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Singapore has emerged as the second top city in Asia for work and recreation, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) report entitled “The 2019 Bleisure Barometer”.
The city-state received a score of 4.05 and is among five countries that got five stars for business and leisure.
In particular, Singapore was ranked number one in terms of transportation, quality of F&B and overall business aspects. It also topped the safety indicator, which was not taken into account in either individual business or leisure categories, but was included in the final ranking.
While the city-state obtained an overall score of five stars in bleisure, it failed to make it into the five-star bracket in the leisure category alone. It was also below average in opportunity for cultural experiences.
“Even our five-star cites are hardly five-star in every aspect. Culture in particular holds some back; both Singapore and Sydney fall below average in opportunity for cultural experiences, with Melbourne ranking only slightly above average,” said the report.
“On the other hand, gritty Hanoi and New Delhi both reach five-star status in this indicator; to Western travellers especially, their cultural appeal is often bold and immediate.”
Meanwhile, Tokyo was named as the best bleisure destination in Asia out of 26 cities in the region, garnering a score of 4.12. Singapore (4.05) took the second spot, Sydney and Hong Kong shared third place with a score of 4.04 each, while Melbourne (4.01) completed the top five.
Japan’s capital led in three individual barometer indicators, namely quality of international links and opportunity for cultural experiences, as well as availability of consumer goods and services. It also got the highest score for overall leisure appeal.
The EIU’s bleisure barometer is based on a survey of 1,500 business travellers. Respondents were asked about their experience in 34 cities, but places that got fewer than 50 responses were excluded from the analysis, leading to 26 cities in the final list.
The bleisure barometer indicators encompass ease of transportation within the city, level of digital connectivity within the city, quality of international/regional links, overall business aspect, quality of food and beverage, opportunity for cultural experiences, availability of consumer goods and services, overall leisure aspect, overall safety, and entire bleisure experience.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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