It was a great year for the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

In its 2018 year-in-review on Wednesday morning (Feb 13), STB announced the good news that tourists arrivals and tourism receipts grew for the third consecutive year.

Record tourist arrivals and spending

Visitor arrivals rose by 6.2 per cent from 2017 to an estimated 18.5 million, with tourism receipts increasing by one per cent to S$27.1 billion (preliminary estimate) -- an impressive performance.

14 out of Singapore’s top 15 markets registered growth in visitor arrivals in 2018.

In fact, tourists from seven countries hit a record high -- China (six per cent increase), India (13 per cent increase), the Philippines (six per cent increase), UK (13 per cent increase), U.S. (14 per cent increase), Vietnam (11 per cent increase) and Germany (four per cent increase).

China, Indonesia and India continued to be the top three contributing markets for visitor arrivals to Singapore.

Not everything is rosy though

But tourism receipts did not keep pace with the record tourism arrivals.

While there was an overall growth in visitor spending, tourist spending for the first three quarters  (Jan - Sep) showed mixed performance in the various sectors.

While there was an increase in spending for sightseeing, entertainment and gaming, there was a notable drop in the spending for shopping, accommodation and food and beverage.

Of some concern is the double figure drop (14 per cent) in shopping to S$4,055 million.

In response, STB's CEO Keith Tan provided several reasons, including the global phenomenon of reduced tourist spending and currency depreciation:

“We know that in 2018, eight of our 14 top source markets saw their currencies depreciate to the lowest level against the Sing dollar since 2015.”

To address this challenge, STB will work with retailers to bring in new brands and concepts to Singapore.

Furthermore, local designers are given a boost with Design Orchard, a 2.5 storey fashion and lifestyle space in Orchard Road, which Tan calls an "unparalleled location [to promote themselves]". 

Ready for the slightly gloomy 2019

For 2019, STB forecasts tourism receipts to be in the range of S$27.3 to S$27.9 billion (an increase of one to three per cent from 2018) and international visitor arrivals to be in the range of 18.7 to 19.2 million (and increase of one to four per cent).

STB, however, noted the volatility of the global political and economic environment as well as stiffer regional competition.

Hence, STB is adopting a diversification strategy to attract tourists beyond China, Indonesia, and India.

And the good news is that Canada, France, and Cambodia have registered double digit percentage growth (23 per cent, 17 per cent, and 26 per cent respectively) in arrivals.

Top image from Getty Images

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