Singapore Expects Big Tourist Dollars From WTA Championships

Written by: Staff on 9th May 2013

Singapore set to host the WTA Championshpis

Singapore Expects Big Tourist Dollars From WTA Championships

epa03691490 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chief executive Stacey Allaster stands in front of artwork at a press conference in Singapore, 08 May 2013. The WTA announced that Singapore will play host to its annual end-of-season tour championships for five years starting in 2014. EPA/STEPHEN MORRISON |

Singapore is thrilled to have won the bid to host WTA Championships from 2014 until 2018, and it is expecting a huge economic boost.

Lionel Yeo, CEO of the Singapore Tourism Board said the exposure that the city will get is massive. “The Championships attracts more than 40 million viewers across 167 countries. In terms of estimated – expected tourism receipts, we have done a conservative estimate and we think that we can pull in S$15 million a year for each of – each time we run the tournament,” he said.

WTA CEO Stacey Allaster added that because the WTA promotes its Championships year round in 33 countries that Singapore will be in the world spotlight.

“There will be a robust marketing program starting on January 1, up until when we get here in Singapore,” she said. “And we’ve had it audited by Deloitte & Touche, providing in excess of $100 million of annual media promotion, media value for Singapore. So it is a very robust offering that will deliver back to our partners here.”

Singapore has not held a tour level tournament since the 1999 ATP Heineken Cup, but has hosted exhibitions at varying levels of success.

World Sports Group Chief Executive Andrew Georgiou whose company is the commercial partner of the Sports Hub and will help manage the event, said that because tennis is also a lifestyle choice that its appeal is more broad, both to locals and to international visitors.

“It is a lifestyle choice; it is entertainment; it is industry as well as a sport,” he said. “So there are many different facets to tennis that we are looking to harness when we talk about the WTA Championships, and we are looking to incorporate entertainment and lifestyle elements as well as industry elements to the ten days that will be the WTA Championships week. There is no doubt going to be a heavy influence by us to make sure that this event is accessible by Singaporeans, whether it be through a ticketing policy that allows Singaporeans to access the main event itself; whether it be through a separate arrangement whereby people can view the players warming up in the practice courts; whether it be through the fan fest that we plan to hold throughout the week, the ten days of the Championships.

The other part of the story is, this is a major international event. We already know through past experience and research that people do travel to watch tennis. We have a fair idea of what the key markets are for this kind of event, and we’ll be targeting those markets to make sure that we have the right balance between the international visitation as well as the community.”

The new Sports Hub complex, where it will be played, is currently under construction, and is costing the city $1.3 billion. It will feature a 55,000-seater stadium with retractable roof, a 13,000 indoor stadium where the tennis will be played, as well as an aquatics center.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Singapore tennis news, Sports, Women Tennis, Wta Championships