Hotel occupancy, RevPAR in November highest since pandemic hit

THE Singapore hotel sector has recorded its highest occupancy rates and revenue per available room (RevPAR) since the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the tourism industry.

That's as the Republic welcomed 41,140 visitors in November, nearly double the 23,980 seen in the month before, the latest figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) showed.

November's tourist arrivals were up from 14,750 in the year-ago period, and also the highest seen in 2021 - despite remaining a far cry from the 240,000 travellers in March 2020, when Singapore took the unprecedented step of closing its borders to almost all short-term travel.

Barnabas Gan, economist at UOB, told The Business Times that the spike was likely due to a combination of the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme and improved economic sentiment.

"There are a few drivers. One is VTLs but another is the overall optimism within the region itself, because Covid is no longer foreign," he said. "While we may not have VTLs with the countries that are coming in, that only suggests that people are getting more confident."

Hotel industry room revenue hit S$101.2 million in November, beating the year's previous high-water mark of S$84.9 million in October. But room revenue was still less than one-third of the S$368.5 million in takings in November 2019, before the pandemic.

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Average room rates rose to S$176.19, from S$161.10 in October. RevPAR stood at S$133.23 in November, up from S$103.90 in October and the highest since S$191.53 in January 2020.

Meanwhile, hotel occupancies hit 75.6 per cent in November, up from 64.5 per cent the month before and the highest since 82.9 per cent in January 2020.

Occupancies were highest in the mid-tier segment, at 78.1 per cent, followed by upscale hotels (77.3 per cent), economy hotels (74.9 per cent), and luxury operators (72.4 per cent).

But countries taking part in the VTL scheme - which allows fully vaccinated travellers quarantine-free entry - still accounted for a relatively small fraction of November's arrivals.

Instead, India was the biggest single source of travellers, sending 7,480 of the month's 41,140 visitors. Other key markets included Indonesia (5,750), Bangladesh (4,170), China (3,480) and Malaysia (2,540). Singapore launched VTLs with India, Indonesia and Malaysia only on Nov 29.

On the other hand, there were 2,110 visitors from the United Kingdom and 1,890 from the United States, which were added to the VTL list in mid-October, as well as 1,620 arrivals from Australia, where the VTL began on Nov 8.

Visitors from South Korea, which joined the VTL scheme on Nov 15, made up 1,590 of arrivals, while Germany, which became an inaugural VTL destination in September, sent 1,070 visitors.

Still, Gan warned: "The growth in numbers, especially for the hotels, is no surprise, given the slow reopening of borders. But the bigger question is the outlook for 2022 - and I would still stay cautious simply because of the risk of stricter restrictions."

The STB defines international visitors as people who spend less than a year in Singapore. It excludes returning citizens and permanent residents and pass holders, Malaysians arriving by land, non-resident air and sea crew, and air-transit passengers.