Analyzing the Impact of Lau Pa Sat Building on Its Surroundings: A Study in Hospitality Management

Running Head: HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT 1
Hospitality Management

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT 2
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
History of Building...................................................................................................................................3
Current Function.....................................................................................................................................3
Critical Analysis of Impact on its surroundings............................................................................................4
Social Impact...........................................................................................................................................4
Economic Impact.....................................................................................................................................5
Theory (Gunn’s Theory)...............................................................................................................................6
A Tourist or Human Element...................................................................................................................6
A Nucleus or Central Element..................................................................................................................7
A Marker or Informative Element............................................................................................................7
Conclusion (Future of Historic Building)......................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT 3
Introduction
Attractions are crucial sub-elements of an overall tourism system, and their study suffers from
lack of empirical foundation and theoretical depth. Tourism attractions are important segments in
tourism market as they play a vital role in building the tourism movement’s geography. They act
as a magnet that attracts more tourists to a particular location. It is essential to conduct the study
and analysis of tourism attractions. This report is focused on analyzing the building that is
situated in Singapore i.e. Lau Pa Sat. It includes the history and functions of the chosen building.
Moreover, there is the discussion about the impact of this building on its surroundings and
people. At the end, different elements of Gunn’s theory (1972) are applied to analyze different
elements of chosen tourist attraction.
History of Building
Lau Pa Sat is a historic building that is located within the Downtown Core in Central Area of
Singapore. This building is also known as Telok Ayer Market. This building was built in the year
1894 and it is governed by National Heritage Board. In the 19th century, Telok Ayer Market was
a wooden building that was situated on the piles over the waters of Telok Ayer Bay (Singapore
Guide, 2018). The name of this market is derived from this place. It is a Malay name “Telok
Ayer” that means “water bay” and coastal road Telok Ayer Street was situated beside the bay
before the land recovery work initiated in the year 1879. The word “Lau Pa Sat” is meant for
“old market” in Chinese language. It is the first market that is built in Singapore as fish market. It
was situated on south bank of Singapore River near Market Street’s north end (Bhati and Pearce,
2017).
Current Function
Currently, Lau Pa Sat Building is functioning as a food center. In this building, there are various
shops like 24 hours Cheers Stores, a tailor, a shoe repair shop and a laundry shop. In the
weekend’s evenings, a live band plays on the stage in middle of market. In the market, there is a
modern food court that caters tourists and workers. Cast-iron, unique and octagonal structure of
Lau Pa Sat was designed by James MacRitchie. The building has long been transformed into a
hawker center providing the best of Singaporean cuisine (Aquino, 2018).