Asia (Commonwealth Union)_ While traveling in Singapore last year, Chinese tourists spent a total S$2.3 billion (US$1.7 billion) making them the biggest spender in the city state.
The Chinese mainland topped Singapore’s tourist spending chart with 2.3 billion Singapore dollars, followed by Indonesia and Australia.
Indonesia came in second with tourist spending at S$2.2 billion, and was followed by Australia (S$1.5 billion), The Strait Times reported citing a report from the Singapore Tourism Board.
The report also revealed the island city state’s tourism receipts last year reached around an estimated S$25 billion, surpassing a previous forecast of S$21 billion.
The average length of stay also rose to 3.8 days in 2023, which was higher than 3.4 in 2019.
Singapore received 13.6 million foreign arrivals last year.
The top source markets were Indonesia (2.3 million), China (1.4 million) and Malaysia (1.1 million).
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China and Singapore have agreed to a 30-day mutual visa-free entry for their citizens, which will formally come into force on Feb. 9 – the eve of the Lunar New Year.
The international visitor arrivals of Singapore reached 13.6 million in 2023, about 71% of the level in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Singapore’s Tourism Board (STB) Thursday.
The full-year tourism receipts were estimated to be between 24.5 to 26 billion Singapore dollars (18.3 to 19.4 billion U.S. dollars), beyond STB’s forecast of 18.0 to 21.0 billion Singapore dollars.
Indonesia, the Chinese mainland, and Malaysia were the top visitor sources to Singapore last year, with 2.3 million, 1.4 million and 1.1 million travelers respectively.
Tourism created 72,000 jobs in the city-state, about 88% of the 2019 levels, as of September last year, STB added.
STB expects the tourism market to continue recovering in 2024, driven by improved global flight connectivity and capacity as well as the implementation of the mutual 30-day visa-free travel between China and Singapore.
The international visitor arrivals in 2024 are expected to reach around 15 to 16 million, bringing in approximately 26 to 27.5 billion Singapore dollars in tourism revenue, according to the STB.
