Singapore Cruises to Top of Lonely Planet's List

When Lonely Planet named its top destination for its 2015 Best of Travel list, it was a bit of a surprise. Was it going to be Laos, Botswana, Kosovo or some other sort of place that you would associate with the young weather-beaten backpacker we think of as the Lonely Planet reader? Well no, it was in fact Singapore, where the wildness ends at the parking lot of the Night Safari. The magazine gave a few reasons including the fact that the country will celebrate its Golden Jubilee on Aug. 9, 2015. The food and the emerging local fashion scene also loomed large in their choice.

The Jubilee commemorates the 1965 Singapore secession from Malaysia and the election of the Lion City's first president, Yusof bin Ishak. New attractions, new hotels and more transport improvements will help celebrate the auspicious date. A new National Art Gallery and the Singapore Sports Hub (the world's largest free-standing structure), which will host the 28th Southeast Asian Games will also open, bringing entirely new dimensions to the city's appeal.

Singapore keeps reinventing itself. The city's original attractions, its grand British Colonial architecture, has been supplemented by generations of new attractions and by perpetual upgrading of existing attractions as it did with its most famous shopping mecca Orchard Road, originally a favorite with the pith helmeted British expatriate memsahibs.

Singapore renovated Orchard Road in 2007, offering better shopping venues and tourist facilities. Speaking of expats, Singapore ranked second only to Switzerland on the list of best places to live as an expatriate according to the HSBC Expat Explorer.

For decades now, beginning with the opening of Changi Airport in 1981, Singapore has worked to make itself a Southeast Asian hub for aviation, road, rail and most recently (and successfully), cruise. Changi was the prototype for the string of modern airports that transformed what were basically bus terminals into multi-dimensional malls. The coming of the new terminal at Marina Bay Cruise Centre in 2011 catalyzed a swiftly burgeoning Asian cruise industry.

By year's end, some 970 cruise ships are estimated to sail in Asian waters, some 12.7 percent more than 2013 with another 9.8 percent expected in 2015, according to IntellAsia.net. The Sapphire Princess, which carries 2,670 passengers, will homeport there.

A healthy draw among the domestic market is an essential anchor for a successful cruise port, and in essence, the ASEAN traveler, is that domestic market for Singapore. In 2011, the 10 ASEAN feeder markets provided 46.5 percent of the 81.2 million travelers who arrived in the 10 ASEAN destinations. Singapore with its ease of access is ideal. Changi is building a fourth terminal (2017) and the Jewel Changi, a five-story multi-use complex due in 2018. Terminal 1 is also being expanded. As constituted now Changi can handle 66 million passengers in its three terminals. Some 53.1 million passengers used Changi last year.

Singapore Cruise Center has been operating for more than 22 years. The terminal underwent a major S$14 million ($10.6 million) revamp and rejuvenation last year. Passenger clearance is now much faster, especially with additional immigration counters and up to date security equipment.

In 2012. the city state opened the $350 million Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore. The terminal, which doubles Singapore's berth capacity, was designed so it could dock the largest ships under development including the Oasis class. The facility has deep waters, a large turning basin and a lack of height restrictions.

According to CLIA, demand for cruising around the world has increased 77 percent in the last decade, from 12 million to 21.3 million passengers. Singapore is as well positioned as Miami to be a cruise hub with many more islands and destinations within its reach. From Singapore to Saigon is a cruise of about six or seven days, within that span you have the east coast of peninsular Malaysia, Malaysian Borneo, Thailand and thousands of Indonesian islands. Beyond Vietnam lies Hong Kong and the coast of China. The Australian city of Darwin lies to the south.

In its 2015 Golden Jubilee, Singapore has packed its calendars with a variety of international sporting events for the new Singapore Sports Hub. The 28th Southeast Asian Games, the ASEAN Para Games and the Women's Tennis Association Finals are just some of the events.

PHOTO: Lonely Planet cited Singapore's food as a reason for its high rating: above a hawkers' area. (Courtesy of Singapore Tourism)

Lonely Planet's editors were on the mark when they cited Singapore's culinary standing. It's the place where fusion cooking was born. Fusion hails back to the tradition of inter-ethnic marriages that brought together Malay, Arab, Indian and Chinese cooking that is now known as Peranikan. Singapore's vast network of hawker centers is simply the best street food in Asia, one reason that in 2015, the city will host the World Street Food Congress (April) and its Food Festival in July.

It goes without saying that the city that never stops improving is also adding hotel inventory. Accor opened a new Novotel and a new Ibis in Singapore for a total of 782 rooms. The 254-room Novotel Singapore on Stevens and the 528-room Ibis Singapore on Stevens are both part of a combined project scheduled to open in late 2016. The hotels will be located near Singapore's trendy shopping street, Orchard Road. The Sofitel So Singapore operates in a neo-classical heritage building first built in 1927 as the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company Building in Singapore's central business district.

The five-star 250-room One Farrer Hotel & Spa opened this fall in Singapore's heritage district next to Farrer Park MRT station. The property encompasses three hotels under one umbrella: the Urban Hotel, Loft Apartments and Skyline Hotel & Sky Villas. Another new hotel, the 88-room Hotel Clover, which was built within a row of 17 two-story shophouses, opened not far from the Bugis district.