Tourist arrivals fall 11.5%

THE downtrend in tourism numbers continued in June, leading to an expected overall decline in tourist arrivals and spending in Singapore.

Some 4.5 million tourists came to Singapore between January and June, a year-on-year decline of 11.5 per cent. Tourist spend for the same period also fell 13.5 per cent to reach $6.4 billion, according to the latest report by Singapore Tourism Board released on Thursday.

Indonesians were the biggest spenders, splurging slightly over $1 billion, followed by the Chinese who spent $575 million, Australians ($444 million) and Indians ($431 million). STB expects these top spenders to continue to generate the biggest income for the rest of the year.

Visitors from Hong Kong declined 3 per cent from last year but they made up in terms of spending some 11.3 per cent more than they did last year.

Numbers for the hotel industry continued to reflect the beating it has taken in the last half year. Average occupancy rate for the entire six months fell 11.1 percentage points from last year to hit 72 per cent. Average room rate fell 21.3 per cent to reach $195 and overall room revenue fell 33.2 per cent to hit $721 million.

STB is holding on to its initial projections of 9 to 9.5 million visitor arrivals who are expected to spend $12 billion to $12.5 billion, saying "travellers are expected to stay cautious as uncertainties continue around Influenza A (H1N1) and the general economic condition".

Source