singapore, would better suit the expression of modern Asian dynamism in the 21st century.

"This new branding better embodies the sentiment of a place where tradition and modernity and East and West meet," Tan noted.

Singapore -- a small island which stretches 27 kilometers from north to south and 37 kilometers from east to west -- seems fully aware of its natural limitations and the keen competition from other destinations in Asia.

Singaporeans are already among the world's richest, with a per capita income of more than US$26,000. And as they become wealthier, the tiny island will become increasingly expensive for visitors and shoppers.

Its image as a shopping mecca -- its second largest attraction -- is being eroded because of rising labor costs, high retail rentals and a strengthening currency. It will lose out to other destinations, unless the foundations of its tourism industry deepen and broaden.

In fact, its limitations and the keener competition from other destinations are beginning to be reflected in the declining growth rate of visitor arrivals, shorter lengths of stay and consequently smaller expenditures.

True, Singapore is still among the world's top destinations with 7.1 million arrivals and over US$8.1 billion in tourism receipts last year. And the first eight months of this year saw a 2.4 percent growth rate in tourist arrivals, with 4.87 million visitors, over the same period last year.

Indonesia remained the second largest source of tourists to Singapore with 695,701 people, or 14.3 percent of total arrivals, going to Singapore in the eight-month period.

But the growth rate is declining. STPB figures show that the annual growth in visitor arrivals declined to 3.5 percent last year from annual double-digit increases in the 1980s.

The Tourism 21 concept describes its underlying strategy as 'tourism unlimited': To develop the three tourist functions of Singapore: as a better tourist destination, a tourism hub and a world tourism business center.

The concept of tourism unlimited calls for Singapore's active participation in the development of tourism in the region through mutually-beneficial partnerships.

Huge investments by Singapore's state and private companies in Indonesia's Bintan and Batam islands, Vietnam and Myanmar should be seen in light of its strategy to transform competition into business opportunities.

The rationale of the concept, according to the STPB, is that as the attractiveness of each destination in the region is integrated. collective attractiveness is achieved. Together the various destinations in the region can develop a stronger and more attractive tourism product.

Tan cited the blending of Singapore's city-sophistication with Indonesia's rustic beach charm in the nearby Riau archipelago as one example of how collective attractiveness could be developed for mutual benefit.

"Indonesia-Singapore cooperation in tourism development has been very good under the framework cooperation agreement signed in 1994. We now have direct flight services to five destinations in Indonesia in addition to Jakarta (Solo, Manado, Lombok, Ujungpandang and Padang)," Tan said.

Partnerships with its neighboring destinations enable Singapore to offer package holidays to include fishing, resort living, sailing, cruising, hunting, mountain climbing and golf.

"We want to make Singapore the main gateway to new experiences in other destinations in the Asia- Pacific, the region which is very vibrant in the tourism industry," Tan said.

Singapore, already popular as a regional headquarters for multinational companies, will concentrate more on the business side of tourism through product innovation and the promotion of tourism-related investment.

"We will attract more tourism-related businesses to Singapore, using Singapore as a testing ground for new ideas, new business successes."

Tan's rationale is that tourism is cross-sectoral. Hence, there are many opportunities in Singapore for hotel management, entertainment and transportation companies and other travel- related businesses.

The city state is also reformulating its tourism products to extend the average length of stay of visitors and to attract return visits.

Among the programs cited by Tan are the development of more thematic zones with distinct identities and a richer variety of events to help package Singapore and neighboring destinations in tour programs.

"We will integrate the hardware (physical infrastructure) and software to create a total experience. In China town, for example, we want to inject the soul, history and heritage to the experiences of the visitors. In Orchard Road, we will invest more to enrich shopping experiences, making them more enjoyable."

Tan is confident that its strategic location and excellent infrastructure, combined with all the programs underway and to be implemented under the Tourism 21 vision, will improve Singapore's standing in tourism.

Singapore, he said, is looking forward to a big share of the visitor arrivals in the Asia and Pacific region which, according to a projection from the World Tourism Organization, will more than double from 84 million in 1995 to 190 million in 2010.

Tourism 21 is designed to achieve Singapore's target of 10 million visitors and $11.5 billion in tourist revenue in the year 2000.

"We will invest a total of $600 million in the Tourism 21 development programs within the next 5-10 years, not including what is to be spent by the private sector," Tan added. (vin)