Singapore is looking to accommodate the increasing pool of sport tourists by hosting events such as the Women’s Tennis Association tournament and the FINA Swimming World Cup to boost tourist traffic to the country. The city-state is seeking various sporting events for its $955m Singapore Sports Hub to follow on from their success of hosting the WTA final, which attracted 130,000 spectators, for the first time in 2014.
Steps were taken in 2008 to attract sport enthusiasts when the city debuted the Singapore Grand Prix
The city, which is home to the Asian leg of the Formula One series, posted government figures at the end of 2014 showing that international visitor arrivals for that year dropped 3.1 percent year-on-year to 15.1 million, the lowest since the financial crisis. This decline was attributed to political unrest in Thailand, the Malaysia Airlines’ twin tragedies and the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals.
Steps were taken in 2008 to attract sport enthusiasts when the city debuted the Singapore Grand Prix which earned £120m from each race. The annual three-day event has attracted more than 250,000 international visitors over the past seven years and PwC experts claim that Singapore is set to claim an even bigger portion of the global sports market, which is estimated to reach $145bn by 2016. This year alone, the city-state will play host to the Southeast Asian Games, Barclays Asia Trophy and the IRB Sevens World Series, which is the latest world-class event to become an annual fixture.
Listing Singapore as one of the best countries to travel to in 2015, Lonely Planet said: “As one of the world’s most multicultural cities, Singapore is always celebrating something. But Singapore has an extra special reason to put on her party hat in 2015, for it’s her Golden Jubilee.” The buzz surrounding this celebration, coupled with a weaker local currency and the city’s growing image as an international sports hub, is expected to help boost tourism in the upcoming year.
