SINGAPORE, 29 August 2018: Singapore clocked 4.6 million visits during the first quarter of 2018, representing an increase of 7.3%
Singapore Tourism Board’s Q1 results were released last week showing tourism receipts “held steady at SGD6.7 billion”, although it did represent a slight decline of 0.5%.
STB said lower expenditure was monitored in shopping, accommodation and food & beverage categories.
Shopping revenue at SGD1,467 million was down 9%, although it still represents a 22% share of total spend revenue.
Accommodation spend was also down by 13% to SGD1,334 million (20% share), while food and beverage revenue slumped 16% to SGD589 million (9% share).
However, gazetted hotel room revenue for Q1 2018 was estimated at SGD1.0 billion, representing a gain of 8.5% year-on-year.
Revenue per Available Room (RevPar) increased by 4% year-on-year due to a higher average room rate and average occupancy rate.
In contrast, sightseeing, entertainment and gambling revenue bucked the trend improving by 6% and delivering SGD1,496 million (27% share).
The three mega markets for tourist spend were China delivering SGD1.047 million, but down by 2%, Indonesia with a tourist spend of SGD652 million down 4% and India SGD330 million, up 11%.
In terms of visits, China (933,000), Indonesia (747,000), India (295,000), Malaysia (282,000) and Australia (265,000) were Singapore’s top five international visitor-generating markets in Q1 2018. These markets accounted for 54% arrivals for the same period.
Too markets with the biggest gains in visits year-on-year were China (+10%), India (+22%), and Indonesia (+4%), while Germany (-7%), Australia (-3%) and the Philippines (-4%) posted the largest year-on-year declines.
During 2017, international visitor arrivals increased 6% over the same period last year to reach 17.4 million visitors. Tourism receipts also grew 4% to reach SGD26.8 billion.
