ABOUT 10 new hotels offering some 5,100 rooms are expected to open next year despite news that Singapore's hotel industry is labouring amid the global economic downturn.

The buildings, conceptualised during a more prosperous period, face a difficult task ahead of filling up their rooms. However, hoteliers say there is still business to be done despite the gloom.

'Ideally, we want to open in more favourable times,' said Mr Puneet Dhawan, general manager of the 500-room Ibis hotel, which is scheduled to open early next year. 'But we are still optimistic because people are coming to Singapore. We just have to offer them more bang for their buck.'

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