International Tourism and Hospitality: Urban Tourism in Singapore

This research report focuses on urban tourism in Singapore, specifically analyzing the Singapore Botanic Garden as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The study investigates tourist behavior, preferences, and perceptions regarding cultural and heritage tourism. The research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys and interviews with tourists and tourism officials. Data analysis is performed using MS Excel, and findings are presented with pie charts and detailed discussions. The report explores the evolution of the Botanic Garden as a tourist destination, highlighting its significance in Singapore's urban tourism landscape. The report also covers the theories of tourism motivation, cultural tourism, and consumption, and the research methodology, including the research questions, objectives, and hypothesis. The report concludes with a discussion of the main findings, addressing the research questions and offering recommendations for the future of urban tourism in Singapore, particularly concerning the Botanic Garden's role and impact on tourism.

Running head: URBAN TOURISM
Topic- International Tourism and Hospitality Management (Urban Tourism- Botanic Garden of
Singapore)
Student name
University name
Author notes

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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the research work carried out is solely an individual effort and the
paper is the result of my own knowledge and experience. Field work was carried out in group to
add efficiency to the process of data collection but the end result interpretation is my own self-
effort. No cultural sentiment was harmed during the research work and it is an ethical work
carried out solely for academic purpose.
Name of the student
University
Date

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The completion of the research paper would not be possible if God’s grace was not
provided. I thank the almighty deep from my heart for providing unforeseen support to me
during my research work. I thank my family, friends, classmates, mentors and other close
acquaintances who have been there through thick and thin during the preparation of this paper.
And a special note of acknowledgement to the Singapore tourism department and botanic garden
officials for their support and encouragement. And last but not the least I sincerely thank my
professor who have encouraged me in completing this paper and has supported me during my
tough times. A big thank you to all for helping me complete the paper on time.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The research paper is based on urban tourism in Singapore. To be more specific it
includes the cultural or heritage tourism in respect to Botanic gardens in the country. In the year
2014 botanic garden has been identified as the heritage site by UNESCO and after that the yearly
tourist count has increased comparatively. Tourists behavior and preference has also changed in
the recent years. Now tourist opt for such places more having cultural significance. Singapore
has always been a tourist destination because of its vibrant environment and shopping
opportunities. Chinatown is a world-famous shopping destination in Singapore. People visit
Singapore for its skylines and infrastructural developments. How nature and technology can go
hand in hand is shown by Singapore and is exemplary in its endeavor. But now people have
another reason to visit Singapore and that is botanic garden, world famous heritage site. The
research paper focuses on how people accept such heritage tourism living in this e-world. And to
one’s surprise tourists have a positive feeling about urban and cultural tourism. In fact, more and
more tourists are visiting such rich heritage sites and are having good vibes about them. They are
actually gaining enhanced knowledge about history and science and botanic garden is a treat to
the eyes. It is well planned and structured in recent times and includes three main gardens, the
botanic garden, the orchid garden and the ginger garden. There are a number of entrants for
tourists’ convenience and one such entry point was chosen for the research survey to be
conducted. All aspects of theoretical support were included for the paper and results were drawn
based on data surveys. A total of 150 final respondents were considered for the paper and both
visitors and tourism officials there were interviewed and their responses were collected duly.
After primary data collection data was interpreted using MS Excel tool and various pie-charts.
Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analyzed. Secondary data on botanic

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garden is collected from previous researches and other internet resources like journals, articles,
blogs, periodicals and tourism official websites. A total of 20 questions were formed due to time
constraint of respondents which includes both open-ended and closed-ended questions.
Responses collected were tabulated in a sheet and field observation is thus finalized. Research
question formed is based on research aims and objectives. Hypothesis testing is also considered
to find the exact knowhow of tourists on cultural tourism. And the end results show that there is
a positive relationship between tourist perception and cultural tourism and holistically urban
tourism. Two questionnaire set is attached in the appendix section with the time line of the
research.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................8
CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT.....................................................................9
NATURE OF URBAN TOURISM.............................................................................................9
INFORMATION ABOUT THE DESTINATION....................................................................10
URBAN TOURISM IN SINGAPORE......................................................................................11
POTENTIAL FOR HERITAGE TOURISM.............................................................................12
PREVIOUS RESEARCH..........................................................................................................13
DEVELOPMENT OF A PARTICIULAR ATTRACTION/ACTIVITY..................................13
CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTS AND RELATIVE THEORIES.........................................................14
THEORIES OF TOURIST MOTIVATION..............................................................................14
THEORIES OF CULTURAL/ HERITAGE TOURISM...........................................................15
THEORIES OF CONSUMPTION............................................................................................16
TOURIST TYPOLOGIES.........................................................................................................17
TOURIST ENCLAVES AND BUBBLES................................................................................19
MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS CONCEPT OF BUILT TOURISM................................20
CHAPTER 4: PROPOSED RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS.......................21
PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT.................................................................................................21
AIMS..........................................................................................................................................21
OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................................21
RESEARCH QUESTIONS........................................................................................................22
DISCUSSION OF METHODS TO BE USED..........................................................................22
JUSTIFICATION OF CHOICE.................................................................................................22
LIKELY METHODS OF ANALYSIS......................................................................................23
HYPOTHESIS/PREDICTION..................................................................................................24
LIMITATIONS..........................................................................................................................25
CHAPTER 5: RESULT AND DISCUSSION...............................................................................26
TOURISTS’ FEEDBACK ANALYSIS....................................................................................26
TOURISM OFFICIALS FEEDBACK ANALYSIS..................................................................37
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.....................................................42
MAIN FINDINGS OF THE REPORT......................................................................................42

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ANSWER TO THE SET RESEARCH QUESTION.................................................................42
REFERENCE LIST.......................................................................................................................44
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................47

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The report is a submission of individual field work on Urban Tourism, a part of project
work of International Tourism and Hospitality Management. This discussion paper is based on
UNESCO honored World Heritage Site, the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is Asia’s top ranked
park attraction since 2013 and was founded by an Agri-horticultural society back in the year
1859 (Nparks.gov.sg, 2019). It is a 158-year-old tropical garden and have more than 10,000
species of flora in it. Annual visitor count amounts to about 4.5 million. The urban tourism
aspect of the Botanic Garden is discussed in the paper in a very lucid and systematic manner. All
relevant points of discussion were considered and an exclusive report work is developed for in-
depth understanding and comprehension of the concept of urban tourism. Starting from
theoretical aspects and literature review to end of practical data analysis and interpretation is
carried out systematically following the formal structure of a research report. Relevant
discussion on required areas is provided in the next sections.

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CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
Tourism is one of the world’s fastest growing industries and is a great contributor to
urban economies. International tourism has increased considerably in the South-east Asian
countries specially Singapore and Malaysia (Lee et al., 2016). Travel demand has increased in
recent times and so is the scope of tourism. But Urban tourism is a poorly founded concept area
in research studies carried out till date. The purpose here is to increase scope of urban tourism in
researches so that international tourism flourishes considerably in future.
NATURE OF URBAN TOURISM
In order to understand the nature of urban tourism it is necessary to understand the
underlying concept of it. What is exactly urban tourism? Is tourism and urban tourism same?
There is actually no simple definition of urban tourism, it is an extremely complex and
ambiguous concept to define (Lamers, Van der Duim and Spaargaren, 2017). For better
comprehension of urban tourism, it is important to understand tourism concept first. Tourism has
been defined by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as a social and economic
phenomenon that drives people (tourists) to travel away from their residential areas for not more
than a year (Maitland and Newman, 2014). The reasons for travel may be business related or for
personal leisure and happiness or may be the thirst of exploring the unknown. Urban tourism
consists of more diverse sets of activities and factor considerations. As defined by the European
Commission urban tourism is a set of tourist activities and resources located generally in cities
and towns and tourism scope is offered to visitors from elsewhere exclusive of the parent city. If
only location factor is considered than city tourism is urban tourism. Paradoxically, urban
tourism activities can be found in non-urban areas as well (Mason, 2015). So, what can be
concluded is that urban tourism is not limited to only set of destination but is a set of more than

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one activity and includes mingling with a number of ‘urban’ ways of life and living. It may be
inter-city visit and may include historical visit to neighborhood places, architectural valued place
visits, participation in various cultural and art events like exhibitions, fairs, concerts, festivals,
conventions and many such. Researching on urban tourism therefore, requires an enhanced
research on exploration of urban regeneration, city marketing, town branding and mega events
held (Miller, Merrilees and Coghlan, 2015). Urban tourism consists of several sub themes which
includes management and planning, transportation, infrastructure, sustainability, cultural
agendas, tourist city typology, urban regeneration and finally perception and satisfaction of
visitors.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE DESTINATION
The world heritage site Singapore Botanic Gardens is chosen for the research work on
urban tourism. It is a 158-year old tropical garden which is located at the outlying Orchard Road
shopping district of Singapore (Nparks.gov.sg, 2019). It has been awarded as the inaugural
garden of the year in past times and has also won International Garden Tourism Award in the
year 2012. Previously it offered research opportunities for plant cultivation and horticulture. It
has basically 3 gardens, one is the Botanic Garden, the other being the National Orchid Garden
and the third one is the Ginger garden (Nparks.gov.sg, 2019). The orchid garden provides ample
scope for study of hybrid genetics and has almost 1200 species of orchids. It is popularly known
as the Garden city of Singapore. The hybrid variety of climbing orchid named Vanda Miss
Joaquim is named the nation’s national flower. The VIP orchid garden provides orchid
diplomacy honor to visiting state heads, celebrities and other dignitaries. It is the only garden
that is open to tourists from 5.00 am in the morning to 12.00 in the midnight 365 days across the

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calendar. Its 82 hectares vertical stretch of land comprises about 10,000 floral species and it has
approximately 4.5 million annual visitors (Nparks.gov.sg, 2019).
The National parks Board has overtaken the Botanic Garden in recent times and the
garden ahs been revitalized with modern and improved public amenities, R&D facilities and
other cultural upliftment. The main focus in recent times include Garden city visit, Horticulture,
biodiversity and taxonomic researches, educational importance and recreational activities.
Recently Garden’s Learning Forest is extended that includes a Forest Conservation Interpretive
Centre and a Natural History Art Gallery (Nparks.gov.sg, 2019). The visitors are allowed to see
and appreciate the unique collection flora-fauna collection showcased in the learning forest and
could participate in thematic walk within the forest. The main attractions include giant trees,
unique textured barks of trees, rare fruit collections, nut species and a beautiful bamboo garden
in it. There is also a small tropical rainforest and a ginger garden. A separate children garden is
also there called Jacob Ballas. Other attractions include Palm valley, sun and sundial garden,
symphony lake, Eco lake, swan lake and Bandstand area (Nparks.gov.sg, 2019). There is no
entry fee except for the orchid garden.
URBAN TOURISM IN SINGAPORE
There is a common misconception about tourism policy that is, it basically redefines
promotion and marketing campaigns for urbanization (Kim and Ritchie, 2014). An important
aspect is often overlooked and that is the relationship between creative city planning and
tourism. Singapore has the most vibrant global culture in regard to city planning and tourism has
reshaped its environment, conservation, heritage polices and has enhanced overall quality of life
of the people there. Singapore’s global reputation and worldly attractiveness has been anchored

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by the success of its global tourism and has redefined the business and living standards in the
country (Mowforth and Munt, 2015). The city planning supports its tourism strategies and vice
versa. Actually, Singapore has limited tourism assets and no one ever thought of the country
accommodating millions of tourists in recent times. There is a heaven-hell difference in the
urban tourism approach in Singapore then and now. In the 1960s Singapore suffered from lack of
urban infrastructural amenities and had no natural resources as such. Maritime trade was the only
business alternative and scope of Foreign Direct Investment was also limited. But then focus on
tourism was given and it was found to be a viable option for economic growth. All credit goes to
dynamic urban governance and integrated master planning for development (Hong, 2014).
Singapore managed to set up well-structured urban infrastructure against all odds and was able to
maintain its cultural heritage as well. Singapore call itself the Garden city of the world and aims
to be the world’s greenest (Richards, 2014). Adversity of successful tourism is a direct cause of
negative environmental impact. Pollution increases and green nature is endangered. In order to
mitigate such risks Singapore has incorporated green urban planning that includes green roofs,
verdant walls, green buildings and cascading vertical walls (Jovicic, 2016). Singapore is one of
the richest diversified countries in the world and is a true cosmopolitan that have successfully
managed its cultural heritage along with its architectural legacy.
POTENTIAL FOR HERITAGE TOURISM
Singapore is a true merger of the old and the new. It is able to preserve its cultural
heritages of Chinese, Indian and Malay legacy. It has skylines and skylarks on one hand and has
age old heritage sites like Botanic garden and colonial British architectures on the other.
Singapore is thus the perfect nation for potential consideration of heritage tourism (Richards,
2016). Tourism in Singapore will provide a full 360-degree experience of history and present-