Hotel operators gear up for F1, with many almost at full capacity for the race

WHILE hotel operators are gearing up to welcome the influx of international visitors eager to catch the first Singapore Grand Prix event in 3 years, tourism players located outside the Marina Bay area are bracing themselves for a fall in activity, as regular holidaymakers are expected to delay their travel plans until after the Sep 30-Oct 2 race weekend.

Some popular hotels located near the Marina Bay street circuit are already close to full capacity for those 3 days, operators told The Business Times (BT), with daily rates going for many times their usual levels.

Checks by BT showed that as of Monday night (Sep 19), Marina Bay Sands no longer has any available rooms over the entire race weekend. Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay’s website shows rooms still available for booking from S$2,159 per night, while the Mandarin Oriental has rooms that start from S$1,950 a night.

Christopher Kang, director of commercial strategy at the Mandarin Oriental along Raffles Avenue, said that occupancy at the hotel is “almost full” between Sep 30 and Oct 2. “On average, we see a high percentage of bookings by international travellers, with nearly 90 per cent (of the rooms being) booked during the race weekend.”

Similarly, both The Fullerton Hotel and The Fullerton Bay Hotel have seen a “strong pace of bookings” for the entire F1 period, said Gino Tan, country manager for The Fullerton Hotels and Resorts. Occupancy rates at both hotels are already at “peak levels”, even though the race is still more than a week away

Even hotels located outside and on the fringe of the track have reported improved business during this F1 season, said Margaret Heng, executive director of the Singapore Hotel Association. “It was encouraging to note that many events are being held in conjunction with the race, which contributed to greater demand for hotel rooms and catering services by our members.”

Among the major events being held in Singapore next week are the Forbes Conference on Sep 26 and Sep 27, and the Milken Institute Asia Summit from Sep 28-30. The Jewellery and Gem World Singapore convention will take place from Sep 27-30.

With the extremely healthy demand for rooms so far, hotel operators said that revenue for this year’s F1 could even surpass pre-pandemic levels. The annual race – hailed as the F1’s “crown jewel” – was not staged in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19.

Marcus Hanna, managing director at Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford, said demand at the latter is over 30 per cent higher than in 2019, with revenue already “far ahead” of previous years.

“We’ve definitely seen a much stronger take-up than originally anticipated. Covid-19 seems to have created a pent-up demand especially for events and experiences that were not possible during the pandemic,” he said.

Melvin Lim, the general manager of ParkRoyal Collection Marina Bay, said it is still too early to estimate how much the hotel will rake in. He believes that business will “not only be comparable to pre-Covid years, it will be even better because of the great anticipation and demand the race has created”.

While hotels are expected to rake in the dough, other businesses in the vicinity of the action at Marina Bay are hoping to benefit from the spillover demand from the race.

Ong Kian Ann, the director of business development at Gardens by the Bay, said it is expecting more group visits from corporates during the F1 period. “We are heartened by the return of major events like F1, which will certainly help in further restoring Singapore as a prime tourist destination,” he said.

Michelle Lee, a salesperson at Moley Apparels in the Marina Square shopping mall, said her boss has started preparing for larger crowds, with plans to station more employees at the store throughout the F1 weekend.

With the precinct parties making a return this year at 4 locations including Orchard Road, the Orchard Road Business Association told BT that it is hopeful more patrons will visit Singapore’s most famous shopping street.

“Ahead of F1, we have been working closely with our stakeholders to ensure that the return of the Grand Prix is another positive step forward for the recovery of businesses, especially for those who were hit hard during the pandemic.”

But not all tourism players are expecting to see a F1-related boost. In fact, some are expecting to see a drop in footfall and spending as they expect the escalating hotel room rates over the F1 weekend to deter regular tourists who make up the bulk of their usual clientele.

“The F1 will attract a different profile of visitors to Singapore. These are usually those who are F1 fans or ‘piston-heads’ – corporate bigwigs and concert-goers. They may not be attracted to (tourist) attractions,” said Kevin Cheong, executive director of Sentosa 4D Adventureland.

While the precinct parties – one of which will be held at Sentosa for the first time – may help to draw tourists to the resort island, more can be done to incorporate visitor attractions as party venues to help businesses benefit from the spillover demand, as well as “project a different image and use of visitor attractions”, he said.