SINGAPORE - While the vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) have largely benefited the tourism scene here, their spillover effects are not equally distributed yet.

Some tourism players here are seeing a stronger rebound in business travel, while leisure travel is still slow to return.

Singapore Hotel Association president Kwee Wei-Lin said hotels here have been seeing healthy arrivals from the United States, Europe and Australia.

"We see a greater rebound for business travel. Based on current safe management measures, it is more favourable for visitors who must be in Singapore for business meetings," said Ms Kwee, adding that the Covid-19 rules in Singapore make visitors' leisure experiences less appealing.

The silver lining is that the average length of stay has increased beyond two to three nights, compared with 2019 figures, she said.

Ms Rivero Delgado, area vice-president of Singapore, Malaysia, and Maldives for Marriott International, said it is seeing business travel returning from the US and Australia, and increasingly from countries such as India.

"Today, we're seeing business travel return to 25 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and forecasting this to slowly increase as traveller confidence returns," she said, adding that while there have also been some signs of leisure travel, it is making a slower return.

Marina Bay Sands said it has also seen an overall uptick in bookings from its key leisure markets, and is also seeing increased interest in business travel.

Hotel chain The Garcha Group said occupancy at its hotels has risen 10 per cent since the VTLs were launched, although this is mainly from business travellers.

Chairman Satinder Garcha said the chain hopes to see more tourists as it has not been seeing many leisure travellers yet.

Occupancy at its hotels, including The Vagabond Club, remains low, and additional revenue brought in by VTLs are not enough to cover costs.

He said: "Given that there's a pent-up demand for travel by Singaporeans, we are starting to see more Singaporeans thinking of travelling abroad as global travel rules ease, but yet we do not see equal demand for travellers to Singapore."

Relaxing group size limits and allowing travellers to enter regardless of where they come from are some things that the authorities can do to help to attract more people here, he added.

The lack of leisure travellers may hit some players harder, such as attractions and tour operators that rely more on leisure travel.

Dr Kevin Cheong, chairman of Association of Singapore Attractions, said the VTLs have mainly drawn business travellers, as well as those visiting friends and relatives. Attractions, which are still trying to contain costs, are not seeing a significant uptick in tourists.

"Tourism and travel will recover, but the question is when will we see meaningful recovery levels that will impact our bottom line and cash flow?" he said.

He added that it would be counterproductive to attract visitors here but yet place restrictions on their dining and movement.

The founder of tour operator Let's Go Tour Singapore, Mr Robin Loh, said foreigners now still make up only 1 per cent of its customers, with the rest being locals.

"The pace of overseas guests coming in definitely has not caught up with what it could be. We're definitely very happy with the VTLs, but the reality is that the influx of these people is just not enough to sustain business," said Mr Loh.

Unclear Covid-19 travel rules in the region can also deter leisure travellers from coming here as some tend to visit a few Asian countries in a single trip, he added.

But with Singapore's plan to introduce a simplified vaccinated traveller concept, as well as the expansion of its VTLs, things may soon look up.

This is encouraging for the sector, said Mr Ong Kian Ann, director of business development at Gardens by the Bay.

It has seen more than a fourfold increase in overseas visitors since the launch of VTLs, although numbers to its ticketed attractions have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Mr Ong said: "We look forward to further easing of requirements for travel, though this has to be done gradually, given the uncertainties regarding how the virus is still evolving, and the load that our healthcare system can support."

Ms Cinn Tan, chief sales and marketing officer of Pan Pacific Hotels Group, said the vaccinated traveller concept, if implemented well, would significantly aid in economic recovery.

The group has already seen some good news. About 44 per cent of its bookings for its Pan Pacific Singapore hotel this month came from international guests, compared with 22 per cent last month.

In December last year, only 8 per cent of its bookings across all its hotels came from international guests.

Ms Tan said: "Singapore is heavily dependent on its tourism economy, and safely opening up our borders to vaccinated travellers would go a long way in reviving our sector."