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Mr Edmund Chua, newly appointed Assistant Chief Executive for Planning & Sector Development
You could call it a sweet irony. In the posting he was in for the last five years, Mr Edmund Chua worked in the land of plenty - plenty especially when it came to a massive labour force to pick and choose from.
From 1 May 2008, the former Regional Director for STB's office in China will take on the position of Assistant Chief Executive, Planning & Sector Development, where among his various roles, he will be responsible for industry development work in travel and hospitality business, infrastructure, manpower and technology.
There will be challenges, particularly in the area of manpower as demand surges with so many tourism developments in the pipeline.
Mr Chua however is not a man who is easily daunted - after all, in his five years in China, he and his team grew the market from less than 500,000 in 2002/2003 to crossing that first one million in 2006 and inching up to 1.1 million in 2007.
The achievement made Singapore the first outbound market (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) to cross the one millionth visitor mark from mainland China.
Building a competitive edge with quality
Looking ahead to his new charge of manpower development, Mr Chua said: "We know that manpower will be a challenge for Singapore, particularly with all the new developments coming up.
"And it's not just about finding the numbers but finding the quality to deliver the kind of experience people associate with a quality destination.
"Having worked in China for the last five years, one thing comes across clearly - we can't compete on numbers. No matter how big you build, someone will always catch up.
"But what people can't catch up on is quality of service."
Mr Chua believes that in developing its manpower needs, Singapore has to pursue both a strategy of getting enough people to join the industry and, at the same time, arming them with the right skills sets to deliver a service quality other destinations will talk about and travellers will return for.
"It has to become a key attribute on how people make their decision on where to travel to. It has to come to a point where people will say, let's go to Singapore because we feel so good when we are there."
"Service mindset" is critical
A service mindset is critical for providing visitors with quality experiences.
In his speech delivered at the STB Tourism Industry Night on 31 January 2008, Minister of State for Trade & Industry, Mr S Iswaran, also acknowledged the need for both manpower and the infrastructure to ensure an "excellent visitor experience".
On manpower, he said that the issue was not just quantity but also quality - "there is a pressing need for more people who are well-trained and have a service mindset".
Last October, the STB and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) launched the Tourism Talent (TOTAL) Plan, committing S$360 million over three years to train 74,000 tourism industry workers.
This includes a S$30 million Training Industry Professionals in Tourism (TIP-iT) scheme that was introduced by the STB in 2007, to support tourism establishments seeking to develop their manpower by acquiring specialised tourism-related skills or new capabilities.
Said Mr Iswaran: "STB and WDA will intensify their recruitment efforts by creating greater awareness of the exciting and rewarding opportunities in tourism careers. It is important that industry players closely engage our government agencies in these and other efforts to ensure that we proactively address this manpower challenge."
Mr Chua said: "People are looking beyond remuneration these days for a rewarding career. With so many new iconic tourism developments coming up, those looking for enriching work experiences can look to the flourishing tourism industry for a wide range of exciting job opportunities."
"We are encouraged to note that at the recent Career 2008 exhibition held in February this year, some 30,000 visitors showed a keen interest in tourism jobs and courses and the exhibiting companies in the tourism sector received about 12,000 job applications," added Mr Chua.
Last October, the STB launched Tourism Careers - A Journey of Discovery, to enhance the attractiveness and improve the image of the tourism industry as an employer of choice. Since the launch, the STB has been working with industry partners through roadshows and career fairs, to find the right people with the right skills to fill vacancies as well as create awareness of the different types of tourism jobs available.
"The destination for quality"
Beyond manpower development, Mr Chua's new role also covers travel and hospitality - which means he is also responsible for ensuring there is enough infrastructure (from tourist guides to travel agents to coaches and coach bays) in the tourism industry and adequate room supply to meet demand.
"My role is to help the industry get up to speed to 2015 when we aim to receive 17 million arrivals. At the macro level, that means ensuring we have the capacity to handle the volume.
"We believe we have the potential capacity to handle the 17 million visitors when they arrive in 2015; it's just a question of planning and executing it well"
On hotel supply, Mr Chua said: "We were working on this two years ago which is why we now have a steady stream of rooms coming in. We will have about 12,000 rooms added in the next three to four years - that's about a 30% increase in room inventory."
In 2007, about 1,000 hotel rooms came into the market. Last year, the average hotel room rate in Singapore grew by 23.1% over 2006 and the occupancy rate averaged 87%.
Said Mr Chua: "This goes back to our value proposition as a quality destination. Singapore may not be the place for cheap rates but we are certainly the destination for quality experiences."
