Singapore's hotel room rates expected to go up by 25% in Q4

By Pamela Almeda, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: Hotel room rates in Singapore in the fourth quarter are expected to be 25 per cent higher than that of last year, according to industry players.

With some big events expected to hit the calendar next year, including the F1 grand prix, hotel room rates are seen rising even further in 2008.

Tourist arrivals in Singapore have been hitting new highs this year, sending hotel occupancy to nearly 90 per cent.

With demand on the rise, hoteliers have been adjusting their room rates.

Marina Mandarin is seeing a five to eight per cent climb in room bookings for this final quarter of the year. Its meeting rooms are already 80 per cent booked for the rest of 2007.

Charles Tee, executive assistant manager of Marina Mandarin Singapore, said: "Well, Singapore has for the longest time been under-priced in terms of what we're charging for rooms. If you compare (Singapore with) cities like Tokyo, Mumbai, they have really... high rates.

"So we have to really market-adjust this. So on average, I would say that your hotel rate increase will continue to grow in the region of 20 per cent or more."

At Pan Pacific, occupancy levels have reached 84 per cent this year. It has been seeing good growth in its meetings business, and it expects next year to be even better.

Cheryl Ng, PR manager of Pan Pacific Singapore, said: "Singapore has received a lot of attention on an international scale as being a preferred destination for meetings. In particular, there have been a lot of activities happening in Marina Bay such as the integrated resorts, the confirmation of Grand Prix F1 race circuit which will be in the vicinity.

"Because of these reasons and also the hotel renovation which will (be) completed by next year, we expect to receive a high amount of bookings."

Numbers released by the Singapore Tourism Board last week showed that hotel occupancy was almost 90 per cent in August.

There were more than 910,000 tourist arrivals, a record high for the month of August.