Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) when did the Government start supporting marquee performance or sports events through grants; (b) for events taking place in 2024, what are the total grants agreed upon and how many tourists are these events expected to attract; and (c) what are the estimated benefits to the Singapore economy from all these events.
Mr Alvin Tan: Sir, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has been supporting leisure events through grants since 1998, to complement other marketing initiatives including campaigns and partnerships. For leisure events that STB has supported, international visitors make up 25% to 30% of the total attendees on average.
Aside from leisure events, STB also supports the development and marketing of new tourism products, rejuvenation of existing tourism offerings, upskilling of our tourism workers and also helping our local tourism companies become more productive and innovative.
STB conducts thorough assessments before providing any grant. These include the qualitative and quantitative benefits of any proposed event, such as its ability to drive foreign visitorship and tourism receipts; incorporate unique and innovative programming; and also to profile Singapore as a vibrant and appealing destination. These events are expected to create value by generating more business for our companies here, adding to Singapore’s vibrancy and also amplifying Singapore’s global brand and international stature.
STB tracks overall international visitor arrivals, tourism receipts and the average length of stay. Members can refer to STB’s press release on 1 February 2024 for our tourism sector’s performance in 2023.
Mr Speaker: Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Sir, having previously spoken about the importance of the economic viability of the Sports Hub and being reasonably convinced that there are indeed spillover effects for such first-mover advantages of STB’s, it is nevertheless the case that sometimes there may be negative effects on foreign relations when there are perceptions by other countries that Singapore is kind of hoarding the pie.
And, of course, “the haters gonna hate, hate, hate”. But I am wondering to the extent that STB will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or other agencies, to manage this potential fallout when it comes to international relations. And I had previously spoken about the possibility of foreign aid agencies building up soft power; I am wondering if there is any other efforts by STB or any of the MTI agencies in pushing forward this aspect?
Mr Alvin Tan: Sir, I thank Assoc Prof James Lim for his questions. The short answer is that we do what is in Singapore’s best interest, as any other jurisdiction’s government would do, in their own jurisdiction’s best interest. But if you think about this, you take a step back, when visitors come outside of the region and they come to Singapore, there is also attendant benefits because then they go and visit other tourist sites around the region.
Singapore is a hub. It is a hub, a hive of activity. Connectivity helps and it also supports and benefits our neighbours around the region. So, we do what is best for Singapore, but we also understand that Singapore is a hub, a connectivity hub, and being a vibrant hub also benefits our region and our neighbours as well.
Ministry of Trade and Industry
5 March 2024
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3516
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 