Singapore visitor arrivals, hotel takings fall further in June

SINGAPORE'S visitor arrivals continued to fall in June, with hotel performance also declining as more hotels turned rooms over to stay-home-notice purposes, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) figures released on Friday showed.

But with the pandemic situation hopefully improving and some border reopening potentially on the horizon, hotels will be looking to welcome back staycation guests - and perhaps even more foreign visitors - later this year, said industry analysts.

There were 10,030 arrivals in June, down from 14,190 in May - though this was still more than four times the mere 2,170 visitors a year earlier, during stricter Covid-19 curbs.

Room revenue in June was S$64.3 million, down from S$67.9 million in May. This was despite a rise in revenue per available room to S$74.90 from S$69.60 in May, with the average room rate at S$140.20, up from S$138.60 before.

As more hotels were converted to stay-home dedicated facilities (SDFs) amid a pick-up in Covid-19 cases, available room nights fell to 841,470, from 976,250 the month before. Average occupancy inched up to 53 per cent, from 50 per cent before.

With continued support from the authorities, and as cases hopefully subside, earlier trends might resume, said Jesper Palmqvist, area director for Asia-Pacific at hotel industry research firm STR.

He added some hotels will reopen for staycations "and ultimately get ready for international arrivals once allowed".

The bulk of arrivals in June were from mainland China, which accounted for 6,980. This was followed by Indonesia with 519 arrivals and Malaysia with 410.

STB's arrival figures exclude returning citizens and permanent residents and pass holders, Malaysians arriving by land, non-resident air and sea crew, and air transit passengers.

Hotels will be looking towards potential border reopening later this year, with the government having signalled the possibility of some travel for fully-vaccinated persons from lower-risk countries, said analysts.

"With a potential window for tourism come late Q3 2021 or Q4, hoteliers are taking advantage of this time to undertake capex and prepare for a reopening of sorts," said Colliers executive director for hospitality and leisure Govinda Singh.

JLL Hotels and Hospitality head of transaction advisory services Calvin Li expects demand to be limited to staycations once restrictions lift.

But he adds: "All eyes will be on the government's policy around vaccinated travellers which suggests that there could be some long haul travellers from the US or Europe before the end of the year."

Singapore is likely to be seen more as a corporate and business destination, said Zhang Jia Hao, associate director of CBRE Hotels, Asia-Pacific.

The country's high vaccination rate will help restore confidence in its pandemic policies, and support the recovery of corporate travel, he added.

But with vaccination rates lagging in other Asia-Pacific countries, "we anticipate that leisure travel will not be happening within this year", he said.