Singapore expects tourism, casinos as growth engine

Wear red if you want to win Singapore's Marina Bay Sands casino. But play white sports to boost your luck at the rival resort World Sentosa.

Feng Shui expert Danny Chung says the city's first two casino resorts opened last year has seen a surge in demand for his technology.

"Until I get customers who sometimes ask for help riding horses or buying lottery tickets," said Cheng, a 50-year-old Singaporean trained in Hong Kong. "Now everyone wants advice on casinos

Singapore's two giant casino resorts cost more than $10 billion to build, and are at the center of a decade-long effort to diversify Singapore's economy to reduce services and manufacturing, such as tourism and finance. Casinos have created more than 20,000 jobs, helped attract record visitors, and last year boosted economic growth at 14.7 percent, the second-highest rate in the world after Qatar.

Singapore is also benefiting from Asia's strong economic growth, led by China. Almost all of last year's tourist growth came from regional neighbors, and for the first time, Chinese demand for Singapore's exports likely surpassed that of the United States in 2010.

To attract Chinese tourists, the resorts incorporated feng shui and other Chinese beliefs into their designs and operations. Since 8 is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture, Resort World opened its casino at 8:28 a.m. On February 14 and Marina Bay Sands opened at 3:18 p.m. On March 27.

DBS economist Irvin Seah said Singapore's strong economic ties with the region, especially China, have placed it in an advantageous position to ride the current wave of growth in Asia.

Gross domestic product rose 12.5 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, compared with 10.5 percent in the third quarter, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Monday. The economy grew 6.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted annual basis in the fourth quarter after contracting 18.9 percent in the third quarter, the ministry said.

Singapore has lost much of its low-wage manufacturing industry to regional emerging economies such as China and Vietnam in recent decades, and has focused on exporting more value-added products such as semiconductors and medicines. Manufacturing rose 28 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, while services fell 8.8 percent and construction fell 1.2 percent, the ministry said.

This year, resorts should contribute about 1.7% points of GDP growth that Singapore's DBS bank expects to slow down, but still maintain healthy 7% growth. The government predicts economic growth between 4% and 6% in 2011.

Services will overtake manufacturing to become a major contributor to growth, and games will overtake pharmaceuticals to become the fastest growing segment, Seah said.

Singapore, with a population of 5 million and the size of New York City, saw an average of about 1 million visitors a month, up 20% from the same period in 2009.

The resorts also plan to expand this year. Marina Bay Sands, owned by Las Vegas Sands, will open the world's first Art Science Museum in February, while Resort World in Genting Bld will open the Marine Experience Museum by mid-year, with two additional hotels and a Marine Life Park.

Retailers at resorts and Singapore's famed Orchard Road shopping mall also benefited from the tourism boom, prompting visitors' spending to jump 47 percent year-on-year to S$13.7 billion in the third quarter.

Other winners include feng shui masters such as Cheng, who have been advising companies such as Pizza Hut, Renault, and Robinson's department stores for 22 years on the right kind of flags, finer points that attract energy.

Gamblers now pay S$500 ($380) for a "achievement of wealth" session - advice on how to beat a casino where Cheng analyzes customers' birth dates and times to hand out tips on lucky clothes and the direction they should face at the card table.

But some Singaporeans have doubts about accepting casinos.

Lee Kuan Yew, who was prime minister from 1959 to 1990, rejected casinos for fear of damaging morality. Lee's son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said the resort will help make Singapore a global city. 경마

To prevent impulsive gambling by locals, the government charges all citizens and permanent residents 100 Singapore dollars for 24-hour visits and 2000 Singapore dollars for one year. More than 100 million Singapore dollars were raised for participation last year, suggesting that many Singaporeans still tried their luck.

Local media reported that lenders were increasingly bullying debtors, and police began cracking down on illegal loans targeting desperate gamblers last year.