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SINGAPORE: The integrated resorts are important in revitalising Singapore's tourism industry.
Speaking in Parliament on the IRs, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said the tourism sector had been facing challenges in the past decade at a time when tourism traffic is booming in the region.
Part of the reason for this is due to under-investment in the industry and intense competition from regional countries.
The Esplanade and local museums were among the most widely promoted tourist attractions in recent times, but Singapore has not made any major investments in tourist attractions over the past 10 years.
Several investments in the early 1990s have also failed to excite tourists for long -- like the Haw Par Villa, Asian Village, Fantasy Island and Tang Dynasty City.
Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said more must be done.
"Our competitors are not standing still. Many cities have been aggressively investing in new tourism products to attract visitors. Some of our innovative "success formulas" are being copied."
"For example, Night Zoos can now be found in Guangdong, Sichuan, Malacca and Cairns, with another soon to open in Chiangmai. The Underwater World in Sentosa was novel when it first opened in 1991, but such aquariums now exist in many cities. Some are bigger than ours."
The tourism pie in Asia Pacific is big and growing at 6.4 % per year in the last decade, but Singapore's share of the pie fell sharply, from 13.1% in 1993 - to 6% in 2002.
Tourism receipts also fell as much as 17% to S$ 9.4 billion during this period, and tourism's contribution to GDP was halved from 6.1% in 1993 to 3% in 2002.
The government believes integrated resorts, with large scale development offering multiple world-class attractions, may be the answer for Singapore's economy in the long term.
"We are not talking about one or two hotels of several hundred rooms with a casino attached. We are talking about an entire complex of classy hotels, luxury shops, fancy restaurants, spectacular shows, convention centres all found in one single destination. The gaming component will occupy no more than 3 - 5% of the total area of the IR development," said Mr Lim.
All this is to propel Singapore to the global league of cities, like New York, Paris and London.
Economists say it is clear that IRs will be positive boost to the tourism industry here.
"I would not just look at the IR project in isolation. I would take a step back and look at Singapore say five years down the road on a much larger, bird's eye view. That this is just part of the remaking of Singapore, in terms of broadening activity within the Singapore services sector itself," said Song Seng Wun, an Economist with GK Goh.
With two IRs, the government expects incremental annual GDP to exceed $1.5 billion dollars, and total incremental employment of some 35,000 jobs. - CNA /dt
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