Visitor arrivals to Singapore dipped for the second month in a row.
By
Lim Wei Chean
Although 916,000 foreigners visited Singapore last month and visitor days was up by 4.7 per cent, the arrivals still fell by 3.8 per cent, compared to last July's 953,000 visitors. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
By Lim Wei Chean
THE global economic slowdown, rising inflation and high oil prices have put the brakes on Singapore's tourism industry, raising concerns about meeting this year's target of 10.8 million visitors.
After 51 months of consecutive growth, tourist arrivals here fell in July - the second dip in a row.
Although 916,000 foreigners visited Singapore last month - the highest number since January - and visitor days was up by 4.7 per cent, the arrivals still fell by 3.8 per cent, compared to last July's 953,000 visitors.
The outlook is further clouded by the fact that only four of the top 15 visitor-generating countries saw growth compared to a year ago.
"The decline in visitor arrivals in July and June reflects the challenging global economic environment and outlook for the tourism sector, which may continue into 2009," said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a statement on Tuesday.
"While there may be a possibility of falling short of this year's target of 10.8 million visitors, the Singapore Tourism Board is strengthening its efforts in increasing tourism spend to achieve the tourism receipts target of S$15.5 billion."
Figures released by STB showed that Indonesia (167,000), China (105,000), Australia (80,000), India (63,000) and Japan (47,000) were the top five visitor-generating markets, which accounted for half of the total visitor arrivals for July.
Eleven out of the top 15 markets saw a dip in visitor arrivals compared to a year ago - "a likely result of the global economic slowdown, as well as rising inflation and oil prices, which may have impacted consumers' discretionary spending," said STB.
Singapore hotels were estimated to reap S$180 million in room revenue, representing a growth of 6.2 per cent over July 2007.
The Average Room Rate (ARR) in July was estimated to be S$238, an increase of 14.3 per cent over a year ago.
The Average Occupancy Rate (AOR) for hotels was estimated to have fallen by 5.7 per cent, at 85 per cent full.
But revenue per available room rose by 7.1 per cent to reach S$202 for July.
