Today saw the highly successful completion of the first ever night race on the Formula One circuit, the Singapore Grand Prix. This was definitely a historic and momentous event that will be remembered by all, but there are actually deeper underlying implications of this event.
I believe that the event being held in Singapore marks the beginning of an era where Singapore has redefined itself as a global tourism hub. With the emergence of Dubai and Macau as new "super-powers" in the tourism industry, Singapore has also now seemingly communicated its masterplan to become their South-East Asian counterpart. The successful and highly exciting F1 night race event, which coupled with the upcoming casinos and integrated resort, looks set to propel Singapore as a choice tourist destination for the affluent globetrotters due to its central location within Asia. This has been helped by the accessibility to transport links, multi-racial and multi-lingual nature of our country.
What remains to be seen though is how our country develops to accomodate the negative externalities that will come with being such a prestigious tourist hub. Can Singapore also then communicate to the skeptics within our own population that there are substantial positive externalities that might be reaped?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
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5 comments:
LoL! Wow, hehehe, you managed to use the F1 for your COM blog =D cool!
But yeh i agree, and i thought it was a big step for singapore to hold F1 here.
You heard of all the accidents that took place though? Apparently Singapore's the worst track ever. So I wonder how that'll effect the contracted "5 years". Hopefully the crashes wont be seen as "Singapores roads fault", otherwise it might take on the contrary effect on the tourism attraction that's expected
BTW, sigh, didnt get to see u at the tracks :(
haha! oh well... apparently singapore's circuit is a little bit more challenging than the usual. it has 23 turns instead of the usual 16. i guess it's the racers should be motivated to excel, adapt and complete any circuit given.
oh well, maybe the next time :D
i think that the reason why there are so many things happening in singapore is due to the governments competitive spirit. i feel that singapore is constantly trying to outdo other countries by beating them at their best. like the london eye vs the singapore flyer. monaco f1 gp vs Singapore f1 Gp. all these are clear example why the country is so colourful.
true, after all Singapore has no other resources but our people and the big brains. wait till the new Casino/IR Hub to be ready, i bet it'll be as great (if not better) than Vegas and/or Macau.
Hi! I like that you saw the f1 event as a form of our country trying to communicate a message to the rest of the world!
I used to take tourism as an elective, and we looked into this f1 thing quite a bit. It was really strategic that it was to be held at Marina, where it would showcase Singapore's glories like the esplanade and the flyer! and also since Singapore's attractions aren't comparable to the natural sights of our neighbours, we're focusing on events, if we host them, people will come and spend all those mighty tourist dollars! :)
sure the f1 means singapore can very well host a large-scale high profile global event!
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