Singapore 'has big plans for the future'

The Singapore Tourism Board has revealed some of its plans for the future, announcing that it hopes to be welcoming 17 million visitors a year by 2015.

This year has been a highly successful one for the Singapore tourism industry, with highlights including the first Formula One night race, the opening of a new terminal at Changi Airport and the launch of the world's tallest observation wheel, the Singapore Flyer.

Over the coming years, resorts will be opened in the destination offering leisure, retail and hotel facilities, while Singapore's first casinos will also open their doors and a Universal Studios theme park will begin welcoming visitors.

"Other lifestyle attractions visitors can look forward to by the end of 2010 are a new international cruise terminal and Gardens by the Bay across the mouth of the Singapore River," said Divya Panickar, the Singapore Tourism Board's area director for north and west Europe.

"All these investments in the tourism sector will transform Singapore's landscape and help Singapore achieve its ambitious target of attracting 17 million visitors by 2015."

In September this year, Singapore saw a 3.2 per cent year-on-year increase in its number of visitors from the UK.

Oliver Chong, the tourism board's regional director for Europe, said that people who may not have visited Singapore in the past five years are realising that it is now "a much more vibrant destination with a lot more to experience and savour".

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