Industry Voices 

Madam Kay Kuok, President, Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), shares her views on what’s ahead for the hotel industry this year.

Q: How did 2005 finish for the Singapore hotel industry?

A: 2005 was one of the better years for the Singapore hotel industry with an average occupancy rate of 84.1% and an average room rate of $136.70. When compared with the year before, the average occupancy rate grew by 3.4 percentage points while average room rate improved by 12.3%.  The growing trend is very much welcomed by the industry.

Q: What is the outlook for 2006?

A: Based on the current trend and barring any foreseen circumstances, the hotel industry should be able to do well again this year.

Q: Yes, there is a certain bullishness in the air among hoteliers who are talking about rate increases this year. There is also new supply coming on.  What does SHA expect the new supply to do to overall occupancy and rates?

A: The new supply will help to a certain extent, ease the situation provided the growth in visitor arrivals continues to be in tandem. This will help to maintain occupancies and room rates. Otherwise, the reverse could happen.

Q: There is concern among tour operators that the rate increases this
year could dampen demand. What are SHA's views on this? What is its
reading of the inbound market in general – where does it see growth coming from? And where does it see it leveling off?

A: We are working with the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) on the issue to see how best the situation can be managed to give a win-win to both travel agents and hotels. The growth in visitor arrivals will be fuelled mainly by the MICE market, India, PR China, Australia and the neighbouring ASEAN countries.

Q: In terms of marketing activities, where should the industry be stepping up efforts?

A: The industry should be concentrating its marketing activities on the MICE market, USA, UK, Australia, India, Japan, PR China and new emerging markets such as Russia and the Middle East. However, marketing activities are only effective if there are good flight connections between these markets and Singapore. Therefore, before putting marketing dollars into any markets, flight connection is a key determinant.

Q: What are SHA's top three priorities this year?

SHA’s top three priorities for this year are:
• Manpower
• Safety and Security
• Service Excellence