Info Indonesia

Tourism is one of the largest service sectors of Singapore. As of 2007, the tourism industry contributed 3% to Singapore’s GDP, and generated US$ 9.4 Billion in tourism receipts. This clearly shows the important role tourism industry plays in Singapore’s economy. To ensure that tourism remains a key economic pillar, a bold target, Tourism 2015, was unveiled in the year
2005. The major objectives of the initiative are to triple tourism receipts to US$ 30 Billion, doubling visitor arrivals to 17 Million, and creating an additional 100,000 jobs in the services sector by 2015, according to “Opportunities in Singapore Tourism Industry (2007-2009)”.

Singapore is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia-Pacific region. Tourism industry in Singapore is growing very rapidly for the past several years. Tourism industry is strengthening by the infrastructure developments, various events and the countries strategic location in the heart of region.

This report provides an insight into Singapore’s tourism industry and studies its past, present and future scenario. It offers a detailed study on the forces driving the industry and discusses the key factors which are making Singapore a potential tourism destination. It provides strategic insight into the market to analyze the opportunities critical for the success of clients in Singapore tourism industry.

With focus on different parameters, including inbound tourism, outbound tourism, expenditure by inbound tourists, medical tourism, and hotel industry, the report gives a thorough analysis on the tourism industry of Singapore.

“Opportunities in Singapore Tourism Industry (2007-2009)” also provides an overview on the global, Asia-pacific and ASEAN tourism industry, helping the clients to evaluate and analyze the present and future position of Singapore’s tourism industry with respect to world and other regions.

The report provides industry forecast on various segments of tourism industry based on feasible tourism industry environment in Singapore. These include:

- Tourists arrivals
- Tourism receipts
- Outbound tourism
- Outbound tourism expenditure
- Medical tourism industry
- MICE industry

The report provides an insight on key players in the tourism industry of Singapore, including Singapore Airlines Ltd., Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, PT Garuda Indonesia, Qantas Airways Limited, Thai Airways International PCL, Shangri-la Hotel, Chan Brothers Travel Pte Ltd, Prime Travel & Tour Pte Ltd and WTS Travel & Tours Pte. Ltd.

Surrounded by mystic mountains, Semarang is an appealing place to unwind the mind and soul through excursions along the clay trails. Semarang has a mesmerizing old world charm towered with Dutch colonial architecture fused with contrasting modern mid-rises. Far away from the hustle and bustle of tourist destinations, Semarang presents itself as a place where you can enjoy the serenity along with the composite mix of Javanese, Chinese, Indian and Arabian cultures. The simplicity of Semarang is bound to strike an invisible chord with the traveler who has the passion to discover the natural ambience of life as it is.

Semarang is the capital city of Central Java in Indonesia and is located on Java’s northern coast. A trip to the Candi Hill gives a breathtaking view of the mystic plateau’s port, the scenic lowlands and the green paddy fields. One of the major attractions in the city is the beautiful Sam Po Kong temple built in honor of the Chinese commander, Cheng Ho of the Ming Dynasty who visited Semarang in the early 15th century. The Dieng Plateau situated north of the small town named Wonosobo has many beautiful ancient Hindu temples which are worth a day’s tour. Alternatively, within two hours distance, you can go to Borobudur temple in Muntilan and then to Prambanan temple in Klaten. Apart from the monument Tugu Muda, Semarang has quite a few museums showcasing Javanese culture. There a several amusement parks in the city which makes your trip all the more happening.

The best part in Semarang is its amazing landscape which owes a lot to its coastal area in the northern part with Tanjung Mas as its international harbor. The southern part has hills which stretch from Candi to Bukit Sari with the picturesque Mount Ungaran at the background. The hills of Bukit Sari are endowed with a dreamy appeal which looks charismatic during dusk and it’s just the perfect place to be with your loved one. For nature lovers, make sure not to miss the scenic drive to Salatiga and the adjacent cities like Solo and Yogyakarta. Semarang is also popular for its street food which comes unbelievably cheap and you can actually pamper yourself with the authentic Semarang cuisine and other local delicacies. Semarang also boasts of a picturesque golf club, Semarang Golf Club, where you can indulge yourself all day long.

Putting up is quite easy as there are several mid-range and luxurious hotels in Semarang which offer a combination of friendly and professional service. Nearly all the hotels are in set in admirable locations and offer an easy access and getaway to the Ahmad Yani International Airport. Taxis and rental cars are the preferable ways to explore the areas in and around Semarang.

Travel and tourism has gained a never-before momentum over the last decade. And India, except for some areas to be heeded, has been keeping pace to the money-making and development drive. Initiatives taken up by India through various measures including public-private partnership are much visible now. 2007 witnessed over five million tourists to India and the trend continues in 2008 with 12% growth in foreign traffic and 29% growth in forex earning in the first four months of the year. Setting up of a tourism office in Beijing gave forth a new avenue as far as tour to India is concerned. But, India still has miles to wade through in terms of offering better tourism products and world-class infrastructure. ‘Incredible India’ campaign has been a major success of the past few years. But it doesn’t cause us to be poised enough for our neighbor china boasts of 50 millions foreign visitors and we have the required potential.

The campaign has been triumphant in capturing high-end tourists spending more time in India. And even though countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore have larger number of tourists arrivals, the foreign exchange earned per foreign tourist of India is much higher – which is $1,920 compare to Indonesia ($905), Singapore ($835) and Malaysia ($520). This is because India is able to provide quality products, better service and improved infrastructure. Ambika Soni, Minister of Tourism and Culture in a recent interview highlighted many areas that are being taken care of for us to be hopeful of India’s economic growth. The minister said Medical Tourism has got a boost and over one lakh fifty thousand patients arrived in India in 2004 from across the globe for medical treatment. E-commerce platform has been put on the portal of Incredible India. This service has got many online companies like yatra.com, makemytrip.com, etc. together thus enabling the customers to avail competitive price.

In an effort to put India on the global tourism map, we have witnessed BBC and CNN to have produced number of TV commercials for ‘Incredible India’ campaign both in domestic and international markets. This time around, the world MICE market is estimated to be around $280 billion of which Asia’s share is $30 billion. Initiatives are also being taken to develop 127 rural sites into tourist destination to flaunt their local culture, heritage, cuisine and art. This is how things have started to take off.

Herein lies the rub. As of now, efforts being taken are more of branding exercises than working for the ground realities. Unless India makes it to offer quality tourism products and world-class infrastructure, branding exercise alone can’t turn up returns. In a country like India, tourism is largely a regional phenomenon, while some areas are flourishing with activities; some are unexplored yet even as they have potential. Tourists still gather at the conventional sites of some prominent cities of India like Delhi, Agra, Mumbai, etc. Given the range of diversity; and heritage pool, we could have adopted measures to disburse foreign tourists to each corner of the country.

Our land is already a tourists-savvy one. All we need is a strategy involving public and private participation. There is acute shortage of hotels and manpower to deal with escalating number of tourists. Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in many cities is still inadequate. France has little to flaunt in terms of cuisine, geography and culture; and a country six times smaller than India, can attract 20 times number of tourist that India did.

India is insecure. The cases of tourist murder are being reported every month, the tragic murder of scarlet recently has added to the woes of foreigners. Foreigners are fleeced everywhere. Many hotspots in India are connected unacceptably. It is high time for India to embark on a mission to develop the unexplored sites across India, connect them properly; increase the number of hotels; provide infrastructure; offer security to foreigners and finally to wake up Indians to work jointly to make our country the best travel getaway of the world. Mere branding efforts wouldn’t work.