Singaporean tourist found dead in KL budget hotel

Malaysian police broke down a bathroom door to find a dead man in a budget hotel in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. He was found in a sitting position on the toilet bowl.

The hotel is in Jalan Sultan in downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Police told Bernama that the 48-year-old man, a tourist from Singapore, arrived in Malaysia on January 16.

At noon yesterday, a cleaner reported a foul smell from one of the bathrooms. Hotel staff called the police.

Officers called to the scene pried open the bathroom door, which was locked from inside.

They found a dead man in a seated posture on the toilet bowl, along with remnants of burnt charcoal.

As the windows and door were sealed, the man was suspected to have died from suffocation caused by the inhalation of the fumes emitted by the burning charcoal, said KL police.

The Singaporean was estimated to have been dead for 48 hours before he was discovered.

Police have classified the case under sudden death and the body has been sent to the Kuala Lumpur hospital for an autopsy.


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STB optimistic that tourist arrivals will be better in 2010

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) expects more holiday makers and business travellers to come to Singapore next year.

STB said it is cautiously optimistic that tourist arrivals in 2010 will surpass this year's 9 to 9.5 million visitors.

Among its trump cards will be the two integrated resorts and the Formula One Grand Prix.

High octane events like the F1 race have revved up the tourism scene in Singapore. It has also spiced up the nightlife, with F1 Rocks concerts attracting some 30,000 party goers in September.

In view of the good response, the Singapore Tourism Board aims to do more next year.

Aw Kah Peng, chief executive, Singapore Tourism Board, said: "It broadens the market and opens it up. Will we do a bit more in terms of art, whether it's photo exhibition, sculptures and so on? Yes, it's possible.

"Will we have things that involve the drivers and the cars? Possible too. We are working a lot of ideas on the ground."

Apart from the leisure events, there will also be a strong pipeline of conferences in 2010, including the Singapore International Water Week.

The event attracted more than 10,000 participants and saw S$2.2 billion worth of deals sealed this year.

STB added: "We are seeing some interesting trends. Next year, you will see about three times as many business events that are newly created compared to this year and it's because people see the opportunity for growth in Asia."

Asia is likely to be where most of the visitors will be coming from. STB said currently, almost all of its top 10 markets are Asian, making up 70 per cent of total arrivals to Singapore.

And what's a visit to Singapore without visiting the two aces in the pack - the integrated resorts? Each attraction is expected to contribute a value add of S$2.7 billion or 0.8 per cent to Singapore's GDP.

With economic recovery underway, their prospects look bright. But some observers said it is too early to tell if they will live up to expectations.

Neo Boon Siong, director, Asia Competitiveness Institute, said: "We have a lot more competition now in Macau and elsewhere. So I think you have some positive effects, but it may take a while for us to learn how to reach those new tourist markets.

"It will not be an immediate big bang, I suspect. There will be incremental activities, but it will be largely an experimental market for the next couple of years."

And Singapore being plugged into the world could be exposed to some downside risks ahead.

Song Seng Wun, regional economist, CIMB-GK Research, said: "It could be US unemployment rising far more sharply then expected. Unemployment rate is already 10 per cent and it could go higher and for longer as well.

"That certainly means that one engine of global growth - the US economy - will be a big drag; others can be, say, asset bubble bursting."

Despite the uncertainties, STB is cautiously optimistic about 2010. One key challenge though is manpower training and raising service standards. - CNA/vm


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Visitor Arrivals In Singapore Were Down By 11.5%, To Just 4.51mn In January To June 2009

Short-Term Outlook Negative… Singapore’s tourism industry experienced a difficult first half to 2009. Visitor arrivals were down by 11.5%, to just 4.51mn in January-June. The Singapore Tourist Board (STB) attributed the poor performance primarily to the global economic crisis, but with arrivals from China and Japan also reduced due to the effects of the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic.

Over the first six months of 2009, Singapore’s top five visitor-generating markets were Indonesia (766,000), China (457,000), Australia (376,000), India (361,000) and Malaysia (317,000), accounting for over 50% of the total. Vietnam (up 13.4%), the Philippines (up 3%), Malaysia (up 1.8%) and Germany (up 1.3%) were the fastest growing source markets in H109, which the STB attributed to strong marketing campaigns and, in the case of Vietnam, aggressive airline promotions.

Given this disappointing start to the year, we have made downward revisions to our forecasts for arrivals data this year. From a previous forecast of 9.9mn visitors, we now believe that 9.12mn is more likely.

…But Longer-Term Prognosis Remains Positive Although 2009 will be difficult for Singapore’s tourism industry, there are reasons to remain positive for the medium-to-long term, as the global economy recovers. In particular, the opening of the two integrated resorts, at Marina Bay in 2009 and Sentosa in 2010, should help the island attract new tourists. Also, in 2011 Singapore will host the first Youth Olympics and open a new International Cruise Terminal.

Integrated Resorts Opening Soon In June, the first details surrounding some of the hotel rooms on offer at the new SGD6.59bn Sentosa integrated resort were unveiled. Showrooms for the Maxims Tower, Hotel Michael, Festive Hotel and the Hard Rock Hotel Singapore were opened for public viewing. The 120-room Maxims Tower and 470- room Hotel Michael are both pitched at the luxury end of the market. The 398-room Festive Hotel is pitched at the family market, with brightly coloured décor and loft sleeping areas in the bedrooms for children. The 364-room Hard Rock Hotel Singapore is pitched at the young adult market. The other two hotels at the resort are the Equarius Hotel and Spa Villas. Bookings for the hotels opened in H209. Other attractions at Sentosa will include a Universal Studios theme park, a casino and the world’s largest oceanarium. BMI believes this and other new resorts will do much to significantly boost Singapore’s tourism industry from 2010 onwards.

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In Singapore, novelty of F1 race begins to wear off (Feature)

Singapore - With just days to go before the roaring of Formula One car engines will fill the streets of Singapore again, race organizers and the city-state's tourism industry are banking on last-minute bookings to fill seats, hotel rooms and tourist attractions during the event.

After the inaugural night race in 2008, the novelty of a F1 Grand Prix in Singapore seems to have worn off a bit.

As the economic downturn also took its toll on tourism worldwide, ticket sales and room bookings in the weeks to this year's GP season have been sluggish compared to last year.

'Given this year's economic context, it is not surprising that bookings have been slower than last year's,' said Justin Chew, director of F1 projects at the Singapore Tourism Board.

'In 2008, the inaugural event drew huge interest from the beginning,' he added, noting that the buying pattern for the 2009 GP was much more typical of other F1 circuits with an increased momentum in ticket sales and hotel bookings closer to the race.

'Traditionally second year attendances at new Formula One circuits do see some drop from the inaugural race numbers,' said Michael Roche, executive director of race organizer Singapore GP Pte Ltd.

For 2008, he said, the company released a capacity of 80,000 tickets a day and increased it to 100,000 tickets, as the demand was overwhelming, eventually selling 300,000 tickets for the whole event.

This year, organizers expect nearly 250,000 people to enjoy the race, as they released 83,000 tickets per day for the three-day event, just under the optimal number, given the facilities at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, of 85,000.

With average prices unchanged from the 2008 Singapore night race, current sales were beating the initial forecasts for the second Grand Prix, said Roche.

'I'm confident we are going to ... get very close to 95 per cent,' he said, adding that only loose seats and single seats were left.

Singapore's hotels approach the GP season with much more realistic expectations compared to 2008.

After getting a lot of stick for demanding exorbitant room rates during the first Singapore GP, overall, hotels have lowered their rates this year by 30 to 50 per cent, according to the tourism board.

'Greed made us lose our focus last year,' said Patrick Fiat, General Manager of Royal Plaza on Scotts, in an interview with the board.

'We have definitely learnt our lesson,' he added.

So far, Singapore's tourism industry plummeted this year as travellers cut back on their spending because of the economic crisis.

In the first half of 2009, total room revenue of the city-state's hotels reached 721 million Singapore dollars (509 million US dollars), down 33.2 per cent year-on-year.

'The Formula One week is still a silver lining we can all look forward to before the year ends,' said Aiden McAuley, general manager of Swissotel The Stamford.

One of the tourist attractions, the world's largest giant observation wheel Singapore Flyer, hopes to cash in on its unique position at the scratch and finishing line of the race course and a view on 80 per cent of the circuit.

'The sales of our packages have been positive and encouraging and we are anticipating another surge of bookings as the race dates draw nearer,' said a Flyer spokesperson without giving numbers.

However, after launching package tickets costing 688 and 5,500 Singapore dollars in July, the company introduced a much cheaper package worth 288 Singapore dollars and individual day passes costing between 58 and 188 Singapore dollars, as sales had been sluggish, according to local media reports.

In Singapore's second GP season, excitement is building up slower compared to last year, although the race organizers lined up international bands like Travis, Backstreet Boys or Chaka Khan for trackside entertainment.

'In terms of buzz, I would say, of course, if the economic climate was more vibrant, there will clearly be a lot more buzz,' said Singapore Trade Minister S. Iswaran.

He was confident, that the recent 'Crashgate' scandal involving the Renault team has not sullied Singapore's reputation as a race venue.

'This is really more about a particular team's tactics, not a comment on the venue,' said the minister.

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