More Chinese tourists travelling to S'pore for Golden Week holidays in Oct. 2024

More Chinese tourists are reportedly opting to travel to Singapore for their Golden Week holidays, which spans from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7.

More demand during China's Golden Week

Local tour operators and travel platforms said that demand from mainland Chinese travellers has surged or even doubled for Golden Week, and is expected to remain strong till the end of the year, The Straits Times reported.

China holds an annual week-long celebration of its National Day, which falls on Oct. 1.

Most of the Chinese tourists interviewed by ST at Merlion Park on Oct. 1 were from Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen.

Some said that they chose to holiday in Singapore for the food, familiarity with the language, and the fact that it is a short flight away.

Others said they wanted a “change of scenery” from their home cities or were drawn by Singapore’s reputation as a “garden city”.

Over 403,000 Chinese tourists visited Singapore in August

In May, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said that Singapore's tourism has rebounded strongly since the pandemic, and forecasted that between 15 and 16 million international tourists will visit Singapore in 2024.

Singapore has seen almost 1.9 million mainland Chinese tourists since the start of the year, reaching about 85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

2.2 million Chinese tourists visited during the same period in 2019.

In August alone, over 403,000 Chinese tourists visited Singapore, which is more than the next three countries (Indonesia, India and Australia) combined.

Surge in Chinese tourists after visa-free agreement

Travel platform Klook told ST that the number of Chinese tourists who booked services like tours and attractions almost doubled between June and August, compared with the previous three months.

This comes after a mutual 30-day visa-free arrangement between Singapore and China came into effect on Feb. 9, 2024.

Tour agency Chan Brothers Travel said that since the arrangement came into effect, it has received a significant surge in inquiries and bookings, ST reported.

In preparation for an influx of tourists, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has restricted visitors from food courts and bus shuttle services from Sep. 30 to Oct. 7.

Students had previously voiced their frustrations about the impact of campus tourism in NUS, with some saying that tourists tried to board the buses even though there were signs pasted on the doors to deter them from doing so.

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Top image from Jayakumar Thirugnanasambantham / Facebook