SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Singapore saw 14,676 visitors in November, as tourism numbers slowly inched up from their trough earlier this year, on a gradual reopening of borders.
Arrivals rose 9.5 per cent from October, but were still a fraction of the 1.53 million visitors in the year prior, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) data showed on Thursday (Dec 31). More than one-quarter of travellers hailed from China.
Visitors to Singapore had bottomed out at 750 in April this year, after the entry of short-term visitors was suspended as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded.
Meanwhile, industrywide hotel room revenue stood at $66.3 million, down 0.6 per cent on the previous month and lower by 82 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The Singapore Hotel Association estimates that about 90 per cent of room revenue is contributed by international visitors.
The average occupancy rate stood at 53.8 per cent in November, against 88.9 per cent the year before and down by 3.8 percentage points compared with October.
But standard average room rates increased to $144.6 in November from $138.2 in October, although they were lower by 33.2 per cent from the year-ago period.
Hotel revenue per available room was $77.8 in November against $79.7 in October, a fall of 59.6 per cent year on year.
The STB defines international visitors as people who spend less than a year in Singapore. These exclude returning citizens, permanent residents and pass holders, Malaysians arriving by land, non-resident air and sea crew, as well as air transit passengers.
