The Singapore Tourism Board recently announced in the first six months of 2016, visits by international tourists increased by 10.3 percent to 11.3 million compared to the same time period in 2015. Total visitor receipts for the period rose 12 percent to .23 billion.
Officials said the increase helped offset a 17 percent drop in earnings from gaming, sightseeing and entertainment to $1.56 billion, which they blamed on a decline in overall gaming revenue from the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa casino resorts.
The board stated “good growth rates from some top source markets,” like China, India and Indonesia, contributed to the increase in international tourism. “The growth in tourism receipts was mostly volume-driven due to a strong growth of visitor arrivals. Another main contributing factor to the tourism receipt growth was the increased spending on shopping, accommodation and food and beverage components,” the board reported, adding, “We observed that there has also been a shift in our visitors’ profile and in their spending patterns for some of our top source markets. “Increasingly, we are seeing more visitors with higher propensity to spend from major cities in markets such as India, Australia and Indonesia spending more on fashion accessories, wellness products, souvenirs, gifts and confectionery.”
According to board figures, visitor numbers from mainland China from January through June 2016 rose by 55 percent over the same period in 2015. Visitor numbers also increased from India and Indonesia but declined from Malaysia and Hong Kong.
