Ajit Karn
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced last week that the city-state received over 2,9 million visitors in the first three months of this year, exceeding expectations.
This represents 62 percent of the 4.7 million individuals who visited Singapore in the first three months of 2019.
193,230 of them originated from India, which is approximately three-and-a-half times more than the 54,530 who arrived in 2022. After Indonesians (523,300), Malaysians (278,915), and Australians, Indian residents are the fourth largest source of first-quarter tourist arrivals. (265,730). At 168,960, Americans were the fifth greatest group of visitors by country of origin.
China, which was the largest source of tourists for Singapore in 2019 with over 3.75 million visitors, has not yet returned in full, ranking as the ninth largest group of tourists in Q1 with a total of 124,560 visitors.
According to data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, nearly 170 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad in 2019.
Although China has suspended travel restrictions, countries such as South Korea and Japan imposed burdensome travel procedures on Chinese citizens earlier this year, dampening the enthusiasm for outbound travel.
This has been made worse by delays in passport renewals and visa applications, as well as Chinese airlines’ inability to operate the same number of flights as before COVID. According to data from the Alibaba-owned travel booking website Fliggy, international flights out of China were less than 10% of 2019 levels in February.
In addition, three years of COVID-19 restrictions have altered the travel preferences of Chinese citizens, with many now content to explore the vast and varied attractions in their own country.
Wolfgang Georg Arlt, founder and chief executive of COTRI (Chinese Outbound Tourism Research Institute), was quoted by CBNC at the world’s largest tourism trade fair, ITB Berlin, as saying, “The Chinese tourists we will welcome this year and in the years to come are very different from those who have come before.” COTRI is a German-based independent consulting firm.
In China, as elsewhere, years of pandemic-induced lockdowns prompted a shift from main tourist attractions to “more nature- and outdoor-oriented tourism,” according to Arlt. He emphasized the emergence of camping and glamping as well as family-oriented vacations.
This year, COTRI predicts that Chinese outbound travel will recover to approximately two-thirds of 2019’s numbers, with approximately 110 million travels abroad.
In the meantime, the Singapore Tourism Board is launching new tourism-boosting activities and attractions without waiting for Chinese tourists to return.
STB and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have announced the establishment of an SGD 10 million (USD 7.5 million) Singapore On-screen Fund to promote tourism to Singapore through television series and films. The purpose of the fund is to assist international media and entertainment (M&E) partners in marketing Singapore through international television and cinema programming.
The Singapore On-screen Fund will support selected projects by leading M&E companies that are situated in Singapore and are released before the first quarter of 2027. Successful projects will receive funding support for up to 30% of qualifying costs associated with featuring Singapore, including production and marketing expenses.
This is in part inspired by past collaborations that produced films like “Crazy Rich Asians,” the popular K-drama “Little Women (2022),” and the HBO sci-fi smash success “Westworld Season 3.” (2020). These performances had an international impact and left a favorable impression on audiences everywhere.
Also just announced in April is the resumption of the Free Singapore Tour, which is extremely popular among Indian and Australian and Indonesian tourists. The tour was halted due to COVID. This tour is organized by STB and Changi Airport for Changi Airport transit passengers with a layover of at least five and a half hours but less than twenty-four hours. Additionally, they must possess legitimate entry visas for Singapore in order to join the tours.
The purpose of these free excursions is to encourage transit passengers to make Singapore their next vacation destination.
The original three excursions, the City Sights Tour, the Heritage Tour, and the Jewel Tour, have been updated to include new points of interest. A brand-new Changi Precinct tour will introduce tourists to the fascinating sights and sounds of the eastern area encircling Changi Airport in Singapore. Each tour will last two and a half hours and will be offered daily, with intentions to offer nine tours per day.
Over 80,000 passengers participated in the Free Singapore Tour in 2019.
The five-year stationing of a brand-new Disney Cruise Line ship in Singapore beginning in 2025 is another thrilling development. On March 29, a memorandum of understanding was announced between STB and Disney Cruise Line.
The 208,000 gross ton ship with a passenger capacity of approximately 6,000 and a crew complement of 2,300 will take passengers on cruises around Southeast Asian countries, which are home to more than 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
During the five-year period, the Disney Cruise Line ship has the potential to attract millions of additional local and international cruise passengers, as well as fly-cruise passengers who arrive in Singapore by air. It is also anticipated to generate significant economic collateral benefits.
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“We are excited to welcome Disney Cruise Line to Singapore in 2025,” stated Keith Tan, CEO of STB. “This is a significant milestone for STB and a testament to Disney Cruise Line’s confidence in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The new Disney cruise ship will be an attraction unto itself and is anticipated to enhance Singapore’s tourism industry for many years.”
