Floating Hotels May Ride F1 Visitor Wave

Source : The Business Times, August 16, 2007

STB exploring novel accommodation ideas for expected 50,000 foreign guests

SINGAPORE) When 50,000 foreign guests descend upon Singapore to watch the Formula One race in September next year, some could literally find themselves out at sea.

Rooms with a sea view: A 'botel' could be moored off the coast either at Labrador Park (above) or at Changi, says a source

Floating hotels may be commissioned to alleviate the room crunch that is expected during the race.

The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix will be held on Sept 28, 2008, and with a shortage of hotel rooms looming, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is said to be looking at this form of alternative accommodation.

The concept of a floating hotel is not new and has been applied in other parts of the world. In the Netherlands, for example, such a 'botel' can be found in the heart of Amsterdam in the dock area.

But instead of building a deckhouse aboard a flat-top barge and outfitting it with rooms and toilets, along with facilities like restaurants, sewage systems and diesel generators, the board is understood to be eyeing a couple of existing cruise ships from a charter company. Each vessel will then be retrofitted with hotel-like requirements at a cost of about '$2 million per ship', says a source.

'Each ship will have 500 to 1,000 rooms after the renovation work,' he says. 'The cost is high because they will have to be manned by cruise ship crew, not Shatec students. You need properly trained people who can work in a confined space.'

He adds that the plan is for the ships to be moored off Changi or Labrador Park.

Like the F1 race, STB aims to bring together potential investors and cruise operators for the floating hotel project so that the initiative is driven by the private sector. And just like F1, the board will do its part by dealing with any red tape and helping with all the necessary licensing required.

The 50,000 foreign guests expected at next year's GP event are likely to exacerbate the existing shortage of hotel rooms in Singapore.

The supply crunch appears to be dire. According to a recent report by investment bank Merrill Lynch, the 'demand for hotel rooms will increase at an average of 4,050 rooms per year between 2007 and 2015, while the supply of rooms is forecast to increase at 3,300 rooms per year - resulting in a 19 per cent shortfall per year'.

Merrill Lynch also forecasted that, by 2015, the demand for hotel rooms will reach 62,100 rooms per day, whereas supply will only be 59,220 rooms.

So if the floating hotel does become a reality, it will be useful not only for next year's F1 race but also for surging tourist arrivals in general. It can bridge the gap until 2010, when the two integrated resorts (IRs) open with their more than 4,000 rooms between them.

But one industry source dismissed the need for such buoyant accommodation. He says there should not be a problem housing the 50,000 visitors to the debut race.

'Singapore has an estimated 35,000 hotel rooms now and in a year's time, the number will be about 37,000. If there is a shortage of rooms during the race week, the overseas visitors can easily turn to other accommodation like serviced apartments,' he said.

There are an estimated 3,500 such units in Singapore, he added.