Singapore overnight-visitor volume declined by 2.2pct y-o-y to 1.24mln in August: STB

Singapore recorded 1.61 million international visitor arrivals in August, down 1.2 percent sequentially but flat when compared to a year ago, according to the latest data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Overnight visitors accounted for 1.24 million arrivals in August, up nearly 6.0 percent from July, but down 2.2 percent from a year ago. Average length of stay across all international markets during the month was 3.46 days, down 4.2 percent year-on-year. Singapore’s tourism offer includes a casino duopoly consisting of the Resorts World Sentosa property of Genting Singapore Ltd, and Marina Bay Sands, controlled by Las Vegas Sands Corp. In August, the top five source markets for tourists to Singapore were: China (435,440), Indonesia (161,680), Malaysia (94,200), Japan (92,960) and India (87,770). Of the five markets, only China and Malaysia saw a year-on-year growth in contribution during the month, STB’s data indicate. The tally of arrivals from China grew 9.4 percent year-on-year in August, while that from Malaysia was up 6.2 percent. Visitor arrivals from Indonesia and Japan were respectively flat in August versus a year ago. Those from India declined 3.7 percent year-on-year. Of the five top feeder markets in August, only visitors from China and India had an average stay length that was higher than the average 3.46 days seen across all international arrivals. Stay length of visitors from China averaged 3.71 days, while travellers from India logged on average 5.95 days. The city-state’s August arrival numbers took international visitor arrivals of the first eight months of this year to 11.43 million, down 1.7 percent year-on-year. Around 73.2 percent of those overall arrivals – or 8.37 million – were overnight visitors, a cohort that saw a 3.2 percent year-on-year decline. The reported January to August visitor tally represents circa 67.2 percent of the tourism authority’s lower-end full-year forecast of 17 million arrivals, which it announced in a February update about the status of the inbound-tourism sector. The forecast of 17 million to 18 million visitor arrivals for full-year 2026 implies annual growth of between 0.6 percent and 6.5 percent.