Overnight visitors accounted for 72.9% of Singapore’s total arrivals from January to September, reaching 9.22 million, down 3.3% year-on-year, according to an update from the Singapore Tourism Board.
Their average length of stay also fell 2.8% to 3.42 days over the period.
China led Singapore’s tourist source markets in the first nine months of the year with 2.62 million visitors, followed by Indonesia with 1.66 million, Malaysia with 933,820, Australia with 926,570 and India with 868,490.
China was the only market among the top five to record year-on-year growth over the period.
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A youth takes photos at Merlion Park in Singapore, July 14, 2020. Photo by Reuters |
Singapore is increasing public investment in the tourism sector, aiming to attract between 17 million and 18 million visitors in 2026 amid geopolitical tensions and rising competitions from Southeast Asian countries, The Straits Times reported.
However, the worsening haze situation in Singapore due to forest fires in Indonesia has negatively impacted tourism.
Some outdoor tourism businesses in the city-state are seeing bookings fall by up to 30% as customers postpone or cancel services due to the haze that is making the air dangerously unhealthy, The Straits Times reported.
Malaysian low-cost carrier Firefly has extended the suspension of flights between Malaysia’s Subang Airport and Singapore’s Seletar Airport until Oct. 19, marking the 10th consecutive day of cancellations on the route.