NUS to restrict access to food courts, shuttle buses for a week over expected influx of tourists

SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) will be restricting access to its two University Town (UTown) food courts and internal shuttle bus service from Sep 30 to Oct 7.
Only NUS students, staff and authorised people will be allowed to board the shuttle bus from 8am to 2pm during that time frame, excluding Oct 6, read a notice that was published on the university’s website on Thursday (Sep 26). 
The same restrictions will also apply to the Fine Food and Flavours food courts located in NUS’ UTown from 11am to 2pm, excluding Oct 5 and Oct 6. 
Checks will be conducted, and students, staff and authorised visitors must provide NUS-approved passes or documentary proof to gain access.
The latest measures are being implemented as more tourist visitors are expected on campus from Sep 30 to Oct 7, the NUS Students’ Union said in an internal memo, which CNA has seen. It added that NUS’ Central Library will be closed to visitors during this period.
Those dates coincide with China’s upcoming Golden Week holiday period from Oct 1 to Oct 7. The seven-day national holiday marks the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and many Chinese nationals engage in leisure travelling during this period.
“We have been working closely with the management-appointed taskforce to ensure that proactive measures are in place to address any potential influx of tourist visitors,” said the student union. 
“Non-compliance with any of the above-mentioned may result restrictions imposed on future visits to the university campus and could lead to further enforcement actions, if necessary.”
The union added it may look to “build a ready pool of student associates” to support security staff when needed. 
Similar measures, such as stopping tour buses from going to UTown, preventing tourists from taking internal shuttle buses and training undergraduates to lead guided tours, were implemented by NUS in August.
This followed complaints from students about the influx of tourists to the university and disrupting life on campus.
Two students noted how tourists had crowded shuttle buses and canteens, and milled about libraries, research labs and even accommodation facilities. 
Other students whom CNA spoke to in August said they had been inconvenienced and had also noticed bigger tour groups appearing more often on campus in the past six months.
These larger groups arrive in coaches, which usually include foreign students in uniform accompanied by teachers or chaperones. 
Similar complaints about the influx of tourists on campus, as well as at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), were raised in February.
According to both tour operators and some of the tourists themselves, the appeal to visit both NUS and NTU campuses stems from the fact that both have consistently ranked among the top universities in Asia.
NUS said in August it will introduce a registration system for tour buses and a visitor access system to control crowds in certain areas. 
The measures are meant to address issues stemming from an influx of tourists to the university.
Tour buses entering NUS will need to register for a slot unless the tourists are already registered for tours by student ambassadors. Priority will be given to tour buses ferrying visitors on official programmes and events.
“This registration measure helps regulate the number of tour buses on campus, ensuring smooth traffic, pedestrian safety, efficient running of our ISB services, and ease of point-to-point commuting for our staff and students,” said Associate Professor Daniel Goh, associate provost for undergraduate education.
He added the university will create “some kind of technology-based visitor access system” to control crowds in places such as food courts, canteens and the internal shuttle buses.
Another measure announced was that students running tours on campus will need to attend training and be certified as “registered student docents”. 
These student docents must reserve slots for any tours they wish to conduct, and they will wear a “special ID” to make them easily identifiable.
From Sep 30 to Oct 7, visitors who have registered for the official student-led guided tours and visitors on self-guided tours are required to check in at the pop-up visitor booth at the Stephen Riady Centre before the start of their tour. 
Unlicensed tour guides who conduct tours in NUS will be reported to the authorities.
Since Aug 14, NUS has reinstated access controls at all libraries. It has also increased surveillance and security to prevent trespassing. 
In response to the influx, NTU in February imposed a fee on tourists to try to manage the numbers.