OPENING ADDRESS BY MR S. ISWARAN MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AT THE 12TH EXCELLENT SERVICE AWARD PRESENTATION CEREMONY FOR THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, ON MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2006 AT 2.40PM, KALLANG THEATRE

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

Introduction

I am delighted to be here today at the 12th Excellent Service Award Presentation Ceremony for the Hospitality Industry. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you and especially acknowledge the individuals who have shown dedication and exemplary service in the hospitality industry.

Overview of Tourism Sector

In January last year, the Government launched Tourism 2015, a 10-year strategic road map to ensure tourism remains a key driver of economic growth for Singapore. Bold targets were set to triple tourism receipts to $30 billion and double visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015. Since then, Singapore’s tourism sector has posted strong growth. In 2005, we welcomed a record 8.9 million visitor arrivals, a 7% gain over 2004. In July this year, visitor arrivals reached an all time high of 913,000 in a single month.Between January to September this year, Singapore also welcomed 7.2 million visitors, an increase of 9% over the same period last year.

Positive Outlook for the Hospitality Sector

The strong tourism performance is driving the growth in the hospitality industry, with total room revenue reaching $1.2 billion in 2005. This is an increase of 16% over 2004. Gross lettings in 2005 also grew by 2.5% over 2004 to 8.5 million room nights. From January to September this year, the average room rate has increased by 21% to $163, while the average occupancy rate for hotels has increased by 1 percentage point to 84% over the same period in 2005.

Such strong performance will stir greater interest among hotel developers to invest in more properties here. This is important as we will need to add to the stock of 37,000 rooms we currently have, in order to accommodate the anticipated increase in visitor arrivals.Already in the pipeline are hotel developments like the St. Regis Hotel, Airport Hotel, and other properties on Sentosa Island such as the Amara Sentosa and Capella Singapore. Together with the hotels within the two Integrated Resorts at Marina Bay and Sentosa, we can expect a supply of approximately 5,000 new hotel rooms over the next four years.

Developing Tourism Software to Enhance Visitors’ Experience

Making sure that there are sufficient hotel rooms is clearly not enough. It is important for the industry to also focus on the “service software”. I am pleased to note that STB’s survey of overseas visitors shows that they are quite satisfied with their experience in Singapore. Based on a 7-point rating scale, overall satisfaction rating went up to 6.3 in 2005 from 6.1 in 2004. Visitors also indicated that they were more likely to re-visit Singapore and to recommend Singapore to others after their visit. This is encouraging. We are making good progress and should maintain the momentum.

The recent IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings demonstrated Singapore’s capabilities to not only stage a mega international event with great efficiency, but also to provide excellent service.Many delegates left with a vivid impression of the warm hospitality they experienced during their stay in Singapore.

The success of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings highlights the importance of our frontline service workers being well-trained, and for both employers and employees to be committed to service excellence. In addition to GEMS, or Go-the-Extra-Mile-for-Service movement, WDA and SPRING are developing a Singapore Customer Satisfaction Index to track and benchmark service standards for various service sectors. A GEMS accreditation scheme will also be established to recognise good service providers who meet prescribed quality service standards. I hope that through these initiatives every service worker will develop the mindset that “Great service begins with me”, and take great pride in their profession.

I believe that the success of the GEMS movement and other service-related initiatives will enhance visitors’ experience, drawing them back to Singapore frequently.

Hospitality Education to Upgrade the Tourism Workforce

Apart from raising service quality, educational institutions are developing a full spectrum of hospitality courses to grow a pool of competent workers and effective leaders. Employees in the tourism industry, from the rank and file to the executives, will have opportunities to upgrade their skills and competencies with programmes offered by the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics, universities and many other private institutions.

Students are finding tourism-related courses more appealing. This year, we have 1,305 students enrolled in 12 tourism-related polytechnic diploma courses. A total of 820 students have also enrolled in 5 tourism-related NITEC certificate courses offered by the Institute of Technical Education. Overall, the total enrolment across tourism-related courses has increased by about 975 to 2,125.

As part of its plan to develop manpower for the tourism sector, STB is offering course medals, book prizes as well as scholarships to various institutions. STB is also working closely with the tourism stakeholders to facilitate study awards given by industry partners for talent development.Such formal training will complement on-the-job training to raise the level of professionalism and enhance the image of jobs in the tourism sector.

Conclusion

This afternoon, we will be recognising 1,900 special individuals who have delivered outstanding service in the hospitality industry. Each and every one of you are worthy role models and your example will inspire many others to emulate your high service standards.On that note, I would like to congratulate all the EXSA recipients for your excellent work, and I urge everyone in the hospitality industry to continue to strive for service excellence.Thank You