Singapore recorded 3.9 million international visitor arrivals in the second quarter of 2013, representing a 10 per cent year-on-year growth, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Wednesday in its latest tourism sector performance report.

The report also said that tourism receipts increased by 2 per cent to $5.6 billion from the same quarter a year ago.

The overall growth for the second quarter was driven by a 16 per cent increase in leisure visitors. Spending by this group, excluding expenditure on sightseeing and entertainment (including gaming), rose by 11 per cent. The number of business travellers increased by 5 per cent in Q2 2013, but their spending - excluding expenditure on sightseeing and entertainment (including gaming) - fell by 9 per cent, as businesses continued to cut back on travel budgets.

STB also placed the gazetted hotel room revenue at an estimated $0.7 billion. This represented a 3.8 per cent increase compared to the same quarter a year ago.

For the first half of 2013, overall tourism spending was $11.3 billion, a 2 per cent decline over the first half of 2012. This was largely due to the first quarter's weaker performance. International visitor arrivals for January to June 2013 stood at 7.7 million, a 9 per cent growth year-on-year.