SINGAPORE: After being prevented from travelling to Singapore for two years due to pandemic-forced border closures, Malaysian Chin Yi Yun decided to celebrate her recent freedom to travel with a big bang: By attending the Formula One (F1) Grand Prix here later this month. “The tight and winding Singapore
SINGAPORE: After being prevented from travelling to Singapore for two years due to pandemic-forced border closures, Malaysian Chin Yi Yun decided to celebrate her recent freedom to travel with a big bang: By attending the Formula One Grand Prix here later this month.
“We are all big fans of F1, so it's very special that we will be able to experience this race together for the first time,” said Ms Chin. Ms Chin is among thousands of fans who have bought tickets to the racing extravaganza since they went on sale on Apr 13. “Majority of the ticket categories are already sold out, or very close to selling out. We expect a sell-out event come race day on Oct 2,” the Singapore GPHe also said that due to the overwhelming demand, all hospitality packages have also been taken up. “We have seen particularly strong interest from companies in the financial, automotive, IT, construction, MICE , and oil and gas industries this year,” the spokesperson added.
Experts say a successful hosting of the event will show that Singapore is capable of instituting the necessary measures to safeguard the health and safety of participants, attendees and personnel during major events. With F1 fans, here and overseas, showing their enthusiasm for the race by snapping up tickets - priced from S$298 onwards - businesses and restaurants around the F1 track are hoping for their cash registers to ring non-stop during the racing week. However, they also face operational challenges in dealing with the uptick in demand.
Mr Buschi, who will be attending all three days of the race with either friends or clients, remarked that he missed the social aspect of such an event “with a great atmosphere around the city”. Mr Paviter Singh, 40, who has bought the walkabout ticket for the Sep 30 race predicted that it would be “a high energy race from the start”. He has attended the F1 event almost every year since 2011.
Mr Paviter Singh, 40, has attended the F1 event almost every year since 2011. He has bought the walkabout ticket for the Sep 30 race. Communications manager Wong Kai Yi - future brother-in-law of Ms Chin the Malaysian - fondly recalled attending the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. “And sometimes I do travel out the country to attend other races as well,” said Mr Gulshan, who bought his Padang Combination tickets - which gives him access to Zone 4 for the first night, and all zones on Oct 1 and 2 - as far back as in May for S$798.Sales manager Gulshan Shah, 28, has attended every single race here since the inaugural GP in 2008 when he was 14 years old.
“But Max and Red Bull are a force to be reckoned with. And Ferrari’s pit and tyre strategy hasn’t been the best this year.”Hotels around the race venue told TODAY that they are seeing strong demand for rooms during the race week, with most expecting 100 per cent occupancy and some already fully booked.
He said that the hotel's six function rooms have also been fully booked by corporate clients and guests, along with the hotel’s accompanying food and beverage packages. Over at Conrad Centennial Singapore, general manager Mike Williamson said that demand for room reservations during the race weekend has been strong since June, with levels returning to that of pre-pandemic times and the pricing of rooms “based on occupancy and demand”.
Operating times and services have also been adjusted to better cater to guests' needs, with in-room dining available 24 hours from Sep 26 till Oct 3 and extended hours of the service of drinks at some sections within the hotel. The two hotels expect revenue for the race weekend to be"far ahead" of previous years, he said, adding: “COVID-19 seems to have created a pent-up demand, especially for events and experiences that were not possible during the pandemic.
Agreeing, Mr Nasen Thiagarajan, president of the Singapore Nightlife Business Association, cited manpower shortage as a key challenge during the F1 period for nightlife and F&B operators. “I have constantly been getting calls all week for further reservations but I am unable to accept any more,” he said.
“I can see overseas clients are coming back for business trips and leisure. So I guess, it's a good sign and expect more coming in,” said Mr Yusup Baliah, who drives for Straits Limousine. “Singapore has been preparing ourselves to be a safe and gracious host to various international events. F1 marks the first major international event in this endeavour that Singapore is ready to welcome the world of sports, and specifically F1 racing, to the nation,” she added.
Some analysts however cautioned that a few things could potentially put a damper on the event, such as instances of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks among the F1 teams and drivers, and possibly even the entertainers flying in. On its website, Singapore GP says that"all patrons attending the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2022 must be fully vaccinated".
Mr Walton noted that earlier this year - when Singapore announced in late January that it would host the 2022 Grand Prix - there were questions about whether the event would be at full capacity; whether safe distancing would still be practised; and whether tourists would be able, and willing, to fly in.
While Singapore has staged major sporting events this year without incident, they were not huge ones. “It goes towards positioning Singapore as a destination for a full experience, rather than just a stop-over location and is expected to contribute significantly to the four to six million international visitors that Singapore expects this year.”
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