With the influx of tourists to Singapore bouncing back, occupancy levels and room rates at the country’s hotels continue to increase, calming down worries that the additional 4,000-plus rooms in Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) would depress the sector.
Consultancy HVS Global Hospitality Services said the average room rate will increase 10 percent to 15 percent in 2010, from last year’s $191. David Ling, managing director of HVS, explained that there is a potential for rates “to go higher”.
Mr. Ling believes that the demand will outpace supply despite the additional rooms at the integrated resorts because these resorts are “demand generators”.
He also expects the overall occupancy rate to surge five to ten percentage points from the 76 percent in the previous year.
“MBS is a huge hotel,” Mr. Ling said. “Sure, it will affect neighbouring properties in the short term – but consider the pick-up in arrivals and the pipeline of events. With the Singapore Airshow, Youth Olympic Games and Grand Prix, it will be a record year.”
Credit Suisse stressed that the casinos will increase the number of visitors by as much as 20 percent this year.
The country’s tourism industry has benefited from the rebound of regional economies including Indonesia, Malaysia, China and India. “If those places are doing well, their people have more disposable income to travel,” Mr. Ling said.
At the same time, the current situation in Thailand could lead tourists to look for other destinations, in which case, neighbouring nations like Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia will pick up some of the spoils.
The country’s Tourism Board said that overall hotel room revenue increased 36.5 percent year-on-year to $158 million two months ago. It was supported by the disruption of Europe-bound air traffic for six days and events like Food&HotelAsia. The figures for last month have yet to be released.
The average occupancy rate (AOR) increased 15 percentage points two months ago to 85 percent from a year ago, while the average room rate (ARR) jumped 12.2 points to $211. The Revenue per available room (RevPAR) saw an increase of 36.1 per cent to $179.