Corporate bookings, shorter festive lead-up boost CNY dining demand

SINGAPORE’S restaurants and hotels are seeing strong Chinese New Year (CNY) dining demand this year, fuelled by corporate bookings and a shorter lead-up to the festive period.

Estate Restaurant at Hilton Singapore Orchard has seen a nearly 40 per cent increase in dining covers for its lunch and dinner buffets across the CNY Eve and the first four days of the festive period, compared with 2024.

A spokesperson said this could be due to a shorter period between Jan 1 and CNY, which falls on Jan 29 this year – two weeks earlier than in 2024. This “compressed the usual demand” into fewer days, boosting daily covers.