Singapore - Hospitality Sector

[kennynah]

dont worry ... when the casino goes full steam.... many people will be booking rooms... more escort services will be offered ....

[winston]

Well, it depends WHEN they intend to use those escort services

If it's after going to the casino, then they wont have any more mood, after coming out from the casino

[millionairemind]

Apr 8, 2010
Raffles Hotel sold
By Esther Teo

SINGAPORE'S iconic Raffles Hotel has been reportedly bought by a Qatar sovereign wealth fund for US$275 million (S$384 million).

Qatari Diar - the principal real estate entity of the Qatar Investment Authority - has purchased the historic property in Beach Road from current owner Fairmont Raffles, a Toronto-based luxury hotel chain, according to an Abu Dhabi newspaper, The National.

Fairmont Raffles has about 100 hotels under the three brands of Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel in 24 countries. The Straits Times understands that the chain owns Raffles Hotel here.

In addition to assuming ownership of Raffles, the deal sees Qatari Diar injecting US$467 million into Fairmont Raffles in exchange for a 40 per cent stake in the hotel chain. The US$275 million from the sale of Raffles Hotel, and a gain of US$105 million in promised management contracts, bring the overall deal to US$847 million.

As the deal involves Fairmont Raffles issuing new shares, Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding, an investment company controlled by Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed Talal, will see its stake in the hotel group diluted to 35 per cent from its original 58 per cent. This makes it the second-largest shareholder of the company.

In 2006, Prince Alwaleed teamed up with United States-based Colony Capital to buy Fairmont Hotels and Resorts' chain of hotels in 24 countries for US$3.9 billion. The latest change in shareholding at Fairmont Raffles will result in Colony Capital's stake being reduced to 22 per cent, with the Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System also owning an interest, Bloomberg reported.

[millionairemind]

Jun 28, 2010
Record tourist arrivals
VISITOR arrivals to Singapore hit a new record in May, chalking up a 30.3 per cent growth to reach 946,000 from a year ago.

This is the highest ever jump recorded in the month of May, and the sixth consecutive month of record visitor arrivals for the booming tourism sector.

Fourteen of the top 15 markets registered positive year-on-year growth in May this, with tourists from Indonesia, India, Malaysia, China and Australia making up the top five groups, accounting for 55 per cent of the total tourists, said the Singapore Tourism Board in a statement on Monday.

Tourists from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan registered their highest growth of over 47 per cent each.

Visitor days , estimated at 3.8 million days, jumped by 24.1 per cent from a year earlier.

The new influx of tourists pushed hotel room revenue to an estimated $164 million, up by 45.2 per cent from a year ago. Average Occupancy Rate also rose by 17.1 per cent over May 2009 to reach 85 per cent last month.

The average room rate went up by 13.4 per cent to reach about $209, with hotels in the mid-tier recorded the largest growth of 24.5 per cent to reach $168 in May.

[LenaHuat]

Last nite, I watched this Taiwanese travel show on Resorts World Sentosa. They gave it a rave thumbs up.
There is a sequel next Sunday:-http://popblog.tvbs.com.tw/blog/yummytvbs/

[millionairemind]

Aug 17, 2010
S'pore hotel rates up 20%
By Carmen Woo

AVERAGE room rates in Singapore hotels have risen by about 20 per cent to about $219 in June, from a year ago.

But they are still below the highs of 2008 where room rates averaged $245, peaking at the average of about $300 in September that year, when the inaugural F1 night race was held.

Replying to a question about hotel rooms rates and revenue at the Integrated Resorts (IR) from Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng in a written response, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said the general rebound in the global economy and Asia has boosted visitor arrivals since end-2009.

Visitor arrivals to the Asia-Pacific region have been projected by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to increase by 5 to 7 per cent this year, spurring a strong recovery in the Singapore hotel industry.

The growth in Singapore's hotel room rates, occupancy and revenue, is similar to the recovery seen in the Asia Pacific - in particular cities such as Hong Kong, said Mr Lim.

The higher hotel rates do not seem to have dampened demand. Average occupancy in hotels have ranged in the highs of 80 to 88 per cent in the first half of this year, compared to 66 to 76 per cent occupancy during the same period last year.

[kennynah]

this seems to be corroborated by the fact that budget hotels have all increased their room rates too....

[LenaHuat]

Last month, FEO opened its swanky Novena Medical Center. A day after its opening, I visited it and was impressed with the center's layout and connectivity to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. FEO built a bridge to connect it to TTSH. And there were lots of foreigners in the malls surrounding it.

The medical Connexion at Farrer Park will commence construction in Nov 2010. So you see, there is this air of optimism and buzz here.

[winston]

Singapore expects record 12 mln visitors this year - PM

SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Singapore expects visitor arrivals to hit a record of around 12 million this year, helped by the success of the city-state's two multi-billion-dollar casinos, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday.

He made the remarks in an address to members of the ruling People's Action Party, Channel News Asia reported on Monday.

His comment indicates Singapore expects visitor arrivals this year will rise about 24 percent from last year's 9.68 million.

Singapore legalised casinos in 2005 as part of a plan to double visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015.

Genting Singapore's Resorts World at Sentosa opened its doors in February this year, while Las Vegas Sands' Marina Bay Sands began operations in late April.

Singapore's visitor arrivals in the year to September have totalled around 8.6 million. The figures do not include the thousands who cross over from Malaysia daily by land to work in the city-state.

Tourism currently accounts for about 5-7 percent of Singapore's economy but could grow to as much as 12 percent by 2015 based on government projections on visitor spending, economists have estimated.


Source: Reuters

[LenaHuat]

Last week, I visited MBS for the first time. I especially enjoyed the walk around the Bay from the Promontory to the Helix Bridge. Pangea and Avalon will be opening their doors early 2011. Hotels should really continue to do well.