Traveling to Singapore—According to the Singapore Tourism Board, “encouraging signs of revival” in Singapore’s tourism business.
More than 330,000 visitors flocked to Singapore in 2021, and the country’s tourist authority estimates that tourism receipts will total $1.9 billion Singapore dollars ($1.4 billion).
Singapore received 2.7 million tourists in 2020, who spent roughly $4.8 billion Singapore dollars in that year’s tourism revenue. According to a press release, the “excellent tourism performance in the first two months of 2020” caused a fall in visitor numbers and tourism spending in Singapore’s tourism sector from 2020 to 2021.
To stop the spread of Covid-19, Singapore will close its borders in March 2020.
The Singapore Tourism Board, while acknowledging that last year’s tourism results represent “just a fraction of Singapore’s tourism performance before the pandemic,” said it is witnessing good patterns, such as a rise in the final three quarters of 2021. Singapore.
Compared to the same period in 2020, international visitor arrivals rose 221 percent.
In 2021, the top three source markets for overseas tourists to Singapore will be China (88,000 visitors), India (54,000 visits), and Indonesia (33,000 visitors).
Visitors from China spent SG$432 million, Indonesian visitors spent SG$127 million, while Indian visitors spent SG$58 million between January and September of last year. According to STB, sightseeing, entertainment, and gambling are not included in the numbers.
In 2019, Singapore’s tourism business earned almost SG$28 billion ($21 billion) from tourists.
Even as the tourism industry continues to recover, we must be prepared for setbacks and obstacles. The Singapore Tourist Board CEO, Keith Tan, stated in a statement, “I am certain that the tourism industry has learned from its experiences and is ready to recapture demand when it returns.”
In a recent announcement, Singapore stated it would keep its quarantine-free, vaccinated travel lanes in place to limit the number of visitors it may accept. Caps on the selling of plane tickets will be set at 50% of the allocated allocations.
Nonetheless, certain limits have been eased. Passengers who arrive in the United States via the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) on Jan 24 and want to leave the country for seven days can self-administer quick Covid testing without supervision. It is not necessary to submit your findings.
Several efforts, including the SingapoRediscovers campaign and the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers program, were implemented during the epidemic to encourage domestic travel. Both were launched as part of a strategy to encourage Singaporeans to spend more money on hotels and tourist attractions in 2020.
The Clan, Duxton Reserve, and Oasia Resort Sentosa are just a few new hotels scheduled to open in 2021. Compared to 2020, which had two months of tourism before the borders were closed, the average occupancy rate for Singapore hotels last year was lower by 1%. According to the tourism board, the “cruise-to-nowhere” fad, which began in late 2020, has also boosted the cruise business.
There has been an increase in international visitors since the introduction of VTLs and other new travel arrangements. When it comes to domestic travel, the tourist industry has shifted its focus to creating new and exciting experiences for visitors from the region, according to the tourism board.
For the sake of a full recovery, Singapore plans to build a “Tourism Careers Hub” in 2022 to teach and refresh skills for tourism professionals, enterprises, and people who are interested in going into the industry, STB reports.
An Overview of What It’s Been Like Traveling to Singapore
The number of tourists visiting Singapore fell to a new low in 2021. Still, the implementation of vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) and solid domestic consumption have shown “encouraging signals of recovery,” according to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Tuesday (Jan 25).
Compared to the 2.7 million visitors and S$4.8 billion in tourism receipts in 2020, just 330,000 tourists are expected to arrive in 2021, bringing in an estimated S$1.9 billion in revenue. Only a fraction of the 19 million visitors and S$27.7 billion in revenues from before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 are affected by the current epidemic.
Despite this, STB observed some positives, including growth in the final three quarters of 2021.
Various travel arrangements, such as VTL, have been introduced for international travelers to return.
“Domestic consumption has also been strong, as the tourism sector pivoted to provide fresh and unique experiences for locals,” it stated.
There will be a long time before tourism returns to pre-pandemic levels, says STB CEO Keith Tan. However, it won’t be easy to make any estimates. As a result, “we should not anticipate tourism to return in a predictable and linear form, and we must be prepared for further surprises, good or bad,” he warned.
“However, he is optimistic that the tourism industry has ‘learned from its mistakes, and is positioned to recapture demand when it returns.’ “
Moreover, he said that 100,000 Vaccinated Travel Passes were issued to short-term visitors between September and December of last year, which is a promising start to the return of international travelers.
More than two-thirds of these had already arrived in Singapore by the end of last year.” STB will engage with its government partners to broaden the scope and application of VTLs by finding ways to simplify the documentation requirements. According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), arrivals in the last quarter of 2021 surged by 221 percent compared to the same period in 2020. In the second and third quarters of 2021, tourism receipts virtually doubled compared to the previous year.
China (88,000), India (54,000), and Indonesia (33,000) were the top three countries of origin for overseas visitors to Singapore between January and December.
Visits from China, Indonesia, and India accounted for $432 million, $127 million, and $58 million of the total S$1.2 billion in tourism receipts in the first nine months of 2021.
1.9 million Singaporeans used their vouchers at least once, resulting in voucher transactions totaling S$300 million, of which S$120 million was paid for directly by travelers.
It is not clear how much of an impact public health initiatives had, but Tan added, “But all in all, I’m satisfied with the way it went out to Singaporeans, and I feel it did bring a boost to our businesses in Singapore.” He said the SingapoRediscovers campaign would go on, notwithstanding the closure of the voucher program.
As we relaunch and pick up the pace of international tourism, we will not slack off on domestic tourism. Accordingly, “this year and… maybe even next year, depending on how things evolve,” we’ll have to do a twin strategy.
The Outlook for 2022
We must recognize that Singapore’s tourist industry cannot rely solely on domestic visitors. When foreign travel demand increases, we need to shift our focus back to the international market,” he says. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has stated that it will continue to “inspire tourism to Singapore” in essential source markets and “scale-up efforts.”
For example, the “Welcome Back to Singapore” campaign, a collaboration between STB and Singapore Airlines, and the Changi Airport Group, aims to inspire international travelers’ faith in Singapore.
More countries will be added to the list of countries participating in the campaign in the coming months, including Australia, the United Kingdom, the US, and South Korea.
It is expected that STB and the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) will collaborate closely shortly on an industry-wide road plan to promote hotel sustainability.
STB has also developed a five-year roadmap to help the city-effort states become a premier urban wellness haven, including key strategies and projects to expand Singapore’s wellness offerings.
A wellness festival will be held in June 2022 as part of this initiative. “Investing in future tourism growth by building up critical people competencies” is STB’s goal as the industry prepares for recovery.
In 2022, STB will develop the Tourism Careers Hub in partnership with the labor movement, unions, and other government organizations to train and upgrade tourism workers and enterprises.
Among other things, it will focus on employment matching within the sector and promoting technological innovation. Soon, more information will be available about the Tourism Careers Hub.
