FOREIGN visitor arrivals to Singapore rose by 12.5 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2015, latest figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) revealed.
Of the resulting more than 8.16 million visitors, the majority came from Indonesia and China with 1.41 million (up 7.3 per cent) and 1.47 million (up 55.2 per cent) total arrivals, respectively.
This signals a change in source market potential for Singapore with China quickly overtaking Indonesia as the leading visitor-generating market.
The third-largest source market for Singapore in 1H2016 is India with 573,010 visitors, up 10 per cent from the same period last year.
No data was provided for spending in the first half of this year, but was provided for 1Q2016, with tourism receipts up 2 per cent year-on-year to S$5.4 billion (US$3.9 billion).
Shopping spend grew 25 per cent, accommodation up by 7 per cent and F&B by 14 per cent, compensating for a major 21 per cent decline in sightseeing, entertainment and gaming expenditure.
Both the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa integrated resorts, where the bulk of profits are derived from casino gaming, have posted year-on-year revenue declines for many consecutive quarters.
Singapore’s international arrivals for 1Q2016 was up 14 per cent compared to 2015 to reach 4.1 million visitors.
Meanwhile, average occupancy rates for gazetted hotels, which mainly serve tourists and charge only nightly rates, in 1H2016 stood at 83.7 per cent, up 0.5 per cent from the same period last year.
While occupancy remains healthy, RevPAR has declined by 2.5 per cent to S$196.9 and standard average room rate was down 3 per cent to S$235.3.
