Hotel, tourism-linked stocks could get a lift as visitor arrivals pick up

HOTEL and tourism-linked counters could get a shot in the arm from a boost of visitor flows to Singapore as signs point to a stronger third quarter for the industry.

Visitor arrivals to Singapore increased about 4 per cent in July, taking the total tally of visitors for the first seven months to 11.13 million. This is up 1.8 per cent from the corresponding period last year.

Tourism players say the fillip is likely from the peak travel season as well as the diversion of travellers from Hong Kong. Anecdotally, a number of hotels were said to be trading at close to full occupancy over the past two months.