ST: Some tourist attractions losing their appeal

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Apr 7, 2011

Some tourist attractions losing their appeal

By Jamie Ee Wen Wei & Ng Kai Ling

National Heritage Board museums, such as the National Museum of Singapore (above), had 100,000 fewer visitors last year than the 2.8 million in 2009. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

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SINGAPORE welcomed a record 11.6 million visitors last year, due in no small part to the debut of the two integrated resorts.

But a survey of tourist destinations done in February revealed that the bonanza was not evenly spread out across the range of tourist destinations. It appears some destinations received fewer visitors than in the previous year, despite the industry's overall cheer.

Nearly half the 31 attractions surveyed reported a fall in the number of visitors - by up to 28 per cent in some cases.

The survey by the Association of Singapore Attractions (ASA) is the first such poll done to assess the visitorship performance of its members, based on visitor numbers for last year.

While it was true that 55 per cent of the attractions pulled in more visitors than they did in the year before, some in this group fared a lot better than others.

Last year saw a new high in visitor numbers, so what places did they go to? The following patterns emerged from the survey:

The star dimmed for paid attractions in the Civic District. Overall, this group of attractions pulled in 4.4 per cent fewer visitors.

The ASA did not give a breakdown of the results for the individual attractions, but figures from elsewhere indicated that the National Heritage Board museums had 100,000 fewer visitors last year than the record high of 2.8 million visitors in the year before.

The exception was the Singapore Flyer, a ticketed attraction in the Civic District. Its spokesman said it recorded a 30 per cent year-on-year jump in visitor numbers.

Paid visitor destinations outside the city centre and Sentosa suffered less of a fall - just 1.2 per cent.

But on the whole, when sorted by visitor profile, these attractions pulled in more local visitors, with the number jumping 10.4 per cent from 2009 to last year; the number of tourists going to them dipped 3.2 per cent.

The opening of the integrated resorts, Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and Marina Bay Sands, located on Sentosa and at the nearby Marina Bay respectively, benefited the attractions on the resort island more than elsewhere.

Sentosa received more than 17.6 million guests last year, nearly three times the 6.2 million who visited the island the year before.

Attractions managed by Sentosa Leisure Group (SLG), namely, the Songs Of The Sea, Images Of Singapore, The Merlion, Tiger Sky Tower and Fort Siloso, logged double-digit growth in visitor numbers last year, said Mr Chan Mun Wei, SLG's divisional director of corporate planning.

Free attractions did well, with their visitorship more than doubling.

The Marina Barrage, for example, attracted 558,000 visitors in 2009, and 1.45 million last year, said a spokesman for PUB, the national water agency.

Figures from the Department of Statistics indicated that traditional hot spots like the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari suffered a dip in visitor numbers between 2009 and last year.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic tourism lecturer Michael Chiam said such traditional destinations may be losing their appeal to repeat visitors.

He added: 'Given the limited time, most tourists would be very focused when they come here. They would most probably go to the newer attractions such as RWS.'

ASA chairman Kevin Cheong said the association will continue working with its members and industry partners, such as the Singapore Tourism Board and stakeholders, on programmes to promote its members' attractions and encourage patronage from arriving visitors.