March visitor number to Singapore hits 17-year low amid pandemic
Singapore
THE number of visitors to Singapore in March plunged 85 per cent from a year ago to 240,000, the lowest since the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003
Visitors from China, which accounted for 20 per cent of total tourist arrivals in Singapore, numbered just 1,500 as Beijing imposed travel restrictions on its people to contain the coronavirus from spreading.
With movements worldwide severely restricted and the Covid-19 pandemic far from tamed, the downtrend in visitors which started in January is tipped to continue.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB), which released the latest visitor arrival figures on Wednesday, had in February projected a 25-30 per cent drop for the full year.
Revenues from tourism at the same time is also forecast to fall "roughly in line" with the decline in visitor numbers.
The last time the number fell to last month's low level was at the peak of the Sars outbreak in April and May 2003, when there were only 217,000 and 191,000 visitors respectively.
March's number shows that Indonesia (46,500) accounted for the biggest number of visitors to Singapore, followed by the United Kingdom (20,600) and Australia (18,700).
For the first three months of 2020, Singapore received some 2.7 million visitors, down 43 per cent from the same period last year.
Because of travel restrictions on both sides, Singapore was losing an average 18,000 to 20,000 international visitors - mostly from China - every day in February.
The total number of international visitors in Singapore rose to hit 19.1 million in 2019, up from 18.5 million in 2018, with about one fifth, or 3.6 million, of them from China.
Compared to Sars, Covid-19 is more destructive. Sars was confined mostly to Asia, but the latest viral attack is global in nature and more sustained.
Singapore's tourism is being hit harder, with travel now having ground to a halt and attractions and entertainment venues forced to close during the circuit breaker period, which has been extended to June 1.
The tourism business picked up about seven to eight months after the World Health Organisation declared Singapore Sars-free.
STB expects the recovery this time to take longer.
Meanwhile, the government has put in place a S$22 million fund to help the tourism sector prepare for recovery. The money will go to pay for some marketing costs, to support training and to acquire digital tools.
But in a Facebook post, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said that it would take more than just industry help schemes for the local tourism sector to recover.
Noting the deep impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the sector, Mr Chan, who participated in a special video conference meeting of Asean tourism ministers earlier in the day, said that Singapore has to work with its neighbouring countries on three issues.
Firstly, together with them Singapore has to elevate and harmonise health and hygiene standards for the tourism sector to boost confidence in the region.
"Secondly, as we jointly promote South-east Asia as a regional destination and draw strength from our connectivity, we must also be aware that any weak link among us will affect the perceptions on all of us collectively," he said. "We must maintain the connectivity of our air, land and sea links and preserve the landing rights with respective members."
Thirdly, Singapore must work with Asean countries to build up their technological capabilities and common infrastructure in areas like contact tracing and adoption of digital systems to facilitate travel.
"Even as we are working together to deal with the crisis, we are also looking ahead to plan for post-pandemic recovery plans to restore Asean's connectivity, tourism, normal business and social activities," Mr Chan added.
