In 2018, the number of tourists that visited Singapore allegedly increased by 6.2% annually to reach around 18.5 million and led the small city-state to record almost 1% rise in annual sightseer spend to about $19.95 billion.
Record-setting performance:
As per a GGRAsia report citing preliminary statistics disclosed by the Singapore Tourism Board on Wednesday, 2018 witnessed the tiny nation welcoming a record in terms of numbers of Chinese tourists, the United Kingdom, India, Germany, the Philippines, Vietnam and the United States while additionally mapping year-on-year developments from a further seven countries.
The official statistics revealed that ‘increased flight connectivity’ had led to India charting a remarkable 13.4% boost annually to account for 1.44 million visitors with the figure for China growing 6% to reach almost 3.42 million.
Extended gaming spend:
Singapore is well-known for two of its integrated casino resorts encompassing the giant Resorts World Sentosa development and the nearby Marina Bay Sands venue as the data from the Singapore Tourism Board showed that spending on entertainment, sightseeing and gaming activities had developed by 6% annually. However, this rise was equalized by similar declines of 4%, 5% and 14% from the food and beverage, accommodation and shopping verticals respectively.
Hotel takings:
Chief Executive for the Board, Keith Tan, reportedly explained that last year’s ‘tourism receipts’ metric, which encompasses locally-purchased airfares, ground transportation costs and port taxes along with business, medical and educational expenses, had increased by 21% annually while the collective room revenues had risen by 7.4% to exceed $2.94 billion.
