SINGAPORE AS A REGIONAL CONVENTION CENTER

Abstract

Conventions are evolving into an important sub-industry within the general tourism industry. This is in part due to the tremendous pace at which new ideas and information are generated. In our modem day society, this translates into an insatiable search for knowledge and hence creates the need to gather in common interest groups to facilitate the exchange of information. This need to stay updated is especially essential in information intensive disciplines such as academia, science, business and finance. A convention provides the tool whereby many people can partake the manna of this information driven era simultaneously. As a result, there is tremendous scope and growth potential for this tourism sub-industry. This justifies the effort invested into the study of the conventions industry in Singapore. This paper discusses the economics behind Singapore's conventions industry and the effects of its role on domestic and regional economies. It consists of two parts. Part 1, comprising Chapters 1 and 2, discusses the viability of analyzing the conventions industry in Singapore using the life cycle concept which is a traditional tool in tourism studies, especially in tourist destination analysis. Chapter 3 links parts 1 and 2 by providing an overview on the conventions industry in Singapore. Part 2, comprising Chapters 4, 5 and 6 covers three general themes. Firstly, it seeks to recognize the comparative advantage of Singapore's convention center facilities. Secondly, it discusses the economic issues pertaining to the participants in the conventions industry. Finally, it sets the role for the government to capitalize on this advantage, for the benefit of not only Singapore, but other counties in the region. The life cycle concept is intuitively appealing as it is essentially a birth-death model, a replication of the life of living things. It was in Marketing that this concept took root and is widely used in product analysis. It has since been used extensively in tourism studies for the analysis of tourist destination areas and more recently, in the analysis of tourist types. Chapter 1 provides some literature review of the concepts underlying the life cycle model, and provides commonly held notions of the life cycle concept when applied to tourism studies in general. In the specific application of the life cycle concept to the conventions industry Singapore, with insights drawn from Dr. Peter Hardstone from the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, some surprising results were arrived at. Chapter 2 traces the uniqueness of the Singapore conventions industry. It explains the rationale for the failure of the life cycle concept when applied to the conventions indust1y in Singapore. It is argued that the underlying philosophy of time variation in the life cycle concept offers better analytical value than the traditional revenue against time conceptualization. In light of this, a new model, using more appropriate variables, is proposed for future analysis of the conventions industry. Part 2 begins by invoking the comparative advantage theorem, claiming that Singapore's comparative advantage is key to her ability to attract conventions business. Commonly held academic notions of what a city require in order to be a good convention center are then discussed. Further exposition is made as to whether Singapore has that little extra to transform her into the world's best provider of convention center facilities. Before the government can develop policies to enhance the conventions industry in Singapore, there must be an understanding of related economic issues. Chapter 5 discusses the microeconomic characteristics of the conventioneer. In addition, the 'multi product' nature of the tourism industry in general necessitates the inevitable discussion of the Multiplier effects on the Singapore economy. The domestic and regional socio-economic effects of encouraging conventions into Singapore are also elaborated. The government enjoys a position of information advantage. Hence, its role in the fulfilment of the convention industry' s potential cannot be understated. The government and the private enterprises involved in this industry can collaborate to promote Singapore as the ideal convention center for the region and possibly the world. The positive socio-economic externalities generated are reasons for a stronger emphasis in this industry. Possible policies are presented in the final chapter.