Singapore is steadily increasing its appeal to international travellers and tourists and not just for its great shopping destinations but for good local food.
Based on a recent survey conducted by Twitter, 25 percent of travellers, from a total of 7,500 Twitter users across 13 countries, have visited Singapore.
From the rankings, Singapore placed tenth while Japan, China and Thailand came in ninth, fifth and third respectively. Four out of the top ten countries from the list are from Asia making it a prominent tourist and travel choice. Meanwhile, the top two spots are held by the US and UK.
Malaysia and India hold the highest proportion of travellers that have visited Singapore while the highest percentage of those who want to visit in the future come from the UK.
Contrary to popular belief, world-class beauty, natural environments, rich history and heritage did not make it to the top main reasons why Singapore is travelled to. Instead, good food, wine, local cuisine and produce is why people visit Singapore. This is also the main selling point for people who have not but want to visit the country in the future.
What exactly is this good food that tourists are so attracted to and locals are proud of? To name some are: Chilli Crabs (crabs cooked with a sweet, spicy tomato-like chilli sauce eaten with fried mantous or buns), Bak Kut Teh (broth made of meat bone), Kaya Toast (traditional Singaporean breakfast made of toasted bread topped with coconut or egg and butter usually paired with soft boiled eggs) and Hainanese Chicken Rice (Singapore’s national dish consisting of succulent chicken served with fragrant rice and a spicy chilli sauce).
The local delicacies, which successfully integrates different influences from Chinese, Indian and Malaysian heritage, can usually be found in hawker centres, the food courts of Singapore. For the best culinary cultural immersion experience, one must dine at a hawker centre because it does not get more authentic than that.
Another important criteria for choosing a destination that Twitter travellers indicated in the survey are safety and security. The reason why there are so many returnees in Singapore is because they have experienced just what they were looking for in “The Lion City”.