Revitalising Singapore's Nightlife Offerings to Boost Tourism and Local Spending in the Sector
Ministry of Trade and IndustrySpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Yip Hon Weng’s inquiry into strategies for revitalising Singapore’s nightlife and measures to assist businesses with manpower constraints and rising costs. Minister of State Alvin Tan replied that the Singapore Tourism Board showcases local businesses and leverages major events like the Grand Prix Season Singapore to create promotions and special experiences. He explained that the Government supports the sector through transformation and workforce initiatives involving Enterprise Singapore and Workforce Singapore, in collaboration with the Singapore Nightlife Business Association. Minister of State Alvin Tan also addressed how shifting consumer behaviours, such as health consciousness and work-from-home trends, have impacted the industry's recovery. Further updates on tourism performance and strategies to inject vibrancy will be shared during the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Committee of Supply.
Transcript
5 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether the Ministry has any strategies to revitalise Singapore's nightlife offerings and businesses as part of the overall tourism product; and (b) how will these strategies also encourage local spendings in this sector.
The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Alvin Tan) (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry): Sir, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) profiles local bars, bartenders, homegrown distilleries and breweries to showcase Singapore’s diverse and innovative beverage scene. STB also collaborates with nightlife businesses to leverage STB-supported events, such as iLight Singapore, Light to Night Festival, Grand Prix Season Singapore and others to create promotions or special experiences to attract both local consumers and visitors.
Mr Speaker: Mr Yip.
Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The nightlife industry is heavily dependent on service staff. But rising wages and difficulties in hiring locals have increased the business costs. So, what measures are in place to help these businesses address manpower constraints, such as perhaps a flexible work schemes, training grants or adjustments to foreign manpower policies.
Mr Alvin Tan: Sir, I thank Mr Yip for his supplementary questions. We have been working very closely with the Singapore Nightlife Business Association (SNBA) during COVID and during the period of recovery. So, for example, during COVID, we worked closely on providing support including financial support, grants and wage support as well. In the immediate post-COVID, there was a bump in nightlife businesses as restrictions were lifted and now, there are the challenges that Mr Yip had raised. And in fact, last night, I was speaking to the SNBA and we were discussing some of these challenges. They have raised what the Member had raised with regard to costs, wages, but as well as consumer behaviour trends that have been changed over the course of the COVID pandemic. That is not just confined to Singapore, but also in countries, such as the United States and Japan, where people are working from home more, they are a little bit more health conscious and they go online more for different entertainment options. So, these are some trends with regard to nightlife and also with regard to cost issues.
At the same time, the Government is supporting on a few different fronts. The first is on making sure that the nightlife scene is vibrant. Second is on transformation. And third, is on workers. STB and Enterprise Singapore, for example, work on continually having new products and services to liven up and make our nightlife scene more vibrant. For the transformation of the sector, Enterprise Singapore works closely with SNBA and other players. And for workers, they have been working together with Workforce Singapore.
Sir, I will discuss and share more about our tourism performance in the Ministry of Trade and Industry's Committee of Supply and how we continue to inject vibrancy into our tourism sector and our nightlife. But I wanted to assure the Member that we have indeed been working very closely with SNBA, through meetings. And we will be organising more later this month to factor in their feedback as well as their suggestions.