Are we ready for D-day?
March 12, 2010, 1450hrs
By Samantha Kudus
email@corporateobserver.com.sg
It must be my imagination but ever since I have been back to Singapore after 5 years away, I’ve noticed crowds. Not just the crowds during the annual sale at Tangs nor the semi-coups outside Macdonald’s stalking a certain white cat in multiple costumes.
Recently, I have had to jostle my way through the sidewalks from Tangs to Paragon on the weekends, and I found myself standing 1 cm from a lady in a low-cut Bebe shirt who like me, was also perspiring, and like me, I could tell she also was not happy to be swapping some sweat with me.
Safe to say, I am one of the many who has sworn off a trip to Sentosa for at least a year, so as to avoid the crowds at Resorts World.
And I find myself worrying about what there is to come on April 27th - the much-anticipated date when Marina Bay Sands opens its doors, albeit being just a soft launch.
- Eight million is the number of visitors - according to a study last year - required to keep the IRs afloat each year. When Resorts World opened last month, the swarm of eager visitors threatened to overrun the facilities, causing traffic and human congestion problems both in Sentosa and in Vivocity where they can board a train to reach the IR. One can only imagine what's to come on April 27.
- With so many tourists descending on our island at the same period, I wonder how our four, five-star hotels - particularly those in the Marina Bay area - would cope. After all, there have already been "several instances where there are insufficient hotel rooms during major city events", as Ms Cheryl Ng, Public Relations Manager of Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore, acknowledged.
Will hotels have to turn away tourists who would then be forced to stay in less plush accomodation, affecting their experience with us? Or would the inevitable spike in hotel rates leave a sour taste in the visitors' mouth and leave them going away with the impression that Singapore is indeed an expensive place to visit?
- Our top notch transport network could also come under strain. The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore has already postponed the opening of the Double Helix/Marina Bay Bridge twice - it will be finally launched at the end of March. While it was designed to ease traffic in the Marina Bay area, it could ironically impede the flow of vehicles. With its awesome design - at least on paper - it will probably become a tourist attraction itself, and cars and tour coaches will presumably slow down to enable the people onboard to snap pictures.
Naturally, those in the industry are more optimistic. Mr Kurt O. Wehinger, general manager Marina Mandarin Hotel noted that the hotel industry "as a whole has benefited" from the opening of the Integrated Resorts.
He said: "Resorts World Singapore opened with sold out occupancies in all its hotels that resulted in an overflow of guests to the city hotels. If this positive experience is a sign of things to come, we look forward to the opening of Marina Bay Sands in April and are hopeful that the impact will be as sterling”.
While hotels would not be drawn into forecasting the room rates, Ms Ng believes the rates "will adjust rapidly to reflect consumers’ demand in relation to the adjusted supply”.
Night spot owners, particularly those in the vicinity, are confident that opening of Marina Bay Sands will not affect their business. Their establishments complement what the IR offers, the owners believe.
Well, given our urban planners' typical attention to details, I hope visitors will not have to deal with too much traffic - human or vehicular. I will not know how many people will be trying to hide from the crowds.
But come April 27th, I, for one, am definitely going to be in my kitchen trying out some recipes from my Mario Batali cookbook instead of heading to Batali’s swanky restaurant at Marina Bay Sands to fulfil my orecchiette and duck al Mattone craving.
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