SINGAPORE’S travellers are remaining loyal to destinations, with past favourites Europe, South Korea and Japan topping the list of most popular places purchased at the recent NATAS Fair.
The travel agency association said the top 10 most popular destinations at the fair were: Europe, South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, cruise packages, Australia, Malaysia, the US and Thailand.
However, while Europe accounted for 23 per cent of purchases, travel sellers reported a shift in where exactly in the region they were headed to. Italy was the first pick, but runner-up Finland made a surprising spring for second.
There was also more interest in the less-travelled European countries including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia.
Patricia Auyeong, acting CEO of NATAS, commented: “Europe continues to be Singaporeans’ top destination of choice by a large margin, and we are starting to see a trend in Singaporeans choosing more exotic destinations within the European region.”
In contrast, a recent MasterCard study on the recent travel history of Singaporeans found that South-east Asia received 56 per cent of travellers, while 30 per cent went to Greater Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and the rest to the rest of the world including the US, the UK, and France.
Also significant at the fair was the inclusion of cruises into the top 10, with some exhibitors reporting up to a two-fold increase in cruise purchases compared to 2013, said Auyeong.
“Regional cruise offerings remain the most popular cruise options for the Singapore traveller, and are continuing to widen their appeal across demographics. We have also noticed Singaporeans, being seasoned travellers, are starting to look towards longhaul fly-cruise packages and even to niche products like river cruises,” she said.
Held this past weekend, the B2C show featured 1,226 booths and 165 exhibitors, drawing over 56,000 visitors during its three-day run.
Some S$45 million (US$35.9 million) was spent at the fair this time around, according to NATAS’ new system of measuring sales volume, which involved surveying 5,360 visitors.
The next NATAS Fair will held in March 2015.
