SINCE the opening of the two integrated resorts, Singapore-based tour operators and travel agents have seen an upswing in the number of mainland Chinese clients to Singapore requesting for luxury accommodation and products.
Alicia Seah, CTC Travel senior vice president (marketing & public relations), told TTG Asia e-Daily: “Chinese inbound tourists are not as price-conscious as they were a few years ago, and they are actually requesting for premium properties including the Marina Bay Sands.”
“Some are even forking out for extra services such as private yacht charters,” she added.
According to Isabella Hon, marketing manager at City DMC, the construction of new attractions and facilities in Singapore over the past two years, such as Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, has played a prominent role in drawing more affluent Chinese visitors to the country.
”Singapore has a lot to offer as it reinvents itself,” she said. “This is what keeps the well-heeled Chinese coming.”
This spike in high-spending Chinese tourists is reverberating through other segments of Singapore’s tourism industry, such as the MICE sector.
Manuel Ferrer, regional director Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia at Pacific World DMC, said: “For the first time within the Singapore MICE market, I am seeing more Chinese going for upmarket hotels and restaurants.”
“It was a different picture three to four years ago, when they only looked at budget options and there was little interest in MICE.”
