Singapore's hotel occupancy rate is at its highest at 93.8 percent in July, 2019, since records began in 2005.

The reason? Travellers and corporate events are switching over to Singapore from unrest-plagued Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been embroiled in massive anti-government protests since June 2019, with the city experiencing widespread unrest.

This latest bump in occupancy rate is up from 92.5 percent a year ago.

Singapore benefitting from Hong Kong protests, say analysts

Data published by Singapore Tourism Board showed that hotels in Singapore had also enjoyed the highest revenue per room in nearly four years.

According to a Reuters report, trend analysts and hoteliers had opined that the surge was contributed by conferences hopping from Hong Kong as protests became increasingly violent.

Hong Kong has been Singapore's long-time rival as a business hub in Asia.

"Singapore may benefit twice as much from the Hong Kong fallout as both (of) these destinations share similar traits," an analyst said.

Business conferences flocking to Singapore

Reuters reported that the Global Wellness Summit, which expected a total of approximately 600 health and beauty industry delegates, had initially scheduled their gathering in Hong Kong around mid-October.

The summit had recently shifted from Hong Kong to Singapore, as the move was to ensure travel is as seamless as possible.

Marcus Hanna, the general manager of Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford, said that he had received a number of enquiries from businesses looking to move their events out of Hong Kong.

Hanna added that he had a business group of 60 guests switch over from Hong Kong to Singapore for a five-night stay last month.

As Hong Kong enters its 14th week of mass protests, several countries have issued travel advisories to defer non-essential travel to the troubled city.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore had advised citizens to avoid travelling to Hong Kong amid the protests in August, resulting in three public universities suspending their ongoing student exchange programmes with universities in Hong Kong.

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