International Visitor Arrivals To Singapore Fall 2.8 Per Cent

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- International visitor arrivals to Singapore for the first half of 2014 declined by 2.8 per cent year-on-year (yoy) to 7.5 million, due mainly to the fall in Chinese visitor arrivals that stayed for one day or less. In a statement Monday, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said excluding China, visitor arrivals from the other markets grew by 2.3 per cent over the same six-month period. In the first half of 2014, the number of Chinese visitors fell 30 per cent yoy, following the implementation of the new China Tourism Law in October 2013. In addition to China's new tourism law, the tragic disappearance of flight MH370, abduction of Chinese tourists in east Malaysian state, Sabah and political unrests in Thailand all had a dampening effect on Chinese travel to this region. The decline in Chinese visitor arrivals was mostly from those who stayed in Singapore for a day or less. The number of Chinese visitors who stayed for at least two days jumped by 21 per cent yoy to hit 406,000 visitors in the first half of 2014. This resulted in the average length of stay by Chinese visitors increasing by 56 per cent yoy, from an average of 2.7 days in the first half of last year to 4.2 days this year. STB assistant chief executive, policy & planning group, Yap Chin Siang, said the board was heartened to see an increase in Chinese visitors who visited Singapore as a single destination and stay for at least two days. "This shows that we have been reaching out to the right target audience and providing them with an experience that they value and enjoy," he said. Another bright note was in tourism receipts, a more accurate barometer of tourism economic health, he said. Based on STB's tourism performance report for the first quarter of this year, tourism receipts continued to grow at five per cent yoy to hit S$6 billion, while visitor arrivals held steady over the same period. For Chinese visitors in particular, their spending dipped only marginally (-1 per cent) in Q1 2014 though visitor arrivals dropped by 14 per cent. STB said this effect was similarly observed for other countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Japan and the UK. "These positive movements are in line with STB's yield-driven strategy and pursuit of quality tourism," Yap said. --BERNAMA