TOURIST CARRYING CAPACITY OF SINGAPORE

Abstract

Singapore is a small state with limited resources. Yet, the limited resources that Singapore has do not only cater to the needs of the local population but also to those of the foreign visitors. In 1989, Singapore received 4,829,950 visitor arrivals and this figure is expected to increase each year. With an increasing visitor population, what then will the implication be on our limited resources? Can the social fabric of the future society withstand the much stronger influence of a larger visitor ratio? All these ultimately point to the need of an investigation into the tourist carrying capacity of Singapore. The tourist carrying capacity of Singapore can be simplistically defined as the optimum number of tourists that Singapore can comfortably absorb without any deterioration to her physical, social and economic environment. There are however many facets to the concept of tourist carrying capacity; each of which has its own threshold values. In attempting to investigate the tourist carrying capacity, this study adopts the following approach. Firstly, the usage of the various resources under the framework of land, labour and superstructure by tourism development is examined. Secondly, the criteria affecting the individual carrying capacity relevant to the discussion of Singapore are also closely examined. Attempts are also made to compute the threshold limits of the various carrying capacity concepts where possible. Since land is a scarce resource in Singapore, the capacity of land to absorb tourism will govern the extent to which tourism development can expand. This study therefore proposes the usage of physical carrying capacity as the main determinant to the ultimate number of tourists that Singapore can ultimate absorb. This study is however an exploratory study and thus the estimate proposed in this study is not meant to be definitive. It is only meant to provide a useful figure by which planning can be tailored too.