Singapore tourism recovers strongly
The Singapore Tourism Board recently announced that it is estimated that the number of international tourists visiting Singapore in 2023 will reach 12 million to 14 million, which will bring about 18 billion to 21 billion Singapore dollars in tourism revenue; the number of tourists and tourism revenue will return to the level of the 2019 new crown. The level before the epidemic was about 67% to 75%; the possibility of a full recovery of the tourism industry in 2024 is very high.
In 2022, the Singapore tourism market will gradually restart and recover. According to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board, the number of inbound tourists in 2022 will increase 19 times from 330,600 in 2021 to 6.3 million, surpassing the tourism bureau’s previous estimate of 4 million to 6 million. Tourists have recovered from the epidemic. The top 33% level.
From January to September 2022, Singapore’s tourism revenue totaled 8.96 billion Singapore dollars. It is estimated that the annual tourism revenue in 2022 will reach 13.8 billion to 14.3 billion Singapore dollars, an increase of 6 to 7 times compared with 1.89 billion Singapore dollars in 2021. Return to the level of about 50% to 52% before the new crown epidemic in 2019.
The Singapore government has taken multiple measures to accelerate the recovery of the tourism industry. In April 2022, the government announced the allocation of nearly S$500 million to stimulate the recovery of the tourism industry. The Tourism Bureau announced a few days ago that it plans to allocate 110 million Singapore dollars from this budget in the next two years to launch more commercial and leisure activities to attract tourists back. In order to make health and wellness one of the tourism highlights in Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board released a call for expressions of interest on November 23, 2022, planning to develop a health and wellness attraction on the south coast of Singapore.
Wang Lingli, executive director of sports and wellness tourism of the Singapore Tourism Board, said that in recent years, more and more tourists put their health at the top of all considerations. The development of a health and wellness attraction in the Marina South area with Gardens by the Bay and Marina Barrage is expected to contribute to Singapore’s tourism industry and economy, allowing tourists to spend and stay longer in Singapore.
Chen Jianlong, director of the Singapore Tourism Board, said that in the next few years, health and wellness will become an important part of Singapore’s tourism products. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised public awareness and needs for physical and mental health. To this end, the MGTO has been promoting health and wellness programs to the local public and international tourists for the past two years. In June 2022, the Singapore Tourism Board held the first Health and Wellness Festival, providing the public with more than 130 various health activities and experiences.
Singapore will continue to provide tourists with new travel experiences. In addition to the newly opened Singapore Children’s Museum, Avatar World at Gardens by the Bay, Sentosa Central Beach Bazaar, ArtScience Museum’s new “Explore New Frontiers” exhibition hall, and the new amphitheater at Night Safari, the Tourism Bureau will support The development and renewal of projects such as the bird park in Wantai Wildlife World has made Singapore an attractive international travel destination.
According to the plan, Singapore will formulate relevant industry standards for the sustainable development of the conference, exhibition and incentive tourism industry within 2023, and focus on improving waste disposal and carbon emissions to further optimize the tourism environment.
The recovery of Singapore’s tourism industry has accelerated the recovery of the aviation industry. The data shows that as of December 18, 2022, Changi Airport’s passenger traffic has recovered strongly, with as many as 150,000 passengers received every day, and about 1 million passengers per week, which is equivalent to about 75% of that before the new crown epidemic. The number of jobs has also returned to about 90% of the level before the epidemic.
Data show that from January to October 2022, Singapore has received 23.6 million passengers, equivalent to 42% of the pre-epidemic figure, and 170,000 flights, 53% of the pre-epidemic figure. The rapid recovery of the tourism industry has also driven the pace of recovery in industries such as accommodation, transportation, catering and shopping.
The Singaporean government and tourism industry have high hopes for the Chinese market. Ke Shudan, assistant director of the International Department of the Singapore Tourism Board, said that a survey by a Chinese travel platform shows that Singapore’s safety index ranks among the top three in the world, which is one of the reasons why Singapore is so popular among Chinese tourists. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 3.6 million people from China traveled to Singapore for vacation each year. As China relaxes its border policies, it is expected that the number of Chinese tourists this year will recover to 30% to 60% of that in 2019.
Ke Shudan pointed out that next, the tourism bureau will pay close attention to the further signals released by China’s outbound travel policy in order to respond to changes in tourist demand. In addition to strengthening partnerships with Chinese online travel platforms and travel agencies such as Ctrip, the Singapore Tourism Board will actively prepare to receive Chinese tourists in response to new trends in Chinese outbound travel.
Looking forward to the tourism market in 2023, the Singapore Tourism Board is confident that as long as the global economy does not experience a significant recession that affects public income, and there are no new large-scale deadly outbreaks, the recovery of the tourism industry will be faster than expected. (Cai Bentian, correspondent in Singapore)