Saturday 1 June 2013
Struggling Singapore Flyer "needs overhaul": Experts
It is unlikely that the Flyer will be plucked from Singapore’s skyline, but experts say its business model must be overhauled if it is to survive.
The company behind the 165m observation wheel, Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd, was placed under receivership on Tuesday for failing to meet financial obligations to a bank, its main lender.
Corporate recovery firm Ferrier Hodgson, appointed as receivers, is looking for new investors to manage the attraction. When asked about its future yesterday, Mr Tim Reid, a partner at Ferrier Hodgson, said: “It is a fantastic asset for our country and it will remain in operation.”
Several worried tenants plan to meet Ferrier Hodgson this week to find out if their leases would survive under new management, and if action is being taken to make sure business does not drop over the next few months.
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Struggling Singapore Flyer "needs overhaul": Experts
Singapore Destination Guide
Local UpdateThe Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre completed an 18-month, US$147 million technological upgrade in May, which included the addition of a two-story interactive digital wall. The facility spans about one million square feet.
The 367-room Parkroyal on Pickering opened earlier this year, with an atmosphere that feels like a cross between an exotic Balinese resort and an upscale metropolitan business hotel. The design emphasizes in natural elements such as hanging gardens, reflecting pools and waterfalls, along with cutting-edge technology, from the guest rooms through the more than 7,500 square feet of function space.
The Sofitel So Singapore is expected to open this November with 134 guest rooms and an as-yet-unspecified amount of meeting space. Stay tuned for additional details.
Also in November, the 301-room Westin Singapore Marina Bay will open with approximately 12,500 square feet of meeting space. Plans call for an outdoor pool, a fitness center and a spa.
The 790-room Pan Pacific, just blocks away from the Suntec International Convention Center, reopened last September after completing a US$65 million renovation. The project included upgrades to the guest rooms, restaurants and lobby. Meeting facilities, which total nearly 32,000 square feet of space, include the 22nd-floor Pacific Center, which offers eight high-tech boardrooms with views of the harbor and city.
The W Singapore–Sentosa Cove opened last year on the resort island of Sentosa. The 240-room property features more than 16,100 square feet of meeting space, several food and beverage outlets, a spa, a fitness center and an outdoor pool.
The 86,000-square-foot Max Atria, an addition to the one-million-square-foot Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Center, opened in March with 32 meeting rooms and a variety of new outdoor gathering spaces.
The 229-room Village Hotel at Katong will open in July near Changi International Airport. Plans call for 4,876 square feet of meeting space and complimentary Wi-Fi.
Resorts World Sentosa celebrated its grand opening last December. The massive 121-acre complex cost US$5.7 billion and comprises some 1,500 guest rooms across six hotel properties. On-site attractions include Universal Studios and an aquarium.
The glittering 400-room Fullerton Hotel now offers guests free guided tours of the property’s colorful history. The building, which opened in 1928 as the city’s main post office, cost US$4 million to erect, a record for construction in the city at that time. It became a luxury hotel in 2001 and today includes a variety of meeting spaces, including nine function rooms and a ballroom that can hold up to 480 for a banquet.
Meeting HotelsProperties in Singapore include the 2,561-room Marina Bay Sands; 1,261-room Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore; 1,051-room Mandarin Orchard Singapore; 790-room Pan Pacific Singapore; 769-room Fairmont Singapore; 747-room Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore; 656-room Orchard Hotel Singapore; and 608-room Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.
Find and compare hotels, and send RFPs, at mcvenues.com.
Convention CentersSuntec International Convention and Exhibition Center; exhibit space, approximately 1,076,391 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 31; (65) 6337-2888; suntecsingapore.com
Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Center; exhibit space, 107,639 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 32; (65) 6403-2160; singex.com.sg
TaxesService charge, 10%; goods and services tax, 7%; total tax on hotel rooms, 17%
Airport Transit Changi International Airport, about 10 miles from downtown Singapore and the Marina Bay district. Transfer cost by taxi, about US$25
Group VenuesDiners tend to speak furtively in Jiu Zhuang, right, a hidden gem of a bar in Singapore’s Dempsey Hill area. The speakeasy feel of the place is unintended, according to its owners, but the Old Shanghai décor, dim lighting and swoony Jazz Age music lends itself well to the genre. Seating is tight in the main restaurant, which serves small plates alongside an exclusive drink list, but a private cellar that seats up to 16 people is available. The entire venue, which includes an outdoor patio and seats 67, can be bought out. (65) 6471-1711; jiu-zhuang.com
In the heart of Singapore’s historic Tanjong Pagar district, the Food Playground is working to preserve the city’s food heritage by offering classes in traditional cuisine such as laksa, a curry-based noodle soup, and satay, skewered meat prepared over a grill or barbecue. Instructors come from a pool of local stay-at-home moms and seniors. Classes, tailored for networking, team building or other purposes, can be arranged for up to 24 people. (65) 9833-2970; foodplayground.com.sg
ContactSingapore Tourism Board, (65) 6736-2000; yoursingapore.com
Singapore Destination Guide
Attracting and retaining homegrown talent
An orientation session for staff
WHO Two new hotels, Ramada Singapore and Days Hotel Singapore at Zhongshan Park, managed by Wyndham Hotel Group, have successfully tapped local talent, which makes up 70 per cent of their current staff strength of 219. Both properties offer a total of 800 rooms.
WHAT For new talent entering the workforce, they have a choice to be enrolled in the hotels’ Master of Experience (ME) Leap! Programme. All staff or associates, known as MEs, will be trained and assessed on the fundamentals of front office management and FB operations, progressing to undertake advanced tasks in the roles of their choice. They will also be tasked to role-shadow a member of the senior management team and understudy an area of business management.
Meanwhile, mature and experienced candidates are targeted via a non-discriminatory application and interview process where many personal factors including gender, race and age of the candidates are deliberately left unknown until an official job offer is made.
Once onboard, staff are retained via various talent management initiatives. For instance, non-management associates are enrolled in a gain-sharing scheme where productivity gains from the team will be translated into monetary rewards. A series of competency tests will then qualify associates to move up to a supervisory role and receive a skills-based increment.
Employees are also offered perks such as a five-day work week, flexi-work hours to commence work between 07.30 and 09.30 and end work between 17.00 and 19.00, as well as telecommuting for project-based work, even for employees in operating departments such as rooms and FB.
WHY Candice Lim, director of human resources for Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore at Zhongshan Park, said: “We are definitely committed to hiring locals as they are well acquainted with the local market and have greater adaptability and understanding of the local environment.”
She said university graduates were attracted to the comprehensive training and development road map as they had the unique opportunity to work in two hotels and be cross-trained in different areas across all facets of hotel operations.
As for the non-discriminatory job application process, Lim said: “It allows us to be very objective in our assessment of candidates and to base our selection processes strictly on their credentials.
“By putting forward a clear focus on the type of talent we are looking for, regardless of their age, gender and race, we are able to build a positive environment in recognising exceptional performance.”
Emphasising the importance of investing in HR, Lim said: “Being in the people business, our associates are our most valuable assets.”
TARGET Both hotels are looking to recruit another 100 staff members across all levels and functions for both hotels, including various managerial positions.
Attracting and retaining homegrown talent
Friday 31 May 2013
Las Vegas Sands Corp. to Participate in the Goldman Sachs Lodging, Gaming, Restaurant and Leisure Conference
LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwired – May 31, 2013) – Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) will participate in the Goldman Sachs Lodging, Gaming, Restaurant and Leisure Conference in New York, NY on Monday, June 3, 2013. Mr. Michael A. Leven, president and chief operating officer, and Mr. Robert G. Goldstein, executive vice president and president of global gaming operations, will participate in a discussion which is scheduled to begin at approximately 6:15 a.m. Pacific Time (9:15 a.m. Eastern Time).
A webcast of the discussion may be accessed by visiting the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.lasvegassands.com.
About Las Vegas Sands
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading global developer of destination properties (Integrated Resorts) that feature premium accommodations, world-class gaming and entertainment, convention and exhibition facilities, celebrity chef restaurants, and many other amenities.
The Venetian® and The Palazzo®, Five-Diamond luxury resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, and Sands® Bethlehem in Eastern Pennsylvania are the company’s properties in the United States. Marina Bay Sands® is the company’s iconic Integrated Resort in Singapore’s downtown Marina Bay district.
Through its majority-owned subsidiary Sands China Ltd. (HKSE: 1928), the company owns a portfolio of properties on Macao’s Cotai Strip®, including The Venetian® Macao, Four Seasons Hotel Macao, and Sands Cotai Central. The company also owns the Sands® Macao on the Macao Peninsula.
Las Vegas Sands is committed to global sustainability through its Sands ECO360 program and is an active community partner through its various charitable organizations.
For more information, please visit www.lasvegassands.com.
Investment Community:
Daniel Briggs
(702) 414-1221
Media:
Ron Reese
(702) 414-3607
Las Vegas Sands Corp. to Participate in the Goldman Sachs Lodging, Gaming, Restaurant and Leisure Conference
Singapore launches first Kindness Day SG
SINGAPORE: Singapore now has a Kindness Day to call its own.
The Singapore Kindness Movement launched Kindness Day SG on Friday, and it has chosen the last Friday of the second school term to be Kindness Day SG so that more schools can be involved.
There’s a role that everyone can play in making Singapore a “nation of kindness” – that’s the focus of Singapore’s first Kindness Day SG.
And students took the opportunity to reflect on what they can do.
Alvis Tan, student from North View Primary School, said: “I give up my seat to an old woman because I see her carry a lot of bags, and I’m scared she might fall when the bus moves.”
Maxine Koh, student from North View Primary School, said: “I would like to help my parents more because after a long busy day, I would like to help them by doing simple household chores that I can do, for example, washing the cups, washing the plates.”
To get everyone on board, students were given materials like magnetic boards and cards with reminders to perform small acts of kindness.
Kindness Day SG is a uniquely Singaporean occasion, even though there is already a World Kindness Day which falls on November 13 every year.
Cesar Balota, Associate General Secretary of Singapore Kindness Movement, said: “Most schools are not able to join us actively on that day because they’re either already on break or some are still in exams. So together with the MOE (Ministry of Education), we agreed that today would be a better day for Kindness Day SG.”
Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education, said: “Individual acts of kindness form the building blocks of a more gracious society, of a kinder society. And it’s important that we encourage our students to start young, encourage them to care for their friends and families, to encourage them to care for the school and the broader community. And you see all these simple acts, which each one is capable of, and we must encourage that and encourage an appreciation of the good deeds all around us.”
But the occasion was missing a familiar face.
Singa the Courtesy Lion was nowhere to be seen, now that he has resigned from the Singapore Kindness Movement two weeks ago.
Alvis Tan added: “I felt quite disappointed because Singa is our kindness mascot, which motivates us to be kind and not say hurtful things to other people. Actually, I feel that Singa should not quit as he’s doing a (good) job at motivating people to be kind. Even if Singa leaves, people should be kind because if people are not kind, the whole world will become like the Land of Unkind, very rude, very dull.”
Maxine Koh added: “I find that having a mascot for core values would be good because actually it’s easy to remember and once you think about it, you’ll think about showing kindness to others.”
But mascot or not, the education minister said there are other ways to encourage students to be kind.
Mr Heng said: “For students, I think it is useful for them to have something that they can relate to. But you see that the children today all have been able to do it through a variety of media, whether it’s through songs or through play or through art and craft. So there’re many different ways that we can get them to show appreciation, to get them to acknowledge and perform acts of kindness, to acknowledge people around them.”
The Singapore Kindness Movement said it has accepted Singa’s resignation and now wants to focus on real people instead.
Singapore launches first Kindness Day SG
Singapore Airlines to order $17 billion aircraft from Airbus, Boeing
SINGAPORE/PARIS |
SINGAPORE/PARIS (Reuters) – Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIAL.SI) agreed to spend $17 billion to buy 30 Airbus (EAD.PA) and 30 Boeing Co. (BA.N) aircraft, underscoring the airline’s bet on a pick-up in the struggling premium class market.
The significant orders announced on Thursday make Singapore Airlines (SIA) the long-awaited launch customer for a proposed stretched version of the 787 Dreamliner, boosting Boeing’s plans to offer a 320-seat aircraft designed in large part for crowded intra-Asian routes.
The move comes as SIA attempts a big strategy overhaul, pushing into the budget airlines segment and expanding its regional network.
“They demonstrate our commitment to the Singapore hub and our confidence in the future for premium full-service travel,” SIA Chief Executive Goh Choon Phong said in a statement.
“Today’s aircraft orders are among the biggest in Singapore Airlines’ history, helping to ensure that we retain our industry leading position.”
This month, SIA reported weaker-than-expected full-year results and warned of a deteriorating environment as it struggles to cope with the rapid emergence of Gulf carriers and low cost Asian rivals such as Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd (AIRA.KL) and Indonesia’s Lion Air.
State-backed Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are stitching deals, while Gulf states race to become regional hubs linking Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Boeing has been talking up the possibility of a third model of its newest passenger plane for over a year. But the project took a back seat as Boeing grappled with a three-month grounding of the 787 fleet due to battery problems earlier this year.
Code-named 787-10X, the Dreamliner stretch would offer airlines about 50 more seats than the largest version of 787 now under development but less range, making it suitable for dense routes within Asia or across the Atlantic.
Industry sources say the first provisional sale of the 787-10X, which will be known simply as 787-10 once the Boeing board formally agrees to launch the project, increases the prospect that Boeing will increase production of the 787 beyond a planned level of 10 a month that it aims to reach at end-2013.
Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney hinted at the growing possibility of a further output rise for the 787′s global supply chain last week, telling shareholders that “the next possible rate up decision that we haven’t talked about out loud is 787″.
The order is subject to Boeing deciding to go ahead with the project, SIA said. The planes are for delivery from SIA’s financial year starting from 2016/17. SIA’s financial year ends in March.
The carefully balanced deal also delivers a boost to Boeing’s European rival by boosting its position at SIA Group’s main airline and offering a tentative endorsement of the largest version of Airbus’s new A350 — the 350-seat A350-1000.
After a slow start, the A350-1000 has been picking up orders in recent months, prompting Boeing to go public with plans to sell a revamped version of its successful 777 mini-jumbo.
SIA said it had agreed to order 30 additional A350-900 aircraft on top of 40 already ordered, potentially making it the largest customer for the main model of Europe’s newest passenger jet, which is due to make its maiden flight in coming weeks.
It also took options for 20 more A350-900 aircraft and said these could be converted to the larger A350-1000.
(Editing by David Cowell)
Singapore Airlines to order $17 billion aircraft from Airbus, Boeing
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