55% jump in China visitors to Singapore in first half of 2016

Singapore

ARRIVALS to Singapore expanded at a double-digit pace of 12.5 per cent year on year in the first half of 2016, although growth appeared to slow in June.

According to preliminary data from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Singapore saw around 8.17 million visitors over the six-month period, with the number of visitors from China leaping by some 55 per cent to 1.47 million.

China emerged as the top source market for travellers, a position traditionally held by Indonesia which accounted for 1.41 million visitors. This is due to the various partnership deals that the STB has hammered out with Chinese online travel services - such as Alitrip - to boost its presence in the Chinese market.

Other source markets where visitor arrivals picked up include Germany, India and Thailand.…