Singapore hotel room rates in October down again amid falling tourist arrivals
They decline 14.6% from September and 2.6% from last year to record first on-year slide since March 2021
Elysia Tan
SINGAPORE hotels’ performance in October fell from September highs, with average room rate (ARR) and other key measures posting sequential declines for the month, latest data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) showed on Monday (Dec 4).
The latest figures came amid a continued downward trend in tourism arrivals, with 1.13 million visitors to Singapore in October.
ARR slipped 14.6 per cent to S$278.08, from September’s S$325.46. It was down 2.6 per cent from the year-ago period, marking the first such on-year decline since March 2021.
Overall hotel room revenue tumbled to S$413.1 million in October, down 16.2 per cent on the month from S$493 million, and up just 1.1 per cent from the year-ago period.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) took a hit, at S$217.05. It fell 19.3 per cent from the preceding month’s S$269 and 9.8 per cent from October 2022. The year-on-year slip was the first since February 2021.
Historically, hotel RevPAR tends to dip month on month in post-F1 October, noted Cushman & Wakefield head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia, Wong Xian Yang.
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This year’s decline in performance was “exaggerated” due to the record highs in September’s ARR and RevPAR, he said.
“Additionally, competition from other Asia-Pacific tourist destinations such as Japan and South Korea could have tempered tourist arrival numbers in Singapore, leading to weaker hotel demand,” Wong added, noting that these destinations are popular from September to November.
October’s average occupancy rate similarly dipped to 78.1 per cent, from the preceding month’s 82.7 per cent. This was the lowest since April this year.
On the year, it was down 6.2 per cent, following September’s 0.1 per cent year-on-year fall.
ARRs declined across all four hotel categories in October. In the luxury segment, the rate slipped sequentially to S$581.75, a drop of more than S$100 from September’s ARR. It was down to S$321.10 in the upscale segment, S$217.49 in mid-tier and S$140.31 in economy.
Based on seasonal patterns, Wong expects RevPAR to remain steady for the rest of the year, before picking up in February 2024 on the back of Chinese New Year festivities.
Based on STB data, in the year to date, room revenue reached S$4.03 billion in October, jumping 61.9 per cent from the corresponding year-ago period.
ARR for the first 10 months of 2023 gained 16.7 per cent to S$282.81, RevPAR rose 28.1 per cent to S$228.55, and the average occupancy rate grew 7.2 per cent to 80.8 per cent.
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