Friday, July 3, 2009

Singapore tourism plummets further in May


Singapore - Singapore's ailing tourism industry plummeted further in May as hotel room revenue fell a heavy 37.7 per cent compared to a year earlier and the number of visitor arrivals was back to a double-digit decline, the Singapore Tourism Board said Friday.

In May, hotel room revenue in the city-state reached an estimated 112 million Singapore dollars (77 million US dollars), down from 180 million Singapore dollars a year ago.

Total visitor arrivals came up to 730,000, a decline of 13 per cent compared to May 2008.

In April the number of visitor arrivals shrank just 6.1 per cent following three months of double-digit slumps, raising hopes that the worst might be over for Singapore's tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.

But the board said tourist numbers from Asian markets like China, Japan and South Korea fell sharply in May, attributing the decline in part to the global outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Singapore confirmed 95 new cases of H1N1 Thursday, bringing the total number to 315.

Among Singapore's top 15 tourist markets only Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines posted growth in May, due to 'aggressive airline and marketing promotions,' the board said.

Hotel business continued to drop with an average room occupancy rate reaching 69 per cent in May, a fall of 12.2 percentage points compared to a year ago.

The average room rate reached an estimated 184 Singapore dollars, down 25.4 per cent from May 2008, the board said. dpa kpo se 260829 GMT Jun 09 Sent via WebAccess by Portmann MEZ 26-06-2009_10:44

Source

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Focus On Drawing Tourists From Singapore, Indonesia Following Influenza A(H1N1) Outbreak


MELAKA, June 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will focus on drawing tourists from two of its neighbours, Singapore and Indonesia, due to a drop in foreign tourist arrivals in the country following the Influenza A(H1N1) outbreak.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the announcement by the World Health Organisation of a pandemic had resulted in people all over the world cancelling their travel plans or bookings.

She said Singapore and Indonesia were chosen for the promotional programme as they were Malaysia's closest neighbours and were aware that the Influenza A (H1N1) situation in Malaysia was not as alarming as in other countries in the region.

"Malaysia is affected too as according to the feedback from tour agents, there has been a drop of up to 20 per cent in the number of tourists from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan going overseas compared to the same period last year," she said after a briefing with the Melaka Tourism Action Council, here, today.

Dr Ng said while foreign tourist arrivals in the country were "badly affected" by the Influenza A(H1N1) outbreak, there was however a rise in domestic tourism.

She said her ministry would hold a tourism crisis management meeting tomorrow with the industry players in facing the Influenza A(H1N1) situation.

"This is our first meeting this year where we will draw up strategies to attract foreigh tourists, the number of whom is expected to drop this month and in July," she added.

Their last meeting was in December last year due to travel problems following the closure of the Bangkok International Airport amid Thailand's political turmoil.

Dr Ng said there was a 20 per cent drop in the number of Malaysians holidaying abroad this month as they were worried about the Influenza A(H1N1) situation in the affected countries.

She said the target of 20 million foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia this year might not be achieved but drop to 15 million, due to the current global economic crisis and the Influenza A(H1N1) outbreak.

On tourism in Melaka, Dr Ng said she was satisfied with the performance because with a population of only 750,000, Melaka received 7.2 tourists last year, bringing the population-tourist ratio to 1:10.

"This is a very good achievement by the state government which has on its own, held tourism promotional programmes abroad, including in Indonesia and Singapore."

She said Melaka which had 160 tourism products would be carrying out a programme of upgrading its tourism infrastructure and adding value to its products, such as the Taman 1,000 Bunga (Garden of 1,000 Flowers) in Ayer Keroh, which showcases a myriad species of flowering and herbal plants.

Source

Kontera Tag