Singapore’s Swift Move to Tailor Attractions to Future Travelers 2040
Above, view of Singapore’s Marina Bay area from a room at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay. Right, panel discussion on future of tourism at Tourism Industry Conference 2024
27 May 2024
Singapore unveils a “Tourism 2040” vision and is engaging stakeholders on what measures must be taken to ensure the citystate remains attractive and relevant in 15 years.
At the annual Singapore Tourism Conference this year, Singapore Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Grace Fu, and Singapore Tourism Board CEO, Melissa Ow, unveiled a string of tourism investments and initiatives designed to magnify the Lion City’s appeal. New attractions include a wellness center the size of six to seven football fields in Marina South, and the first Porsche Experience Center in South-east Asia occupying a 9ha site at Changi.
Singapore Tourism Board also renewed partnerships to enhance experiences at Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa island. These enhancements include Resorts World Sentosa’s upcoming Illumination’s Minion Land at Universal Studios Singapore, and an expansion of the S.E.A. Aquarium. Over at Marina Bay Sands, an additional tower and a 15,000-seat entertainment arena are being built, to be completed by July 2029.
Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 is expected to be operational around mid-2030s, creating an added capacity of up to 50 million passengers a year. The Urban Redevelopment Authority, meanwhile, is reviewing a masterplan for 2025 which will outline key development areas and land use plans for the next 10-15 years.
The Singapore government is also injecting an additional S$300 million to the Tourism Development Fund, which helps businesses develop new products and rejuvenate existing offerings.
Building industry capabilities, including up-skilling tourism industry workers and enhancing tech & data expertise, is another big area.
Singapore Tourism Board expects between 15 million and 16.5 million international arrivals this year spending S$27.5 billion to S$29 billion. This compares with 13.6 million foreign arrivals and S$27.2 billion in tourism receipts, marking almost a full recovery to 2019 performance.
View the video recording of Minister Grace Fu’s speech here.
And the panel session on future of tourism here. The panel featured Singapore Tourism Board’s Melissa Ow, Google Singapore’s Ben King and HSBC Private Wealth & Banking’s James Cheo, moderated by Hotels-Asia’s Raini Hamdi.