THIS year's SingTel Singapore Grand Prix is not expected to yield the same amount of revenue as its debut last year, said Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education S Iswaran, who put it down to the global economic downturn. But there's more to the F1 night race than revenue generation, he said. 'The F1 continues to improve Singapore's international branding and improves mindshare. It also serves as a very good platform for business networking, innovative activities and the creationg of new opportunities,' he told Parliament on Monday. Last year, the event drew more than 40,000 overseas visitors and generated nearly $170 million in incremental tourism proceeds, and was watched by about 110 million people worldwide. The Singapore Tourism Board is still collating data from various sources and should be able to give figures for this year's F1 race by the end of the year, said Mr Iswaran, who also addressed other issues surrounding the event such as the inconvenience caused by road closures and criticisms of the bumpy track of the Marina Bay circuit. He noted that the affected roads were closed for seven days this time, compared to 12 last year, and Raffles Boulevard has been re-surfaced.F1 race boosts Singapore brand
Oct 19, 2009
