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Industry Voices
Hoteliers gear up for the biggest VIP event in local history
Increased revenues, occupancy rates and better trained staff – the Singapore 2006 International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group Boards of Governors Annual Meetings have hoteliers rubbing their hands in glee.
This month, Singapore 2006 will see the arrival of about 16,000 delegates on Singapore’s shores to attend the meetings.
With such a high-level series of meetings coming up, the local hotel industry is doing everything it can to showcase its services to these international visitors.
In anticipation of the delegates’ needs, the Singapore 2006 has block booked 9,000 rooms, as of 21 August, out of Singapore’s total inventory of 37,000 rooms for the official visitors’ use.
The hotel industry and Singapore Hotel Association have in the past few months been busy preparing themselves to ensure that service standard levels are up so they can meet all the visitors’ needs.
‘The IMF-World Bank event is very much welcomed by the hotel industry in Singapore, as it is a high profile event that puts and confirms Singapore clearly on the world map as a premier business events venue,’ said Ms Kay Kuok, President of the Singapore Hotel Association.
With employment rates rising and the economy picking up, this year promises to be a good one for the local hotel industry.
Mr Louis Sailer, General Manager of The Fullerton Hotel, called it ‘a strong endorsement of the city’s capability,’ and hoteliers will be reaping the rewards.
Many five star hotels expect room rates to grow to between $500 and $600 for the month of September, compared to the average $300 to $400. Food & Beverage revenues and occupancy rates are likewise expected to increase.
Mr Sailer said The Fullerton’s rooms, meeting and function spaces would be fully booked during this period. ‘We estimate that 85% of our total guest room inventory is related to the event in some way.’
High-profile guests coming stay
At Swissotel The Stamford, General Manager Aiden McAuley said the Annual Meetings are more high-profile and on a larger scale than the International Olympics Committee (IOC) Session which the hotel hosted last year.
While only 2,100 delegates and 1,800 media representatives attended the IOC session, Singapore 2006 is seven times larger in terms of the number of visitors expected.
‘The Annual Meetings are definitely larger in scale. The delegation comprises heads-of-states, finance ministers and chiefs of banking institutions. Hence, it is also an event with a much higher profile.
‘On top of housing the delegates, most of the function rooms in the Raffles City Convention Centre are booked with corporate meetings held by the various banks and finance institution in conjunction with the main meetings,’ said Mr McAuley.
Service levels are higher now
To meet all the visitors’ needs, hotels have stepped up their training programmes to ensure the staff are on top of their game when delegates come to town.
Mr McAuley said Swissotel The Stamford has been gearing up for the meetings since the beginning of the year. The hotel has embarked on service excellence programmes for all service staff ‘to ensure that we deliver a consistently high level of service across all touch-points.’
‘This includes reconfiguring our check-in process and re-looking the room amenities to see how we can better anticipate the needs of the IMF-World Bank Group delegates…to ensure things go smoothly,’ Mr McAuley said.
The Fullerton’s operational staff likewise underwent GEMS (which stands for ‘Go the Extra Mile for Service’) training, a national movement that aims to improve service levels in Singapore so that front line service staff are trained and equipped with the necessary skill sets, service aptitude and attitude to welcome the delegates.
Hotels will consider regular customers
With many hotels running on high capacity during the September meeting period, hoteliers are confident that they are ready for the challenge. While the delegates’ needs are important, the hotels must also not neglect the needs of regular visitors. One of the hotels’ challenges is to ensure that regular visitors are at the same time well catered to and taken care of.
Said General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Mr Octavio Gamarra: ‘We have to ensure that we are still exceeding the expectations of all guests. Some may travel to Singapore not necessarily attending the event. Perhaps, they're at leisure. We have to make sure that the same level of attention and service is provided to them.’
Mr McAuley noted the high occupancy rate during this period could mean that some room requests could not be met.
‘With high occupancy, it can also potentially become more challenging and taxing on resources. Hence, it makes it all the more important that we are able to plan our operations such that we deliver quality service consistently around the clock,’ said Mr McAuley
Even with these challenges at hand, the hotels are confident that they are well-prepared and ready to put their best foot forward and deliver pleasant and memorable service to the delegates during their stay here.
Find out more about Singapore2006
Other stories about Singapore 2006 in this issue
Singapore 2006 and IMF-World Bank Group put Singapore on world map | 
