Singapore is the 10th most visited destination in the world. Hotel owners and operators plan to attract approximately 70 million overnight visitors by 2020, up from the approximately 59 million visitors in 2016.
According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), international visitor arrivals to Singapore rose to 4% or 18.1 million this year, following a record-breaking 2017 where the city-state received 17.4 million visitors. The robust tourism performance was greatly highlighted by an increase in visitation from North and South Asia, and in particular China, Indonesia and India.
An additional boost stemmed from the “Crazy Rich Asians” movie which propped up the industry by showing Marina Bay Sands and Raffles Singapore, the iconic colonial-style hotel where the Singapore Sling was invented. With the series of events, including an air show and the ASEAN summit, arrivals puffed up.
While many of the vacationers and tourists to Singapore came from Asia, the Lion City continued to gather curiosity and fascination among travelers from Europe and the US. Tourists from the UK showed the most interest with 32% intending to visit Singapore in the future.
“Expectedly, good food was cited as the top reason that brings travelers to Singapore,” a recent Twitter survey indicated. “Local cuisine, world class beauty and natural environments, and rich history and heritage rank as the top three reasons why Twitter users travel to Singapore.”
Property firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc. said that Singapore’s hotel industry is heading into 2019 in good shape with standard occupancy rates reaching 87% this year, the highest in a decade. On the other hand, Vijay Natarajan, an analyst at RHB Research Institute Singapore Pte. stated that Singapore’s hospitality sector is in an extremely “sweet spot.”
As the Chinese middle-class’ prosperity continues, Singapore will continue to be a major destination as trips to Singapore from China are expected to grow 47.7% or 177.4 million in 2020.
“Visitor arrivals have started to trend upwards in recent years,” fueled by China, Indonesia and India, said , manager of CBRE Hotels for Asia Pacific. “Backed by increased flight and cruise connectivity to Singapore, visitor growth is projected to remain strong in the coming years.