Singapore to get tourists to spend more

Singapore's tourism authorities will try to get tourists spend more in the city state, a local television channel reported Tuesday, citing a senior official of the government. S Iswaran, second trade and industry minister, said that the country's tourism strategy will not only involve attracting a larger number of visitors, but also put more emphasis on deriving higher economic yield from tourists, Channel NewsAsia reported. This means planning for events and activities to generate extra spending from visitors, it said. The tourism strategy will be centered around what is known as three Cs, namely, content, clients and connectivity, Iswaran said. He said that Singapore can have better numbers for events like the Formula One Grand Prix if organizers work harder on sideshow activities to pull in more tourist dollars. The night race has attracted over 150,000 visitors, spending more than 560 million Singapore dollars (459 million U.S. dollars) within the past several years. "The important thing is what are the sort of supporting, or naturally complementary activities which will strengthen the value proposition and the experience of the Formula One race in Singapore. So, one can envisage, for example, lifestyle events, fashion events, you know, maybe the watch industry, maybe the fashion industry and so on, coming in," he said. The minister said that the attractions and tourism infrastructure must offer enough content to lure visitors. The River Safari, home to the giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia, will officially open in 2013. Where clients are concerned, the key is to study important market segments to see how more visitors can be brought in to Singapore. Iswaran said that in terms of connectivity, the aim is to position Singapore as a regional tourism gateway for visitors. "A very good example of this is in fact the cruise industry, because many of the cruise lines tell us, one of the attractions of Singapore is because we are also an important air hub in the region. The whole idea of fly-cruise is very attractive. They can come in to Changi, seamlessly integrate into the cruise lines, and then from there go on a trip in the region," he said. Authorities may need to work harder on improving customer satisfaction, too. Singapore added a series of tourist attractions in recent years, including the two casino resorts. International visitor arrivals in Singapore hit a record 13.2 million in 2011, up 13 percent year on year. The passenger traffic at the Changi Airport also grew to 45 million last year.