Time for Singapore to consider changes to grow its tourism receipts

ASIA is on the cusp of a theme park boom. Shanghai Disneyland opened in June, Wanda City opened in May and 14 more Wanda theme parks are set to open by 2020. And by 2018, Universal Beijing, 21st Century Fox World Malaysia, Six Flags, multiple new Legolands, and many other smaller theme parks will be popping up across Asia.

With all these new theme park developments, what will happen to theme parks that have been around for some time, such as Universal Studios Singapore?

And how will all these theme park developments, in addition to a weak global economy and reduced visa restrictions on Chinese, impact overall tourism to Singapore?

Singapore's visitor numbers rose 0.9 per cent in 2015 with mainland Chinese generating the second largest number of visitors, behind neighbouring Indonesia. Chinese visitors grew 22 per cent year-over-year and accounted for the largest overall spend, at S$2.54 billion. Universal Studios also saw its visitor numbers rise, jumping 400,000 from 2014 to 2015. However, tourist receipts declined for the first time in almost seven years and questions remain about what 2016 m…