So Singapore wants to be a playground of the rich.
This little speck of a city-state of 4.9 million souls within spitting distance of Malaysia and washed by the Straits of Johor and the Straits of Singapore will be delighted to see you — if you have at least a million dollars to invest.
The Singapore Tourism Board is getting picky, wanting visitors with deep pockets.
"While we will not neglect people with smaller budgets, we want to make sure there are options to attract people in the high net worth category," says a Singapore Tourism Board official, reports Channel NewsAsia.
It's the law of attraction, I guess. Singapore already has the highest concentration of millionaires in the world, with 8.5 percent of the households owning at least a million dollars each, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
While Singapore is more costly than Thailand or Malaysia, it offers visitors "something of a very first world experience", says the tourism official.
No Champs-Elysees, no Grand Canal
I am not sure if Singapore's Orchard Road compares with Champs-Elysees in Paris or if Marina Bay is as romantic as the Grand Canal in Venice.
But maybe that's the whole point, maybe the Singapore Tourism Board is on the right track.
After you have seen Paris and Rome, London and New York, maybe you will find Singapore refreshing because there is really nothing to see. No historical landmarks, no grand museums. Just a clean and green city with tree-lined avenues, tower blocks and parks traversed by an efficient public transport system and shopping malls every 15 minutes or 20 minutes apart.
Sure, there's the zoo and Jurong BirdPark, and Marina Bay and East Coast Park with its stretch of sand and rocks from where you can see ships far away at sea.
It's all very pleasant, but if you are looking for romance, drama, history, you are better off in Paris, London, Rome and New York.
Better to live in than to get away to
But to come home to after a day at work, Singapore is just the place.
Singapore is a very liveable city. It's so well planned there are even housing estates with covered walkways so you don't get burned by the sun or drenched by the frequent tropical showers on your way home from the bus stop.
But a holiday in Singapore? Well, millions of visitors do come every year though neighbouring Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand and, farther away, Hong Kong do a brisker business in tourism. The travel industry accounts for a bigger share of their GDP.
World Travel and Tourism Council report on Singapore
Tourism in Singapore, despite the Singapore Tourism Board promotions, is on a downward curve, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The Singapore Tourism Board releases monthly tourism figures including the number of visitors, the countries they came from, the amount they spent in Singapore and the local hotel occupancy rates.
But if you want to know more, for example, how many people are employed in the tourism industry and how big is its share of the GDP, you may have to look elsewhere.
Here's what the World Travel and Tourism Council says about the Singapore tourism industry in a 10-year projection from now. You can visit its Download Centre and download the PDF here.
Gross domestic product
The contribution of Travel & Tourism to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to decline from 7.3% (SGD18.4 billion or US$12.6 billion) in 2009 to 5.5% (SGD24.1 billion or US$17.9 billion) by 2019.
Employment
The contribution of the Travel & Tourism Economy to employment is expected to fall to 167,000 jobs in 2009, 5.8% of total employment, or 1 in every 17.2 jobs to
137,000 jobs, 4.1% of total employment or 1 in every 24.7 jobs by 2019.
Growth
Real GDP growth for the Travel & Tourism Economy is expected to be -10.2% in 2009 and to average 1.9% per annum over the coming 10 years.
Export earnings from international visitors and tourism goods are expected to generate 3.2% of total exports (SGD18.7 billion or US$12.8 billion) in 2009, growing (nominal terms) to SGD39.7 billion or US$29.4 billion (2.8% of total) in 2019.
World ranking (out of 181 countries)
| 50 | 116 |
| Absolute | Relative |
| in size | contribution to the national economy |
Ranking in Southeast Asia (out of 11 countries)
| 6 | 9 |
| Absolute | Relative |
| in size | contribution to the national economy |
GDP-based rankings
Here are the World Travel and Tourism Council's rankings for Southeast Asian countries, with which it includes East Asian countries too, based on how much tourism contributes to their GDP.
| World rank | Country | % of total GDP in 2009 |
| 41 | Hong Kong | 15.6 |
| 44 | Thailand | 14.7 |
| 51 | Vietnam | 13.1 |
| 56 | Malaysia | 12.3 |
| 83 | Japan | 9.1 |
| 90 | Philippines | 8.7 |
| 106 | Indonesia | 7.8 |
| 109 | South Korea | 7.6 |
| 116 | Singapore | 7.3 |
| 177 | Taiwan | 3.3 |
Employment-based rankings
Here are the World Travel and Tourism Council's rankings for Southeast Asian countries, with which it includes East Asian countries too, based on the number of people employed in the tourism industry.
| World rank | Country | % of employed |
| 41 | Hong Kong | 15.6 |
| 60 | Thailand | 11.1 |
| 61 | Malaysia | 10.8 |
| 67 | Vietnam | 10.4 |
| 68 | Japan | 10.3 |
| 70 | Philippines | 10.1 |
| 92 | South Korea | 8.2 |
| 116 | Indonesia | 6.4 |
| 131 | Singapore | 5.8 |
| 162 | Taiwan | 3.9 |
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