Hoping to cash in on Singapore concerts

Mega star: Big names like Swift are known to attract global fans by the droves. — Photo from Taylor Swift Instagram

JOHOR BARU: Business owners here are hopeful that a series of concerts by British rock band Coldplay and American pop star Taylor Swift across the border in Singapore next year will bring some positive spillover effects to the state’s economy.

They are hoping to catch those who may decide to make their hub in Johor due to lower prices of essential items and hotel rooms as compared to those in Singapore.

Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Johor chapter chairman Ivan Teo said both industry players and Tourism Johor should beef up efforts in the months to come to promote the state to those who will be attending the concerts.

“Usually, we will see an increase in people spending the night in Johor when there are artistes from Malaysia or Indonesia performing in Singapore.

“Most of the visitors are Indonesians who are used to spending their holidays here and know how to travel between Johor and Singapore.

“To attract visitors from other parts of the world, we have to provide more information and guidance on how they can travel to Johor as they may not know how easy it is to get here,” he said.

It was reported that Swift will be performing a series of six shows in Singapore in March next year while Coldplay is set to also perform six shows in the island republic in January.

Fans, who are already forking out hundreds of dollars for tickets to the live shows, are known to travel around the region to watch these gigs.

Johor Baru Business and Hawker Association president Roland Lim said that the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and Tourism Johor should take this opportunity to attract the thousands of international visitors who will be making their way to Singapore for the concerts.

“Based on past experience, Johor has not been enjoying much spillover effects from such concerts in Singapore.

“However, if there are more efforts to promote the state to the visitors, we may be able to see some improvements this time around.

“Instead of only promoting famous tour sites in Johor, the ministry and state government should also promote the large variety of local hawker food, coffee shops and restaurants here,” he said.

He added that it is also important for traffic at the two land crossings between Johor and Singapore to be running smoothly during such periods.

Tourism Johor director Suhairi Hashim said there are already ongoing efforts with tour operators in Singapore to include Johor in their packages.

“We do not really expect much spillover effects from such concerts but we will continue to promote Johor and hope that this will help pull some of the crowds,” he said.

Johor Tourist Guides Association chairman Jimmy Leong said Tourism Johor and Tourism Malaysia should identify the tour operators and agents in Singapore who are handling the group coming from the concerts.

“They need to convince the tour operators and agents to include Johor in their packages. This may help to pull in some of the crowd to Johor,” he said.

He said those who are able to afford the tickets are likely groups who do not mind spending some extra dollars living and dining in Singapore.

“It is not likely for them to brave the traffic at the Causeway to stay or shop in Johor Baru. On top of that, the crowd that typically attend such concerts are not the groups that are keen to go for tour or walk around the city,” he said.