Singapore tourist arrivals hit new post-Covid record of 816,758 in October

SINGAPORE’S international visitor arrivals rose for the ninth straight month in October to set another monthly record since the start of the pandemic, going by Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) latest figures.

But observers anticipate that growth momentum may moderate further from early next year, should business and consumer confidence become dented by rising costs and outweigh the pent-up demand for travel.

“We have yet to see the impact (of inflation) on the current business and consumer sentiment, as the pent-up need to travel continues to outweigh any concerns. However, we expect the mood to shift early next year, especially if high inflation continues to persist,” said Govinda Singh, executive director for Asia hotels and leisure at Colliers.

There were 816,758 arrivals in October, up from 782,076 visitors recorded in September, though the latest figure remains below the 1.5 million visitors recorded in September 2019 before the pandemic.

The number of international visitor arrivals to Singapore is expected to grow at a gradual pace in the coming months, with another increase in December, as is customary during the year-end holidays, noted observers.

“Historically, Singapore visitor arrivals tend to spike in December. We expect a relatively similar trend this year with more visitor arrivals expected during the holiday period,” said Wong Xian Yang, Singapore head of research at Cushman & Wakefield.

Should the economic environment continue to deteriorate, businesses and individuals may then choose to tighten their purse strings and become more prudent with their spending. “So we could see higher growth in visitor arrivals in December before setting back to a gradual growth rate in Q1 2023,” added Wong.

Indonesia clinched first place as the biggest source of arrivals for the seventh straight month, sending some 133,408 travellers in October, up from 120,165 recorded in the previous month.

India held its second place ranking also for the seventh consecutive month, sending 81,774 of its ranks, though this was down from the 86,371 travellers that came in September.

There were 77,088 visitors hailing from Malaysia, down from 81,914 a month ago. Meanwhile, Australia sent 73,718 visitors in October, down from 83,047 recorded in September. Both countries came in third and fourth place respectively.

As China’s reopening plans remain uncertain, the analysts do not foresee Chinese arrival numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels any time soon. Collier’s Singh does not expect arrivals of China tourists to reach pre-Covid levels before the end of 2024.

Once Singapore’s biggest inbound market from 2017 to 2019, China sent just 14,971 visitors in October, though this was still slightly more than a month ago when 14,124 visitors from there arrived in Singapore.

“It will take a while more before visitor arrivals could return to pre-Covid levels due to headwinds, such as increasing costs, rising global economic uncertainties and China’s travel restrictions,” said Wong.