The prospects of budget hotels in Singapore

Abstract

The objective of this study is to find out the budget hoteliers' and budget travellers' perception of the budget hotel industry. This is to enable investigation of problems and trends currently facing the industry, as well as to seek a solution to enable the future growth of the industry. The motivation for this report arises as there is an increasing need for value-for-money accommodation by travellers, especially those from the Asian region. As tourism is an important industry to Singapore, there is a need for the hotel industry to respond to the needs of these travellers by building more budget hotels or upgrading the present ones. This study chose an approximate quota of travellers (sample size of 50) and budget hotels (sample size of 30) from all over Singapore. Data was collected from questionnaires administered through personal interviews at the budget hotels and interviews conducted with tourists at the lobby of budget hotels surveyed. Analysis of the survey results were used as the basis for determining the problems faced by budget hotels and the possible solutions to them. The future growth potential of the industry was also examined in the concluding chapter, based on the analysis of the current trend of budget travellers. In order to fulfill the objective of this study, it is recommended that the budget hotels engage in market segmentation, branding/franchising and bed-and-breakfast operations.