Is Singapore getting enough bang out of the Formula One Grand Prix night race? Last year it cost more than $100 million to host the event and the government estimates it makes more than $70 million, says the Bloomberg interviewer, adding: "I can't lose money that fast."
Singapore Tourism Board CEO Aw Kah Peng counters: "You have to look at more than just the number of visitors that turn up, it's really the spending that they bring. Last year we had an additional spending of $168 million in Singapore just during the F1 weekend. And that's what we call tourism receipts. It goes into many parts of the tourism industry, whether it's hotels, F&B outlets, retail. Everybody was involved in the tourism game. Those are the spinoffs that you see from F1 that are not so easy to calculate."
"For the race last year, we got 100,000 people, 40 percent came from overseas," she says. "And this year we are looking at over 80,000 people for the race itself. And same thing — looking at about 40 plus percent in terms of tourist arrivals."
Tourism is picking up after a difficult first half, she says, adding that hotel occupancy was over 70 percent in July. "That's really a very good sign in our view."
The Bloomberg interviewer retorts: "You are getting the wrong kind of tourist, aren't you?" Singapore is getting fewer big-spending visitors from countries like China — 32 percent down year-on-year in July — Japan and America, down 5 percent. There has been a big pick-up from places like Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong, but "you don't want us", he says. "You don't want people from Hong Kong… We are really bad spenders. All we do is pick up $2 chicken rice…"
"We want everyone," responds Ah.
Americans "haven't really come back yet", agrees Aw, but "our top 10 markets don't even include the US".
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