Confidence in the Singapore hospitality industry remains high amid new openings, including the debuts of several upscale brands.

Singapore, a small island city-state, has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to its reliance on international visitors. It has a large, densely packed population and for many decades has been a central hub in Southeast Asia and for travelers to and from Australia and New Zealand.

The top-five international visitor markets to Singapore are China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Australia, respectively.

Singapore’s borders have been largely closed, and anyone arriving from a country or region deemed a higher risk must quarantine in a government-registered hotel for 14 days.

However, that is not stopping hotel investors and developers from looking to a long-term strategy for adding assets to the island.

Through the end of 2021, four new hotels are scheduled to open in Singapore — the 191-room Oasia Resort Sentosa, managed by Far East Hospitality, in September; the 135-room Citadines Connect Rochester Singapore by Ascott in October; and the 138-room Maxwell Reserve and 172-room Citadines Connect City Center by Ascott both in December.

On the first day of 2022, the 1,080-room Meritus Mandarin Orchard will be rebranded as the Hilton Singapore Orchard, while the current Hilton Singapore will be rebranded under IHG Hotels & Resorts, becoming the 423-room Voco Orchard, the first of that brand in Southeast Asia since the brand was launched in 2018.

New hotel openings set for 2022 include the 350-room Pan Pacific Orchard and the 62-key Raffles Sentosa Resort & Spa — the only other Raffles property to open in Singapore since the brand’s debut there in 1887.

New brands making their foray in the city-state in 2022 are the 204-room Edition by Marriott, 342-room Pullman Singapore and 142-room Artyzen Cuscaden Singapore.

Hoteliers and tourism officials are upbeat about these additions and the long-term prospects for Singapore.

“We welcome the arrival of new hotels that will add vibrance to our tourism landscape," said Kwee Wei-Lin, president of the Singapore Hotel Association. "Not only will these new brands provide greater diversity, they also reinforce Singapore’s appeal as a tourist destination. Before the pandemic, international tourism generated more than 90% of Singapore’s hotel revenue.”

She acknowledged “it will take time for visitor arrivals to return to a meaningful level,” adding that "without healthy visitor arrivals, there is a risk of excess room inventory.”

As the fourth addition in Singapore for the Singapore-based Pan Pacific Hotels Group, the new Pan Pacific Orchard is billed as the first zero-waste hotel to open in the prime Orchard Street retail precinct.

According to Pan Pacific executives, the Pan Pacific Orchard has eco-friendly rooms and four levels of self-sustaining zero-energy sky gardens, each with distinct natural environments. The hotel also features a food-waste management system to transform kitchen waste into nutrient water for gardens and systems that permit light and rain water to be stored to power facilities and irrigate lower floors.

With a focus on long-term sustainable growth, Pan Pacific is “ready to welcome the new generation of travelers with their modern lifestyles, which we foresee will include greater appreciation of nature and focus on sustainability,” said Kevin Croley, senior vice president of business development.

“It is as important as ever for us to lead the charge in this,” he said.

Croley said the property has lush foliage that will cover four floors, which means that more than 300% of the hotel’s land surface area is in vegetation.

“With this arresting icon in the heart of Singapore, we hope to inspire change in the industry as we navigate towards a future of sustainable hospitality,” he said.

Croley said the hotel's target guest is a “leisure market of sophisticated guests and a high-end corporate clientele that is discerning and savvy,” with an emphasis on international travelers from the U.S., United Kingdom, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and Southeast Asia.

He and other hoteliers expect the staycation and daycation phenomena to continue as well in Singapore.

The Maxwell Reserve and its sister hotel Duxton Reserve will cater more to the boutique-hotel clientele. The hotel opened in February and is part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection.

In a block of heritage shop-houses with four restaurants, the Maxwell Reserve’s owners also are confident of Singapore’s appeal.

Harpreet Bedi, CEO of the hotel’s owner, the Garcha Group Hotel Collection, said “a hotel opening is challenging in any economic climate, let alone these particularly difficult and unprecedented times."

"We hope that the excitement of a new, experiential boutique hotel will attract guests to discover what Maxwell Reserve has to offer that existing hotels in Singapore cannot,” she added.

She stressed the importance of positioning the collection as “industry leaders in customer experience” and “to encourage curiosity, exploration and, in turn, continuously returning guests.”

“The Garcha Group Hotel Collection has already established itself as pioneers in experiential boutique hotels. The Maxwell Reserve will follow the successful blueprint of our existing properties and offer our guests unique experiences they won’t find at other hotels,” Bedi said.

Partnerships include local cultural experience providers with haute perfumery Maison 21G and innovative tour provider Janes SG Tours.