Large crowds from S'pore to JB over long weekend, but stores report less-than-expected bump in sales

Despite the stream of visitors travelling from Singapore to Johor Bahru (JB) over the three-day National Day weekend, several JB businesses reported underwhelming sales.

There were long queues and congested traffic at the Singapore-Johor Causeway from Aug. 7 to 8, resulting in heavy traffic on the roads of JB as well, Shin Min Daily News reported.

However, this surge in visitors did not translate to a significant increase in revenue for some stalls.

Less lively business

At a convenience store along the historic Jalan Tan Hiok Nee street, customer traffic only went up by about 10 per cent compared to the week before.

While there were regular streams of customers at the store, there were no long queues or crowds.

A similar situation was experienced even at Hiap Joo Bakery, a Singapore tourist-favourite stop famous for its banana cakes.

An employee at the bakery told Sinchew that during long weekends in the past, the store would be crowded with tourists, with long queues at the counter.

But this National Day weekend was less lively than anticipated, and the number of customers was similar to a normal weekend, which surprised the employee.

Some business owners told Sinchew they believe tourists in JB now have more options for shopping and dining during the long weekend.

They might visit various shopping malls across the city, travel out of central JB to popular towns such as Skudai, or even further to other cities and states.

More heritage and temple visitors

Outside of retail, some heritage sites in JB saw a greater increase in visitors over the holiday weekend.

An employee at the Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum said they saw a good number of visitors on Aug. 7 and 8, most of them individual tourists.

They anticipated it to grow over the weekend to at least 20 per cent more visitors than the week before.

The various Buddhist and Taoist temples in Batu Pahat also drew more tourists than usual, many of them arriving from Singapore.

A staff member at one of the temples told China Press that most of the visitors came in groups to offer incense and prayers.