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contributor: zhu kankang

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Managing tourism industry

                                                             ------Case studies of Singapore

1.1.      Introduction

The report is going to focus on how Singapore government manages tourism industry with its limited natural resources. Basically, the report will be divided into four parts, the introduction, the review of successful management of Singapore tourism industry, the improvement plan of tourism industry and the conclusion.

  In Singapore, the tourism sector concluded 2008 with visitor arrivals of 10.1 million and record tourism receipts of$14.8 billion. This clearly reveals the important role tourism industry plays in Singapore’s economy. Admittedly, compared to other competitors in the region, such as China and Malaysia, Singapore faces the challenges of limited natural resources and population. However, under successful management, Singapore has become a world-renowned tourism city with wonderful exhibits of cultural diversity, fascinating tourist spots and perfect infrastructure.

 2.Managing tourism industry

2.1  What challenges does Singapore government face in managing tourism industry?

background information of Singapore
Territory square	710.2 km2
Population (in 2009)	4.86 million
Tourism arrivals (in 2008)	10.1 million
Tourism receipts ( in 2008)	$14.8 billion
GDP in (2008)	$257.4185 billion

Table 2.1.1 Background information of Singapore

As is shown above, Singapore has limited national territory with deficient natural resources. With merely 710.2 km², further development of tourism industry was restricted from the intensive land use. Moreover, the population is only approximately 4.86 million, which gives rise to a narrow domestic tourist market.  

 

 

2.2  A review of successful management

a.       Wonderful exhibits of cultural diversity—charm of  a cosmopolitan city

As a multi-racial country, one of the strategies to promote tourism of Singapore is to highlight the colourful multi-culture atmosphere. Singapore aims to play a role of “melting pot” and create the image of “instant Asia”.

Various festivals all year round keep attracting tourists, especially those with traditional Asian customs. One can experience impressive festivals at any period of the year. For example, during the Spring Festival, known as Chinese New Year, every shop and street is well decorated and there are always some eye-catching celebrations like Lion Dance.

Singapore respects and encourages arts and crafts from varied Asian cultures. There are several museums and handicraft centres showcasing and selling all sorts of works of art. International cultural events are held all over the year to draw tourists in.

 According to the survey done by our group, foreign tourists share high comments on Singapore food. As is shown below:

                           Figure 2.2.2 Comments on Singapore food

 Why do tourists praise highly in Singapore food? Owing to the effort made to ensure the fame of “food capital of Asia”, Singapore is successful in the multiculturalism of local food, the ready availability of international cuisine and the wide range in prices to fit all budgets. Different kinds of cuisines cater to tourists from all over the globe. There is Chinese food, Malay food, India food, Western food as well as food for people with special need such as Muslims and vegetarians. One can try dishes of almost all kinds in a hawker center or a food junction.

All these multi-cultural elements, which give tourists deep impression of Asian culture, add to the glamour of Singapore and thus contribute to the boom of Singapore tourism.

b.      Measure adjustment: have Singapore’s tourist attractions met the needs of people?

Anticipate change and stay relevant is an important guiding principle of governance in Singapore and it is applied to the management of tourism industry successfully.

The integrated resort project is the example of how the government prepares for the future by reinventing itself. In early 2004, through carefully examining their position, the government realised that they were losing ground in tourism. The market share was declining (from 8% in the Asia Pacific region in 1998 to 6% in 2002). Owing to a good feedback system, they found that Singapore was found as an unexciting city. “We have not been investing in tourism infrastructure projects that are crowd pullers. So there are too few things to do that hold the attention of the tourists.” Such is the remark of PM Lee Hsion Loong. This is probably why tourists presently regard Singapore merely as a stopover on flights to the next destination. At the moment, the circumstances were changing, as Hong Kong was talking about building a casino on Lantau, to compete with Macao. Thailand and Malaysia were eager to proceed with their integrated resort project. All these projects were expected to capture the potential tourism market. Will Singapore be part of this new world, or will it be bypassed and left behind? Singapore’s government chose the former one, regarding the project as an opportunity to reinvent the city. The construction of the Integrated Resort will bring huge economic benefits to Singapore and helps capture the attention of tourists. More specifically, the two Integrated Resorts will create roughly 20000 jobs and huge revenues for the government. Compared to this, some governments, including mainland China, were still satisfied with their temporary profits from tourism market. They criticize the Integrated Resort as a poison to erode the reputation of the city, without being aware of the need of the tourists.

Equipped with an effective feedback and evaluation system, the Singapore government were able to keep pace of the change of the tourism market and respond to it in time. From our point of view, the construction of integrated resort will give Singapore a jump on its foreign rivals in the region.

 

c.       Support from perfect infrastructure

(1) According to the survey done by our group, the transportation of Singapore has won a good reputation among tourists. As is shown below: 

To most tourists, the impression of Singapore starts from Changi airport. The features of the airport are somehow similar to the city state, clean and effective. Changi airport ranks number 1 airport in the world. Various facilities for service at the airport, including the free Internet access and printing service, has satisfied the needs of tourists perfectly. Inside the city, despite the shortage of land, the transportation of Singapore is quite advanced. The public transport system is made up of highways, expressways, subways and elevated railway, which make the traffic network complete and high-speed. As a result, tourists do not have to wait for long to get to their destinations. The management of transportation also follows the “people-oriented” concept, such as offering shelters for passengers who are waiting for buses to come, and giving proper instructions to visitors. Therefore, transportation in Singapore has achieved enormous compliments from tourists.

(2)    As for security, the Singapore government has taken various approaches to avoid being attacked by terrorism. A lot of anti-terrorist drills have been carried out so as to enhance the calibre of defence force to cope with extreme situations. Besides, in public places, closed-circuit televisions are used to enhance the detecting ability and to exert much deterrence on terrorists. In MRT stations, anti-terrorism videos are frequently played to convince people how important the awareness and protection of terrorism is. By all these means, tourists will feel quite safe to travel to Singapore and be more willing to come.

 

 

d.     Work for reward and reward for work

Tourism industry demands creativity to keep raising passion and curiosity of people. However, it is not so easy to be interesting and new all the time for the same place. Singapore, a tiny island with little natural attractions is no exception. Encouraging the innovation and creativity in order to boost tourism industry, Singapore has provided various awards to increase the enthusiasm towards working of individuals involved in this field. One of the cases is the Tourism Awards held by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). It has been the 23th Tourism Awards this year and attracts many individuals to think of brilliant ideas for Singapore’s tourism industry. Unique experiences and distinctive service elements in competitions can ensure Singapore’s competitiveness in this field. Showing one of its governances--- “work for reward and reward for work”, these rewards give great motivation to people in the meantime contributes to the development of tourism industry.          

1.      3. Improvement plan

3.1  Forecast & current situation

“Tourism 2015”, was unveiled in the year 2005. The major objectives of the initiative are to triple tourism receipts to US$ 30 Billion, doubling visitor arrivals to 17 Million, and creating an additional 100,000 jobs in the services sector by 2015, according to “Opportunities in Singapore Tourism Industry (2007-2009)”. However, Singapore’s tourism sector, like those of many other destinations, was not spared from the global economic downturn, as is shown below.

Against this backdrop, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has forecasted that this year, the sector will likely welcome 9 to 9.5 million visitor arrivals and generate tourism receipts within the range of S$12 to S$12.5 billion. Therefore, it’s essential for Singapore government to take the following strategies to handle the current challenge.

3.2  Strategies

Firstly, Singapore tourism board should utilize effective promotion campaigns to tap into key markets that have shown strong growth potential, such as China and India. According to WTO, there will be approximately 100 million Chinese overseas tourists. Since Chinese tourists pay much attention on advertisements before choosing tourist destinations, Singapore can seize these potential travellers by offering them attractive travel packages and promotions that will convey Singapore’s quality and exciting experiences at value-for-money prices. Attracted by these advertisements, overseas tourists from these countries will contribute greatly to Singapore tourism revenues.

Secondly, Interregional tourism and cooperation with surrounding countries are effective ways to cope with the deficiency in tourist attractions. Government should encourage transnational travel agencies to create routes that include many of the south-eastern countries such as, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. This means to combine all the advantages of each place so that mutual benefits can be achieved.

Thirdly, to simplify the exit and entry procedures lies in the key to tourist arrivals. According to the survey done by our group shown below, 32% of foreign tourists feel frustrated by the cumbersome entry procedures to Singapore.

 Question: Do you feel frustrated by the cumbersome entry procedures to Singapore?

This figure clears shows that the currently troublesome entry procedure should be improved. Schngen Agreement, which is a successful experience of European countries worth learning from. Under this agreement, tourists with visa of any of the members can travel around these countries without being bothered. Thus, Singapore can also sign such agreement with other south-eastern countries to simplify the process of applying for visas.

 4.      Conclusion

In summary, though Singapore boasts of no natural resources, its government has taken several measures to manage tourism industry successfully. The security and convenient transportation have attained satisfaction from foreign visitors. Besides, the excellent exhibition of cultural diversity exerts much fascination on travellers. In addition, Integrated Resorts were scheduled to complete in the near future, with an aim to capture the attention of tourists. What’s more, various awards were set to drive service excellence of tourist guides as well as travel agencies. Although the global economic downturn results in a weakening in demand for travel, Singapore can still tackle the challenge with proper managements and reinforce its status as the number one tourist destination in Asia.

Contributor: Wu Jianglu, Chen Fangcheng, Liu Dong, Yuan Mengyi, Zhu Kankang