WITH less than a month to go before engines start revving for Singapore’s second Formula One race, hotels here are banking on last-minute bookings to fill their many empty rooms.
A Straits Times check with 30 hotels showed at least 25 reporting a worse showing this year compared to that in the same period last year.
Even trackside properties like the Ritz-Carlton Millenia, offering the best views of the circuit, are not sold out, unlike the situation last year when all the hotel’s rooms were snapped up weeks ahead of the inaugural event.
At some hotels farther away from the race action, like the Siloso Beach Resort on Sentosa, occupancy rates have dipped by as much as 30per cent this year.
Despite room rates falling 40 to 45per cent and many hotels adding incentives – such as tickets to tourist attractions and no minimum number of nights that a guest must stay – to their packages, sales remain sluggish.
The slow take-up has seen at least half of the 32 hotels involved in a ‘best rate guarantee’ promotion extending their offer to give guests their lowest rates over the race weekend.
The promotion was supposed to end last month, but hotels under the Millennium and Copthorne group and standalone properties, like boutique hotel Klapsons, have decided to extend it to at least the middle of this month.
Several reasons have been floated for the lacklustre response.
The dismal state of the world economy has certainly had an impact, said Ms Anne Arrowsmith, The Regent Singapore’s director of marketing.
She said: ‘F1 bookings have seen a definite decline, as a key sector of the audience is a direct result of corporate involvement. With companies focusing on cost containment, any expense that can be construed as extravagance is undergoing internal as well as ‘public’ scrutiny.’
Another reason could be that the novelty of the F1 has worn off in Singapore.
A hotelier, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘Last year was our first race, so there was a lot of interest. But there is nothing special any more about this year’s race, so probably the fans would rather go somewhere else like Abu Dhabi, which has the advantage of being closer to Europe, the biggest fan base.’
The Middle East city will premiere its inaugural night race in November.
Another industry observer added that disputes within F1 – with the threat of some teams splitting from the race – and a bad showing by top drivers this year could have led to loss of interest.
But hotels are not the only ones struggling to draw customers this year. Race organiser Singapore Grand Prix has sold only 73per cent of the available grandstand and walkabout tickets, compared to the more than 95per cent snapped up by this time last year.
It is not known how many tickets have been sold to tourists.
Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran, at an event last Saturday, admitted it would ‘already be a very positive outcome’ if Singapore could attract close to the 100,000 spectators it received last year.
Other F1 host cities have been hit hard this year too. The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai attracted only 30,000 spectators to its 200,000-capacity circuit in April, and the Istanbul race saw only 36,000 fans at the 125,000-capacity circuit.
Singapore hoteliers are hoping room bookings will pick up in the coming days.
The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, which is next to the circuit, hopes its views over the race track and events like the F1 Rocks concerts will bring in the fans.
Hotels are not the only ones struggling to draw customers. Race organiser Singapore Grand Prix has sold only 73 per cent of the available grandstand and walkabout tickets, compared to over 95 per cent by this time last year.
Source : Straits Times – 1 Sep 2009
Lush Dream Home 