SINGAPORE \u2013 Extended liquor trading hours in Boat Quay and Clarke Quay and a revived weekend car-free zone at Circular Road will continue following a successful year-long pilot<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n These measures will be formalised on Aug 18 after the pilot programme yielded encouraging results and saw strong interest from businesses, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Home Affairs said in a joint statement on Aug 17.<\/p>\n In Aug 2025, the authorities had also announced that businesses would be able to submit proposals for new bars, pubs and nightclubs along the Boat Quay waterfront, Circular Road, Lorong Telok and Canton Street, ending a 16-year moratorium on new nightlife venues in the historic district.<\/p>\n As at June 2026, 37 applications for new bars, pubs and nightclubs were approved, while the police had approved 92 applications to extend liquor trading hours within the pilot zone, said the ministries.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Aug 17, Minister of State for National Development and Foreign Affairs Alvin Tan said the Government will formalise these initiatives, which will help Singapore\u2019s tourism and nightlife offerings become more attractive, support business vibrancy and create good jobs in the sector.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Singapore River is a key heritage, lifestyle, and entertainment precinct and can contribute to our vibrant nightlife,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, we understand that safety and security remain a priority, and that\u2019s why the Government will continue to work with the different stakeholders to maintain a safe environment for businesses, patrons, and residents alike.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if the authorities had statistics on how the pilot has translated into more visitors and business activity in the district, Tan said Singapore\u2019s overall tourism figures showed that the city-state has been drawing in a greater number of high-quality tourists.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events, the more concerts, the more tourism offerings we have, places like Boat Quay, Clarke Quay, Circular Road, and others will really benefit from the downstream impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Businesses said formalisation of the pilot rules signals an openness by the authorities to new concepts for the historic precinct.<\/p>\n President of the Singapore Nightlife Business Association Danny Loong said this was a good step, and the association will continue to engage the authorities on ways to drive footfall for businesses and events in the waterfront zone.<\/p>\n For instance, it is making \u201ccertain proposals\u201d to government agencies to address consumers\u2019 concerns about the high cost of transport home in the wee hours, he said without elaborating.<\/p>\n Michelle Koh, who is executive director of place manager Singapore River One (SRO), said the certainty provided by the latest announcement will give both operators and landlords the wiggle room to experiment with new business models.<\/p>\n (From left) Executive director of Singapore River One Michelle Koh, Minister of State for National Development and Foreign Affairs Alvin Tan and president of the Singapore Nightlife Business Association Danny Loong along the Singapore River on Aug 17.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Law-and-order concerns over the licensing changes have been allayed, with five additional police officers deployed between 7pm and 3am around Circular Road and Boat Quay. The bill for the additional manpower comes up to $20,000 a month, and is fully borne by SRO.<\/p>\n Koh said the car-free zone for Circular Road will return in late October for Halloween, marking the first time the street will be pedestrianised since the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s looking forward to this weekly road closure, and once every quarter we will also bring some form of programming onto the street, be it a Halloween party or an after-work mingle session,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about making Circular Road social again.\u201d<\/p>\n CQ @ Clarke Quay centre manager Nicholas Lee also welcomed the cementing of the revitalisation initiatives, noting that Clarke Quay\u2019s vibrant night scene remains a defining part of the precinct\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n At the same time, the CapitaLand-managed property has evolved into a lifestyle destination that offers diverse dining, wellness, entertainment and waterfront experiences throughout the day, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cThis enables us to cater to a broad range of visitors while reinforcing Clarke Quay\u2019s position as one of Singapore\u2019s leading lifestyle destinations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 Extended liquor trading hours in Boat Quay and Clarke Quay and a revived weekend car-free zone at Circular Road will continue following a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
\n
\n
Read Full Article At Source <\/a>
\n