outline
TRANSCRIPT
Table of Content
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..2
2. The definition of urban tourism…………………………………………………….2
2.1 Urban tourism………………………………………………………………………………..2
2.2 Malaysia……………………………………………………………………..3
2.3 Singapore……………………………………………………………………….4
2.4 The situation in Malaysia and Singapore………………………………………………….4
3. Comparative methods……………………………………………………….5
3.1 SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………………………………...5
3.2 Lesson-drawing…………………………………………………………………………….6
3.3 How SWOT and Lesson Drawing Applies to Urban Tourism……………………….6
3.4 Rationale for Comparing Malaysia and Singapore.
4. Comparison of urban tourism in Malaysia and Singapore………………6
4. Malaysia SWOT………………………………………………………………………………7
4.2 Singapore SWOT……………………………………………………………………………8
5. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..9
6. Reference…………………………………………………………………………..1
1. Introduction
In this report, the lessons from the class would by drawn to investigate the current trends in
urban tourism across two countries Malaysia and Singapore. Both the countries chosen for
investigation belong to the developing world, where urban tourism has gained strategic
importance for the economic growth of the nations. The purpose of the study is to gain deep
insight into differentiating factors between the two countries, in terms to urban tourism. The
report initially introduces the basic concept of urban tourism and its role in developing the
economy. Secondly, the report would present facts and data, along with the background, of the
two tourist destinations being surveyed. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, the
understanding of various comparative methods is critical. The report would discuss in detail the
comparative methods like benchmarking, lesson-drawing and SWOT. All three comparative tolls
would by them employed to compare the trends in urban tourism in the selected tourism
destinations. The study would conclude with an informative and comprehensive discussion upon
the findings from the three comparative analyses and the final observation.
2. The definition of urban center
Urban tourism is defined as the development of tourist centers and other entertainment areas
within an urban center which has the appropriate infrastructure and technology. The urban
destination offers the tourists as systemized and organizes system for entertainment (Law, 1992).
Usually an urban center or destination is a metropolitan area which inhabits at least 1 million
people. However, an urban center necessarily needs to have some historical and cultural
elements in order to keep the tourists attracted to the city. Even a small city of historical
importance can be turned into a destination of urban tourism by adding some infrastructure and
high-end technology to it.
2.1 Urban Tourism
Tourism is not only restricted to visiting historical palaces, in today’s era, a tourist is looking out
for more. In fact, most people want to take a break from their busy schedules and go on a
vacation to some luxury hotel, where they can relax and enjoy. Such type of tourism preferences
has given rise to a new way of tourism, Urban Tourism. It pertains to the tourism related
activities that take place within the city or an urban center. In fact, in present times, many
countries and states give utmost priority to their development as urban centers, since urban
tourism contributes significantly to the economic welfare of any nation (Hamzah, 2002).
2.2 Urban tourism in Malaysia
Located in the Southeast Asia, Malaysia is known worldwide for its beautiful scenery which is
equally complemented by high-class and luxurious facilities. Malaysia has gradually become the
one-stop destination for all kinds of tourist activities. From sight-seeing to scuba diving, and
from luxury resorts to casinos, a tourist can have all goodies in one plate. Urban tourism in
Malaysia developed in two stages. Initially, after Independence in 1957, development took over
the whole city and the demographic view of Malaysia began changing. The second stage started
after 1990, when the government realized that tourism, specifically urban tourism, holds the
potential to generate significant revenues and expand the economy of the nation (Law, 1992).
2.3 Urban tourism in Singapore
After its political freedom, Singapore’s sole objective has been to transform itself into a modern
city which offers the best of all facilities to its tourists. As a nation, Singapore has become a
model of multi-diversity where people from all races and cultures are given equal opportunities
to relax and enjoy. Singapore, under the influence of globalization, has become a world-class
city which conserves its heritage along with offering leisure and entertainment activities like
resorts and casinos. Singapore is fast becoming people’s most preferred destination for tourist
activities. The tourism board in Singapore is continuously on a look out for finding new and
potential avenues to better the tourist activities offered here (Law, 1992).
2.4. The situation of urban tourism in Malaysia and Singapore
According to the ASEAN Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2012, Singapore leads the
fore front when it comes to the no. of inbound tourists travelling to this beautiful nation.
According to the facts and figures, almost 23.5 million international tourist came to Singapore,
out of which almost 76% tourists quoted it as their favorite destination for urban tourism.
Malaysia ranked second to Singapore, as reported by the The ASEAN Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Report. According to the fact, almost 19.5 million international tourists visited
this world-class destination for entertainment and holidaying. Approximately 88% tourists were
quoted saying that Malaysia is the world’s best destination for urban tourism.
3. Comparative Methods
The comparative approach of analysis is relatively new in the tourism industry. However, with
the growing emergence of tourism as an industry which generates huge revenues for the nation,
comparative methods like SWOT analysis and Lesson Drawing are the best to analyze the
situation of urban tourism in countries like Malaysia and Singapore. The comparative approach
is definitely a more recognizable method for analyzing the tourism industry since more and more
people have beginning to value the results produced by comparative methods (Kozak, 2002).
3.1 SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Analysis or the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats Analysis is one of the
most commonly used tool of comparative studies. This approach is based on identifying the
external and internal factors that are favorable or unfavorable for a specific project or condition.
In this study, we would conduct a SWOT Analysis to get a deep insight into the internal and
external factors that affect urban tourism in Malaysia and Singapore (Baum. 1999).
The internal factors of SWOT Analysis include the strengths and weaknesses of tourism in
Malaysia and Singapore. While analyzing the strengths, attributes like core strength of tourism,
the cash and financial resources and the quality of services and products, are taken into
consideration (Kozak, 2002). While analyzing the weaknesses, attributes like higher costs of
development, lack of management skills, weak systemization and organization, are taken into
consideration.
The external factors of SWOT Analysis include the opportunities and threats faced by the urban
tourism sector in Malaysia and Singapore. While analyzing the opportunities, attributes like
diversification opportunities, competitiveness, market growth, new services and products are
taken into consideration (Nash, 2003). While analyzing the threats, attributes like increase in the
competition, availability of substitutes and low or minimal market growth are taken into
consideration.
However, SWOT analysis is the most commonly followed method of comparative study, it also
comes along with a few pitfalls. The danger of over-generalization is definitely high in the
SWOT analysis since the list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is not logical or
based on evidence. Thus, SWOT Analysis is most suitable for presenting an overall view of the
situation but does not offer a precise solution on conclusion.
3.2 Lesson-drawing
A very effective technique since many decades, lesson-drawing is also suitable for analyzing the
situation of the urban tourism industry in Malaysia and Singapore. Basically, the method of
lesson drawing refers to the learning from the experience of others. However, the process of
lesson drawing does not assure that the lessons learnt would be desired or practical. In order to
make the approach of lesson drawing meaningful, it is critical that the selected cases must have
significant similarities (Nash, 2003).
3.3 How SWOT Analysis and Lesson Drawing Applies to Urban Tourism
SWOT Analysis is would enable the tourism boards in Malaysia and Singapore to identify their
strengths and couple them with opportunities to increase the avenues of urban tourisms. In
addition, a SWOT Analysis of the competing nation would help in identifying its weaknesses
and thus, attract more tourists by offering a better deal. The tourism boards of both Malaysia and
Singapore can learn from the results of lesson drawing about where they are lagging and where
they have great potential to capitalize on the available market (Kozak, 2002).
3.4. Rationale of comparison between Malaysia and Singapore
To make any comparative analysis successful, it is extremely critical that we have a very strong
rationale behind the two chosen cases. In fact, in terms of urban tourism, the existence of robust
rationale becomes even more important (Lennon et al, 2006). Urban tourism is all about the
organized entertainment an urban center (nation/city/state) offers to its tourists. Now, if we
choose two destinations which do not have demographic similarities, it is obvious that the
comparison would be meaningless since it would not be able to present a clear picture. In this
report, we chose Malaysia and Singapore for the comparative analysis of urban tourism, because
both these nations are amongst the most sought to urban tourism destinations in the world. Both
Singapore and Malaysia are old ports and have seen similar development after their
Independence. Secondly, both Singapore and Malaysia bank on urban tourism as their highest
economy generation industry. Thirdly, both Malaysia and Singapore offer almost similar tourist
deals and hence face severe competition from each other.
4. Comparison of urban tourism in Malaysia and Singapore
For comparison between the urban tourism in Malaysia and Singapore, first we will present the
result of the SWOT Analysis and then apply the “Inspiration” technique of lesson-drawing to
present a comprehensive conclusion.
4.1 SWOT analysis of urban tourism in Malaysia
Strengths of Malaysian tourism-:
1. A steady increase in the number of international inbound tourists. This shows that more
and more tourists are getting attracted by the deals and packages offered by the Malaysia
tourism industry (Lennon et al, 2006)..
2. The preservation of heritage sites of great historical significance gives Malaysia an edge
over the other countries like Singapore. For a state to be a world-class center of urban
tourism, it is critical that it offers tourists activities other than hotels and casinos (Kozak,
2002).
3. Malaysia is amongst the most culturally diverse country of Southeast Asia. It is true that
Malaysia is truly Asia, since even after development and advancement, the state has
managed to preserve its culture. This gives Malaysia a distinct appeal to the urban
tourists (Lennon et al, 2006).
Weaknesses of Malaysia Tourism-:
1. The first weakness of Malaysia tourism is that the Government policies are not very
tourist friendly.
2. The airport and public transport facilities in Malaysia are slightly slower as compared to
other countries like Singapore (Hall & Page, 2002).
3. Although globalization has had its effects, Malaysia still lacks behind when it comes to
technology and infrastructure.
Opportunities of urban tourism in Malaysia-:
1. The opportunities of urban tourism in Malaysia includes its capacity to offer low-cost
accommodation and other deals to the tourists (Kozak, 2002).
2. The urban tourism in Malaysia can capitalize on its natural assets like beautiful beaches
to attract more number of tourists (Lennon et al, 2006).
Threats of urban tourism in Malaysia-:
1. Malaysian urban tourism industry faces severe threat from the fact that it is vulnerable to
severe cases of swine and bird flu’s. The lack of proper methods to curb these ailments
has increased apprehensions amongst the tourists (Hall & Page, 2002).
4.2 SWOT Analysis of Singapore Urban Tourism
Strengths of urban tourism in Singapore-:
1. The Government in Singapore understands the significance of its urban tourism industry
and offers strong support to its tourism board by providing grants and making favorable
policies.
2. As a transit point for long flights, Singapore attracts many tourists as a place where they
can refresh and relax in the midway journey (Lennon et al, 2006)..
3. The urban tourism industry in Singapore is continuously witnessing a steady growth in
the number of international tourists. This directly hints at the fact that the economy of the
nation is increasing and so is the tourist infrastructure.
Weaknesses of urban tourism in Singapore-:
1. Singapore is a city-state and hence does not have a geographical advantage over countries
like Malaysia, since it does not offer many natural tourist attractions. This considerably
reduces the number of tourists who are on a look out for natural scenery as well as luxury
2. Singapore also lacks behind when it comes to historical and cultural elements. In a race
for building hotels, malls and resorts, Singapore has considerably lost its historical and
cultural heritage. Thus, it does not have much diversity to attract the tourists (Lennon et
al, 2006).
3. The demolition of Budget Terminal in the Changi Airport would considerably reduce the
incoming tourist traffic.
Opportunities of urban tourism in Singapore-:
1. With the aviation sector being liberalized, Singapore has the huge opportunity to become
a business and leisure sector for a large number of working professionals who are always
on a look out for economical ways of mixing work with pleasure.
2. The latest development of luxury resorts like Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa carries great
potential to attract tourist who earlier went to countries like Malaysia.
3. The youth-centered development in Singapore presents an opportunity to capitalize on
the increasing trends of vacations at urban destinations amongst the youth.
The threats for urban tourism in Singapore-:
1. Singapore’s urban tourism industry is greatly threatened by its vulnerability to
international crisis like swine and bird flu. Many people avoid Singapore only because
they are scared of catching chronic infections.
2. Many other countries, like Malaysia, offer similar urban tourism deals at lower costs.
This can considerably reduce the number of international tourists
4.2 Lesson Drawing – Malaysia and Singapore.
For lesson-drawing approach, the attributes to be considered were the private and public sectors
of both countries, the funds and policies of the government, the leadership and co-operation
amongst the people, the marketing approach and the sight-seeing interactions and infrastructure
(Pearce, 2003).
From the lesson-drawing in Malaysia, it was learnt that-:
1. Malaysia is country which has the natural sight-seeing attractions along with man-made
wonders like The Petronas Twin Towers. This makes it a highly preferred destination for
urban tourism.
2. Apart from natural sight-seeing, Malaysia also offers a great cultural diversity to people
who are on a look out for an overall luxurious experience.
3. However, the Malaysian tourism board needs to work hard on improving the
technological infrastructure to attract the tech-savvy youth of today (Jansen-Verbeke,
1996).
From the lesson-drawing in Singapore, it was learnt that-:
1. Singapore is one of the most advanced city-state in the Southeast Asia, which makes it
the most preferred destination of the youth to conduct their business along with being a
high-end shopping destination (Hall & Page, 2002).
2. Singapore offers the international tourists a luxurious and leisurely vacation, the quality
of services provided is extremely high and the standards met are much above the
expectations of the tourist.
3. The Singapore urban tourism board needs to promote sustainable urban tourism where
the preservation of heritage sites is of utmost importance.
5. Conclusion
Through the comparative study of two urban tourism destinations, Malaysia and Singapore it was
examined that urban tourism is fast becoming the strongest economy generating sector for many
developing countries. For becoming a destination of urban tourism, it is not only important to
have the desired infrastructure, it is also necessary to offer the tourists some heritage and cultural
sight-seeing elements. Thus, sustainable urban tourism is the optimal way to capitalize on the
ever-increasing market of urban tourism.
6. References
Hall, C.M. & Page, S. (2002). “The geography of tourism and recreation: environment,place and
space.” London: Routledge.
Hamzah, A. (2002). “The concept of urban tourism.” Kota Kinabalu City Hall, Kota
Jansen-Verbeke, M. (1996). “Inner-city tourism: resources, tourists and promoters.”Annals of
Tourism Research 13, 79-100.
Law, C.M. (1991). “Tourism as a focus for urban regeneration.”
Shaw, T. (2001). “The role of tourism in the urban and regional economy.” London:
RegionalStudies Association.
Law, C.M. (2002) “Urban tourism: the visitor economy and the growth of large city .” London:
Continuum.
Baum, T. (1999). Themes and issues in comparative destination research: the use of lesson
drawing in comparative tourism research in the North Atlantic. Tourism Management 20 p. 627-
633
Kozak, M. (2002). Destination benchmarking. Annals of Tourism Research 29(2), 497-519
Lennon, J. J & Smith, H, & Cockerell, N & Trew, J. (2006) Benchmarking National Tourism
Organisations and Agencies. Understanding Best Practice. Oxford: Elsevier.
Lynch, R. (2006) Corporate Strategy, Pearson Education UK.
Nash, R (2003) The Use and Application of Rose’s Theory of Lesson Drawing in Peripheral
Areas of Scotland. International Journal of Tourism Research. 5(3): (133-145).
Pearce, D. (1993). Comparative studies in tourism research. In D.G. Pearce and R.W. Butler.
Tourism research, critiques and challenges. London: Routledge p. 20-35
Tourism Report. (2012). Retrieved from http://corporate.tourism.gov.my/research.asp?
page=facts_figures on 24-07-2013