Govt Does Offer Hotel Sites Outside City Centre

Source : The Straits Times, Apr 3, 2008

WE REFER to Mr William Jefferson’s letter ‘Build hotels outside city to solve squeeze’ (March 26), in which he suggested that hotels be built outside the central area to cater to the increasing flow of visitors. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) recognise the need to increase the number of hotel rooms and provide a greater variety of hotels to cater to different tourist preferences.

URA and STB have been identifying and releasing land for hotel development in different locations through the Government Land Sales Programme. The sites can be found both within as well as outside the central area. Many were sold over the past three years and development work have begun on most of them. Some recently awarded sites for hotel development outside the Central Area include sites at Sinaran Drive and Fairy Point Hill. More sites outside the Central Area, such as those at Race Course Road, Balestier Road and Bukit Merah, are also available for sale under the Government Land Sales Programme.

These new hotels will add to many existing hotels outside the Central Area, such as the Copthorne Orchid, Grand Mercure Roxy, Changi Village Hotel and Quality Hotel. Some of these hotels could cater to budget travellers while others could cater to business travellers who do not require accommodation within the Central Area.

URA and STB will continue to identify and release more land for hotel development to cater to our growing tourism sector. In identifying sites for hotel development, we have to consider individual sites in the context of their surrounding developments to ensure that hotels are compatible with the planning intention and character of the areas. In general, we will locate new hotel sites around areas that are planned for mixed or commercial uses or those which are near to business and recreation nodes.

Besides releasing new sites for hotel development, URA has also allowed golf clubs to provide hotel rooms within their developments. This provides the opportunity for the development of resort or golf holiday-oriented hotels which would also contribute to the variety of hotel options that Singapore will offer. We thank Mr Jefferson for his feedback.

Lim Eng Hwee
Director (Physical Planning)
Urban Redevelopment Authority

Muhammad Rostam Umar
Director, Communications
Singapore Tourism Board