Casual dining faces cuts as 43% eye Johor Bahru switch

Premium restaurants and nightlife venues stay largely unaffected at just 14% and 8%, respectively.

Forty-three percent of respondents expect to spend less on casual dining, cafés, and takeaway in Singapore once the RTS Link opens, according to a Blackbox survey.

"The dining sector will split down the middle. Casual eateries, cafés, and takeaway spots in Singapore are vulnerable," the report said.

Premium and special-occasion dining registers a smaller drop at 14%, whilst bars, nightlife, and evening entertainment record the smallest share at 8%.

Separately, 54% of respondents say they envisage dining in Johor Bahru at least quarterly, once the link is operational.

"Local operators shouldn't race to the bottom on price," Blackbox said.

It added that everyday dining must double down on convenience and sharpness, whilst premium spots must lean into unique experiences, service, and atmosphere that Johor Bahru "cannot easily replicate."

Follow the link s for more news on

Blackbox Research

Chart of the Day

Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia