1. Introduction: Singapore Tourism industry Tourism in Singapore is regarded as a core industry

Despite the sharply negative shocks, Australian tourism continues to deliver its services where we have witnessed an increase in tourism expenditures of 5% from 2010 and recently FLT had enjoyed a remarkable growth to become a

Tourism is perceived as one of the leading industries in the world. “The World Travel and Tourism Council (2001) indicated that tourism creates more than ten percent of the global economic output and 1 in 10 jobs worldwide.”

Several studies have investigated the perception of the local community on the tourism impacts and tourism development. The research by Ramkissoon and Nunkoo (2011) in Port Louis showed that favorable attitude toward the tourism industry was found to support for tourism development, with higher insights of positive tourism impacts, this means that the community shows higher support for the industry. Nejati, Mohamed & Omar (2014) found that locals in Perhentian Island have an ominously greater level of outlook towards the positive economic impacts of tourism than residents in Redang Island after comparing the two islands in Malaysia. Aside from the perceived negative environmental impacts of tourism, locals on both islands

Over the last 60 years, tourism has benefited from continuous growth and diversification, becoming one of the largest as well as the fastest growing world’s economic sectors. Tourism becomes one of the major categories of global trade in services. Nowadays, 7% of global goods and services exports are contributed by international tourism, and for the last four years, it has grown faster than the general global trade.[ Exports from international tourism rise 4% in 2015, (2016, May 6). Retrieved from http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2016-05-03/exports-international-tourism-rise-4-2015]

As mentioned by Rimmington & Morrison (2009), the assistance from different parts of the world presents a new and diverse outlook for future research including theoretical innovations and revelations, cultural and environmental aspects, tourist destination and other ecotourism and recreational aspects of tourism and hospitality industry (Brotherton,

Tourism plays a vital role in economic development in most countries around the world. The industry has not only direct economic impact, but also significant indirect and influential impacts. There is agreement among experts that the travel and tourism sector is the fastest growing of global economy. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism receipts surpass US$ 1 trillion in 2011, growing about 3.8%up from 2010 (WTO, 2012).

History: pilgrimages, the grand tours, post industrial revolution, post war, current; factors facilitating growth eg technology, time, money, freedom of movement, infrastructure, social conditions; possible future developments eg sustainability Travel and tourism sector: travel services; tourism services; conferences and events; visitor attractions; accommodation services; passenger transport; relationships and links, levels of integration; Liepers tourist system, chain of distribution; private, public and voluntary sectors

Another aspect of impact of tourism on a country’s economy is that it facilitates the expansion of the market of goods and services. Foreigners come to a country willing to spend money on different goods and services, thus increasing the amounts of sales. This is a great chance for producers and service providers to receive larger profits. This concerns not only hoteliers, tour operators, and souvenir shops owners. Public transportation, retail stores of different kind, restaurants, and cafes benefit from international tourism. Obviously, if these industries are in demand, businesses will be expanding. On the one hand, it means that more money is paid to the budget. On the other hand, profits generated by the owners are spent inside the country, affecting almost all the fields of the

Tourism is one of the most exciting and progressive industries in the world. Tourism today is a leisure activity of the masses. People travel to international destinations to break the regular monotony of life. They are mainly attracted by either the scenic beauty of its nature or by fascinating leisure, sports and adventure activities offered by the destination. However, every destination has some internal strengths and weaknesses that either enhance its capacity to attract foreign visitors or diminish it. Similarly the external environment can create various opportunities or exposed to threats as well.

Development: In the development stage, the number of tourist increases at an accelerated rate and may quickly equal or exceed the number of permanent local residents (Butler, 1980). This rapid growth is triggered when large tourism groups controlling tourism retail, lodging and

Singapore is an island that lies just off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Its strategic location on major sea lanes has provided the country with an economic importance in Southeast Asia. Singapore is often considered as a base for global enterprises looking to expand into Asia and Asian enterprises looking for global connectivity. Located at the heart of Asia, Singapore is sitting at the centre of business opportunities. Having the four key attributes - Trust, Knowledge, Connected and Life, Singapore is being positioned as an ideal city to Work, Live and Play. Singapore was ranked first in Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey 2009.

The Travel and Tourism industry is still one of the largest single businesses in world commerce and its importance is widely recognized. The tourism industry is now one of the largest sectors earning foreign exchange. In the face of many benefits, many countries have started assigning due weight age to the tourism industry in their national development agenda. Tourism is an industry that operates on a massively broad scale: it embraces activities ranging from the smallest sea-side hotel; to air-lines, multi-national hotel chains and major international tour operators. Originally, non-traditional industries such as tourism emerged as a solution to strike a balance between ecology and industry

As mentioned by Neo Chian, the education sector has excellent growth prospects and can become a key contributor to our economy. In order to be a premier education hub in the region, the government has poured in millions of dollars to provide quality education for the locals as well as attracting foreigners to be educated here. While the development of Singapore into an education hub is seen as a major economic opportunity, Singapore also targets to be a tourism hub by 2015. Other factors contributing to the success to the economy growth includes the export-oriented economic policy framework, combined with state-directed investments in strategic

Tourism planning is also important in allowing when or what infrastructure is needed to be built to fit into the tourism plan which STB may set out to achieve. One of the example is Marina Bay Sands integrated resorts which has become one of Singapore’s most iconic buildings, has had actually gone through extensive planning beforehand. This is to

Singapore government has always been in favour of the tourism sector. In fact, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) launched a $90million BOOST (building on opportunities to strengthen tourism) for the tourism sector). The initiative help pushed the industry through tough times by assisting MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibition) companies to alleviate their business costs (Singapore Tourism Board, 2009).