Since the announcement of Singapore hosting a grand prix this September was made last May, hoteliers have been fast to set sky-high prices for the hotel room rates during the grand prix weekend. The on-going debate on whether the extorbitant prices may have driven away some potential visitors and customers has sparked talks of possible price reduction with the hotels still not fully booked despite the race just 2 months away.

For the 11 trackside hotels, which will be levied 30% tax for their room revenue during the 5 days of the grand prix weekend, only 1 hotel - Conrad Centennial Singapore - has been fully booked. For the none-trackside hotels, which will be levied 20% for the grand prix week room revenues, there are still plenty of rooms left with some only half-full. 

Many have taken steps to ensure that more vistors and customers will be attracted to book a hotel room for the grand prix weekend, with some lowering the minimum number of nights customers will have to stay. Others have taken the measure to lower the room rates from the range of $550-$1500 to $350-$1000 and throwing in attractive perks along with the room packages.

Results from other F1 hosting cities have shown that it is still too early to be worrying about the slow takeup rate, since the bookings usually pick up speed when the visitors' confirm their trips just about 30 days before arrival. However, the 2006 International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings' poor revenues despite a good forecast would be a strong lesson to the Singapore tourism industry. Hence, it is always better for us to be prepared for the worst case scenario and take measures to limit the possibility of over-estimating demands with unrealistic forecasts and pricings. 

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.

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