Visitor arrivals and tourism receipts in Singapore exceeded forecasts to hit record number in 2016, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said in a release. India ranked second in terms of growth in tourism receipts, and third in terms of tourist arrival growth.
Overall visitor arrivals grew by 7.7 per cent to 16.4 million, tourism receipts rose by 13.9 per cent to US$ 24.8 billion. The tourism receipt results have come on the back of visitors spending more on food and beverage, shopping and accommodation.
Lionel Yeo, chief executive, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), said, “We are heartened by the strong tourism sector performance in 2016. Despite challenges such as weaker economic performance in some of Singapore’s top source markets and a Zika virus outbreak, Singapore has managed to attract more quality visitors to contribute to economic growth.”
From January to September 2016, there was good growth in tourism receipts across Singapore’s top 10 source markets. For the second consecutive year, China, with 41 per cent growth, ranked top in tourism receipts, followed by India (37 per cent) and Indonesia (14 per cent). Tourism receipts from China increased mainly due to a volume-driven growth, while Indonesia and India saw tourism receipts growing on the back of visitors spending more on shopping and accommodation.
For 2016, the top growth markets visitor arrivals in terms of absolute growth were China (36 per cent), Indonesia (six per cent), and India (eight per cent). The growth was due to more visitor arrivals from Tier I and Tier II cities in China, India and Indonesia, where STB had intensified its marketing efforts. India also overtook Australia to become Singapore’s fourth largest source market for visitor arrivals.
The largest declines in visitor arrivals were posted by Hong Kong, with 12 per cent decline, followed by Malaysia (two per cent), Australia (two per cent), South Korea (two per cent) and Japan (one per cent). The decline for Hong Kong was largely attributed to its weaker economic performance, while Malaysia’s depreciating Ringgit dampened travel to Singapore.
Outlook 2017
“STB forecasts tourism receipts to be in the range of US$ 25.1 to US$ 25.8 billion and international visitor arrivals to be in the range of 16.4 to 16.7 million. Global economic and political uncertainties will probably continue to persist and there will be increasing regional competition for tourism dollars. However, Singapore can benefit from the projected tourism growth in the Asia-Pacific region. STB will continue to work closely with tourism partners to intensify our efforts and sustain quality tourism growth,” the release added.
