Tourists return as pandemic ebbs

As tourists and corporate travellers return to Singapore after two years of pandemic restrictions, and hotel owners jostle to capture demand, another nine or so new hotel brands are due to open in the next two years. Signing fresh contracts for new and higher-end hotel brands is one way for hotel owners and brand operators to rejuvenate interest in Singapore, which has fewer hotel brands compared with other cities. This will boost bookings at a time when demand is returning and travellers are increasingly choosing accommodation options that meet their needs.

This increase in hotel options coincides with a post-pandemic surge in visitor numbers. According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the number of inbound tourists rose from 57,000 in January to more than 816,000 in November. With 5.37 million visitor arrivals as at the end of November, Singapore is already within STB’s projection of four million to six million visitor arrivals by the end of 2022. However, this figure is still a fraction of the pre-pandemic high of 19.1 million arrivals in 2019. Aside from Covid-19, factors such as the ongoing war in Ukraine, steep decreases in airline capacities, and a preference for shorter-haul travel within Europe and the United States have contributed to the decline.