Singapore tourist arrivals dip for 3rd straight month to 1.13 million in October
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So far in 2023, Singapore has welcomed some 11.3 million visitor arrivals.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Elysia Tan
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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s international visitor arrivals slipped month on month for the third consecutive month to 1,125,948 in October, based on the latest figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
This was a touch lower than the 1,130,757 visitors posted in September – but still 37.8 per cent higher than the 816,833 visitors recorded in October 2022.
Tourism arrival patterns in 2023 reflect seasonal trends – a boost in July and August from inbound Chinese arrivals, before tapering in September and October – which were also observed pre-pandemic, said DBS Bank analyst Geraldine Wong.
Indonesia was again the top source of visitors to Singapore in October, with 180,881 tourists visiting from the country. This marked a jump from the 175,601 tourists in September.
The next largest source country was China, from which 122,764 visitors hailed in October, dropping from 135,677 in September.
Ms Wong noted nuances in the Chinese outbound footprint in recent months due to safety concerns travelling to both Thailand and Japan.
“This may have diverted some footprint into Singapore instead in the immediate term,” she said.
But she believes that this was not enough to offset the seasonality patterns. “News flow-driven sentiments and trends tend to fade away quickly,” she added.
Ms Wong also noted that many Chinese spent Golden Week – Oct 1 to 7 – travelling domestically, disappointing hoteliers hoping for more Chinese demand.
Overtaking Malaysia and Australia to clinch the No. 3 spot was India, which had 94,332 people coming to Singapore in October. This was up from 81,014 in the preceding month.
Malaysia, which came in fourth, posted 88,641 international arrivals, down from 89,384 in September. Australia, which rounded out the top five, was the source of 88,032 visitors, down from 104,497 in the preceding month.
So far in 2023, Singapore has welcomed some 11.3 million visitor arrivals, against the 12 million to 14 million arrivals that STB expects THE BUSINESS TIMES
