November visitor arrivals slip again to 1.1 million as slow China recovery continues
Elysia Tan
SINGAPORE’S international visitor arrivals marked the fourth straight month of declines to come in at 1,100,459 in November, based on the latest figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Friday (Dec 15).
This was 2.3 per cent lower than the 1,125,954 visitors posted in October – but still 34.8 per cent higher than the 816,340 visitors recorded in November 2022.
“Seasonal trends, persistently high airfares and accommodation costs and a slower-than-expected recovery in China outbound continue to weigh on arrivals,” said Govinda Singh, Colliers’ executive director for hotels and leisure in Asia.
Business travel has not fully recovered amid economic uncertainty, so any bump in tourist numbers will be in December as the leisure market returns, he added.
Indonesia again clinched the top spot as a source of visitors, with 184,280 tourists hailing from the country last month, though this was down from 180,881 in October.
The next-largest source country was China, from which 104,347 visitors came in November. This was also a decline, from 122,764 a month earlier.
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China’s economic slowdown and still-below pre-pandemic international flight capacity continue to drag on arrivals from the country, said Singh.
While group travel is starting to recover, Europe remains a preferred destination, he noted, adding: “No doubt news of a rise in Covid cases across South-east Asia would not have helped.”
Malaysia regained its third-place ranking in November as the source of 93,415 tourists, climbing from 88,642 in the month before.
These figures were supported by Deepavali falling on a long weekend, Singh said.
It pushed India down to fourth place, with 90,229 visitors – sliding from 94,332 in the preceding month.
Rounding out the top five was Australia, which was the source of 88,201 visitors in November, slightly higher than 88,033 in October.
In the year to date, Singapore has recorded some 12.4 million visitor arrivals, within the 12 million to 14 million arrivals anticipated by STB for the full year.
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