Sexy Singapore, two words I never thought would be used in the same sentence, but I was in Singapore for business recently and found myself coming around to the James Packer point of view – that it offers Australia some lessons in tourism, though not necessarily in life (they work too hard).

I know that for many travellers, Singapore will always be Asia-lite, the place that banned chewing gum and is efficient to the point of boring. That to an extent is still true. One read of the straight-laced Straits Times will tell you that.

Yet outside on the street there's a lot of life. People come out to play at night – the shopping hub of Orchard Rd is packed at 10pm on a Wednesday, bars are full to over-flowing – the tropical heat working its magic on wallets and thirsts.

The joint is jumping and tourism operators are making hay. The cheapest three-star hotel sells for more than S$200 a night, while tourists pay more than three times that to stay in five-star properties such as Raffles, where the service is slow and the rates sky-high. It's a place where there is no low season.

One hotelier  – who operates several three and four-star properties in Singapore – reckons her group of hotels will finish the year with an average 95% occupancy, an unbelievable performance and one not possible in any Australian market.

Full story:

www.traveltrends.biz/ttn555-casinos-no-tourism-gamble-in-singapore