Efficiency and mastery of destiny: in Singapore, we are proud - very proud, in fact - of our ability to anticipate, plan, develop and, above all, succeed. The Covid-19 pandemic will certainly have swept away some of the City-State's certainties whose economy relies on trade with the rest of the planet. In 2020, GDP contracted by 5.8 %, less, however, than in the first scenarios, which predicted a fall of between 6 % and 7%. If the government forecasts GDP growth of 5 % to 6 % this yearThe fall of 2020 will remain an event for the City-State. It was in fact its first serious recession of the 21ste century.
Tourism in trouble in 2020
L'service industry - of which the tourism sector is a part - has been the most affected by this recession with a contraction of 6.9 % in 2020. The total closure of the borders has meant that visitors have almost completely disappeared. Last year, Singapore recorded 2.81 million international arrivals, a record 87.1 % drop compared to 2019.
But this figure is misleading, as the fall has been even steeper. The first quarter alone accounted for 97% of total arrivals. (2.73 million). Over the rest of the year, the city recorded just 29,550 international arrivals, down 99.8 % on 2019.
The average occupancy rate in the hotel sector last year was 56.7 1Q3Tdown thirty points on 2019. With a consequent fall in the price of overnight stays. The average price of a room reached 95.50 euros last year (152 S$).. In detail, this price has risen from 144 euros in January 2020 to 42 euros in Mayits lowest ever. In December 2020, the average price of a night's stay rose to 113 euros. Over the first two months of 2021, the average price remains above 90 euros. This still represents a fall of 36% compared with early 2020. However, the hotel industry was partially supported by the requisitioning of rooms for quarantine purposes.. These generated the equivalent of 80,000 overnight stays.
Against this backdrop, the Singapore Tourism Board is nonetheless cultivating a healthy optimism. In a speech at the beginning of February, Keith Tan, Managing Director of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB)indicated that, " [if] Singapore's tourism sector had had to fight for its survival in 2020, our tourism businesses have shown tremendous resilience and adaptability throughout this difficult period, reinventing their business models and leveraging technology to find solutions in a world affected by Covid."
At the time, the STB's Chief Executive expressed his confidence in the recovery of tourism and the potential appeal of Singapore, while also stating that that a return to the 19 million international visitors in 2019 will not happen for a few years yet. " It is unlikely that international mass travel will pick up significantly in 2021, but the STB will continue to stand alongside its industry partners to prepare for the recovery and start building a better, more sustainable future for tourism, "said Keith Tan.
Singapore Inc, the "Singapore company", is indeed working on its return to the tourist scene. It has developed a whole range of virtual technologies - including augmented reality - to stimulate the desire to return to the city. The Singapore Food Festival, for example, attracted 500,000 virtual visitors, and the Christmas festivities attracted more than a million...
Flexibility and new protocols for MICE
But it's in Singapore has made the most progress in its quest for a new normal in the MICE sector. The organisation of hybrid events and meetings resumed in July. Between July 2020 and March 2021, some sixty events have already taken placewelcoming some 7,000 participants. No declared cluster!
This is an important strategy for Singapore. Indeed, it is, the MICE sector sor more than 34,000 jobs before the pandemicThe events and convention industry generates almost 1% of the island-state's GDP. This represents economic added value of 2.4 billion euros.
The ramp-up of MICE activities began with pilot projects with a ceiling of 50 participants per event. In October, this was increased to 250 participants per event. A new milestone: a maximum capacity of 750 people per event will apply from 24 April onwards.
If the government approves the holding of an event - a necessary first step - various health safety protocols are then put in place. The latest: a "Pre-Event test" will be systematically carried out for all events hosting more than 250 delegates. This will involve a Covid-19 test for any participant wishing to attend. Only a delegate with a negative test result will be authorised. The formalities for this test will be specified.
The use of technology will continue to grow to make meetings and conferences even safer. A full-scale test was carried out at the end of March during the Geo Connect Asia (GCA) 2021. The conference included "Geo Suites", in effect a meeting room transformed into a single stand for each exhibitor. In this way, exchanges could be kept to a minimum.
A "Safe Event" technology platform was also tested. This solution uses geospatial technology to track delegate movements throughout the event. via an application and body temperature monitoring. It also uses facial recognition to identify an exhibitor.
Is this type of application - which is in fact intrusive - only temporary? Nothing is less certain in Singapore, where the obsession with monitoring the population on its territory is still very much alive.
