Monday Sep 23, 2024
Monday Sep 23, 2024
Saturday, 20 September 2014 00:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Tourist arrivals dropped nearly 3% in the first half of this year - the first such decline since the casinos opened in 2010. Singapore is on pace to record the biggest drop in Chinese tourist arrivals since it landed a spot on the F1 circuit seven years ago.
China’s corruption crackdown has hurt gaming in Singapore and Macau, both popular destinations for wealthy Chinese.
“This year, Singapore is certainly banking a bit more on the F1 event to come back into the limelight after weak tourism numbers in the first half,” UOB economist Francis Tan said.
While the haul from the race itself represents a tiny portion of the expected 2014 tourism receipts of as much as S$24.6 billion, it marks an opportunity for Singapore to sell itself as a country that works hard and parties as hard.
Festivities this year include performances from entertainers such as Jennifer Lopez and Robbie Williams.
“Every year, the race season in September brings about an influx of international tourists and media exposure for the country,” said Cassandra Tan, an analyst with Euromonitor. “One of the impacts is the ‘multiplier effect’ for Singapore’s economy, in tourism cents, retail value and publicity.”
The hospitality sector is looking to make the most of the event, with several conferences lined up for the weekend that will host Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain and UBS AG Chairman Axel Weber among the scores of top names.
The Four Seasons Hotel, for example, expects business volumes this weekend to rise 25% over a non-race weekend.
Singapore Airlines Ltd, which is being challenged by heavy-spending Middle East carriers to attract business travelers, is betting on the event to drum up interest in its premium brand as it sponsors the race for the first time.
Winning back Chinese tourists
The drop in Chinese tourists has hit Singapore’s casinos, analysts say.
Combined VIP volume for Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa and Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands fell 10 percent in the first half of this year, Macquarie Research estimated. China typically accounts for at least half of the VIP gamblers in Singapore.
Genting declined to comment beyond its results statement, while Sands did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
Tourists from China were also wary of travelling to the region because of political unrest in Thailand, the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines flight and a new Chinese law that clamps down on ultra-cheap tour packages.
Singapore relies on tourism for about 4% of its economic output. It expects international visitor arrivals to rebound and grow 5% to 8% in 2014.
With more than 15 million tourists last year, Singapore has cause for optimism, industry analysts said.
“Any country would be happy to have three times its population visiting per year in tourist numbers,” said Jonathan Galaviz, a partner at consultancy Global Market Advisors.
Frustrated Alonso defends Ferrari brand and seeks unityReuters: A frustrated Fernando Alonso reiterated his commitment to Ferrari on Thursday and took a verbal swipe at brand-damaging rumours in Italy suggesting he might swap seats with Sebastian Vettel to join Red Bull next year. The twice Formula One champion stressed his respect and loyalty to Ferrari in a heartfelt outburst aimed at unifying the team as it steers passage through a period of management upheaval and disappointing results.
Talking to reporters ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, a week after long-serving Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo confirmed he was stepping down next month, Alonso said he hoped Sergio Marchionne, who succeeds him, could revive the team and end a title drought dating back to 2008.
“I’ve been commenting about my future for now 13 months I think, so I have nothing new to say,” said the Spaniard.
“Sometimes, Italy creates these strange rumours, which are not helping Ferrari, which we are all here to do. It’s a much bigger brand than any individual person, or even Formula One in general.
“I respect a lot Ferrari and try to create a good group, a good atmosphere in the team - from going out to dinner, to playing basketball, to playing poker, whatever - to have a very united team, because it’s what we need and what the people expect from us driving for Ferrari and working for Ferrari.
“We know these things come from Italy, (but) it’s not really clear what is the purpose.”
Vettel staying
Team principal Stefano Domenicali stood down in April to be replaced by Marco Mattiacci in the first major change to the management structure before Montezemolo’s departure after 23 years as president.
“There has been some days for the team with a lot of changes over the year,” said Alonso. “The team principal changed in April, the head of engine leaving in the summer, now the president also steps away after being so successful in Formula One.
“He (Montezemolo) was our leader for many years. Definitely it was a great time for Ferrari. I wish him good for that and for new projects. With a new president, I wish him good luck for hopefully a very successful future.”
Vettel, whose hopes of another title have been blown away by Mercedes’ success this year with team mate Daniel Ricciardo also outdriving him, stressed he was staying at Red Bull.
“I am driving for Red Bull. I have a contract so nothing has changed,” said the four-time champion German.
“It is impossible to predict the future, but surely I have been with Red Bull for a long time and have a very, very strong link to them in that regard. That hasn’t changed.”
Ferrari are without a win in 13 races this year and face the prospect of suffering their first winless season since 1993.
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Ricciardo targets podium ahead of improving VettelReuters: Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo believes he can get back on the Formula One podium in Singapore on Sunday after his winning streak ended in Italy two weeks ago. “I guess I am expecting a podium. I think we have to aim for that if we want to stay in the title hunt,” the smiling Australian told reporters on Thursday.
Ricciardo is the only driver to break the Mercedes stranglehold on winning this season with victories in Canada, Hungary and then Belgium in his first season with the champions.
His car should be much more suited to tackling the demands of Singapore’s tight, floodlit street circuit than the sweeping curves and long straights at Monza where the Mercedes drivers finished one-two.
Ricciardo sits third in the driver’s standings on 166 points with six rounds remaining, 72 behind leader Nico Rosberg, but is confident he and champion team mate Sebastian Vettel can be more competitive in Singapore than in Italy, where they finished fifth and sixth respectively.
“I believe we will be the second best team out of the box tomorrow. The question is how close can we get to Mercedes. I definitely think we are going to be closer than Monza,” said Ricciardo. “This is obviously a track that should help us out a bit more.”
Vettel has won the Singapore Grand Prix for the last three years on a 23-turn layout that seems tailor-made for the Red Bull, a dominance Ricciardo is hoping to continue this time around.
“If we can be within a couple of tenths (of a second per lap) then that would be good result... it means we can race with them on Sunday and I expect to be a couple of tenths in front of the next best team,” he added. “All going well, we should be on the podium.”
Getting to grips
Ricciardo has enjoyed a remarkable first season at Red Bull and sits 60 points ahead of Vettel, a feat he puts down to the fact that the raft of changes following the last campaign had less of an impact on him, coming from a smaller team.
“I think it was easier to come from a Toro Rosso to Red Bull because there was a smaller difference between the cars from last year to this,” he added.
“My (Toro Rosso) car did not have as much grip as Seb’s Red Bull from last year so the grip loss for him was a lot bigger than it was for me, to be fair. So it probably took him a lot longer to adapt than I did.”
The Australian was quick to point out that his early-season dominance over his German team mate has evaporated in recent races with Vettel proving faster than Ricciardo in qualifying.
“I don’t think he is struggling as much as people think. He has out-qualified me for the last three races now so he’s obviously got to grips with the car better,” he said.
“My race performance has been the surprising thing. I think what I had going for me the past few races was tyre management... I have been able to look after them a bit better.
“In terms of pure speed, from now until the end of the year, there shouldn’t be any more question marks over us.”
Ricciardo said it was also too early to raise the question of team orders.
“No, not yet,” he said. “While both of us are still mathematically eligible then we still able to race and do what we can. Then if one of us gets knocked out before the other then I think we may apply some team orders.
“I’d like it to stay that way and not rely on Seb’s help. Nothing against him or the team but it’s fair. We are still both quite long shots anyway.” |
