Singapore's tourism arrivals, receipts expected to stay weak in 2021: STB

AFTER the toughest year on record, Singapore's tourism arrivals and receipts are still expected to remain weak in 2021, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a statement on Monday.

"Even with the development of several vaccines, it will take time for mass leisure travel and traveller confidence to return," it said.

With the Covid-19 pandemic causing unprecedented global travel restrictions and border closures, visitor arrivals plummeted 85.7 per cent year on year in 2020 to just 2.7 million, "nearly all from the first two months of 2020" before travel curbs tightened.

For the first three quarters of 2020, tourism receipts fell 78.4 per cent to S$4.4 billion. The full-year figures for tourism receipts are not yet available.

"STB remains confident in Singapore's position as one of the world's safest and most attractive leisure and business destination, and the long-term prospects of Singapore's tourism sector," said STB chief executive Keith Tan.

"While mass international travel is unlikely to resume in a major way in 2021, STB will continue to stand together with our industry partners to prepare for recovery and to start building a better and more sustainable future for tourism."

The STB said it will continue to support tourism businesses to sustain and build capabilities, and to innovate to meet evolving consumer needs and emerging travel trends once cross-border travel resumes significantly. It will also support local jobs and create opportunities by building domestic demand.

The SingapoRediscovers campaign, rolled out in July to encourage domestic demand, now has 1,145 promotions offered by 213 merchants as of Dec 31.

And the accompanying S$320 million SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme, launched in December, has already seen over 300,000 Singaporeans using the scheme to make bookings with hotels, attractions, and tours, spending S$35.9 million in voucher redemptions and out-of-pocket payments as of Jan 1.

The STB gave an overview of how activities are gradually resuming in the industry. As of Jan 25, 45 attractions, 270 hotels, and 1,686 tour itineraries have received approval to resume operations.

From November, Singapore piloted cruises with enhanced safety protocols and no ports of call, with 33 cruises carrying over 42,000 passengers completed as of Dec 31, without any reported incidents of Covid-19 transmission on board.

From Oct 1, applications opened for pilot MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events of up to 250 attendees. As of Dec 31, 29 MICE event pilots have been held.

As of Jan 25, the STB has also issued more than 1,390 SG Clean Quality Mark certificates to tourism-related premises.

In its statement, the STB acknowledged the industry's role in Covid-19 efforts. More than 70 hotels have served as stay-home notice (SHN) dedicated facilities at various points since March. As of Dec 31, such facilities have accommodated more than 80,000 persons on SHNs, supported by over 2,300 frontline hotel workers.

In addition, more than 2,000 staff from Resorts World Sentosa served at community care facilities, while Marina Bay Sands donated around 15,000 kg of food to The Food Bank charity and packed 15,000 care kits for migrant workers and low-income families affected by the pandemic.

Cruise ships provided accommodation for more than 8,200 migrant workers who had recovered from Covid-19. About 150 tourist guides have served as Safe Distancing Ambassadors, with this number expected to rise to 250 as more events resume.

Various government schemes have also supported the industry. To date, 260 tourism businesses have benefited from the S$20 million Marketing Partnership Programme launched in April, while 20 projects have received funding from the Singapore Stories Content Fund.

During 2020, over 7,000 tourism businesses received help through the Jobs Support Scheme. There were also 57 grant applications approved for STB support to defray third-party professional cleaning costs by tourism-related establishments hit by Covid-19 cases.