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Singapore recorded 330,000 international visitor arrivals (IVA) and an estimated S$1.9 billion in tourism receipts in 2021.

Year-on-year decline

According to a press release from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Singapore's tourism sector recorded overall year-on-year declines in IVA and tourism receipts (TR), largely due to the effect of strong tourism performance in the first two months of 2020.

In the first two months of 2020, Singapore received 2.4 million IVA. Overall in 2020, IVA stood at 2.7 million while TR reached S$4.8 billion.

IVA increased 221 per cent in the last three quarters of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

TR for the second and third quarters of 2021 was 92 per cent higher than the same period in 2020.

Top visitors to Singapore

However, the introduction of various travel arrangements like the Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) has encouraged the gradual return of international travellers.

The top three visitor source markets in 2021 were China (88,000), India (54,000) and Indonesia (33,000).

Between January and September 2021, TR reached S$1.2 billion, as visitors from China, Indonesia and India contributed S$432 million, S$127 million and S$58 million respectively.

Focus on domestic tourism

According to STB, domestic consumption has also been strong, as the tourism sector pivoted to develop new and innovative experiences for locals.

During this period the tourism sector focused on domestic tourism supported by STB initiatives.

This includes the SingapoRediscovers campaign and the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV) scheme.

STB also has partnerships to support domestic tourism, including a collaboration with Mastercard on the "Rediscover Priceless Singapore" campaign.

The campaign leveraged consumer insights, spending behaviour and trends to promote local tourism businesses.

A three-year partnership with DBS also tapped on DBS's data analytics capabilities to curate itineraries, destination content and promotions, to encourage locals to explore Singapore.

Top image by Scribbling Geek via Unsplash