Latest Travel Trends of Affluent Singaporean Travellers

According to Visa’s latest Global Travel Intentions Survey (GTI) Singapore’s affluent travellers want access to internet banking while on holiday.

According to Visa, the term “affluent travellers” as concerns the Visa Global Travel Intentions Study 2013, are travellers with monthly household incomes of Sin$ 11,000 or higher.

The survey shows Singapore’s affluent travellers require constant contact with others with 82% accessing their emails and 61% accessing instant messaging platforms during their travels.

At the same time, activities like sharing photos and surfing the web for leisure are less important among Singapore’s affluent when they travel – these activities have dropped to 37% and 35% respectively.

Predictably, this group also loves their devices, carrying lifestyle devices such as tablets (53%) and e-book readers (14%) as well as higher-end gadgets such as DSLR cameras (43%) when they travel.

Singaporeans are well connected geographically and travel frequently. Affluent Singaporeans have averaged seven annual trips in the last two years, compared to the global average of three trips every two years.

While most Singaporean travellers visit destinations relatively close to home such as Malaysia and Hong Kong, affluent travellers also have plans to venture further abroad to destinations such as Australia and the United States.

Affluent travellers around the world enjoy independent holidays and are more willing to pay extra for someone to help arrange a customized holiday. This is also true of Singaporeans.

“The definition of luxury has evolved, and today it is more about new experiences and personalized service,” Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, said. “While exclusivity and high quality service remain essential in reaching out to the affluent, the new tide of affluent travellers, who are bolder in their choices, demand a sense of adventure and personalized experiences to meet their individual interests. Singapore’s affluent travellers want to discover new places, cultures, and experiences unknown to others.”

Good weather (35%), rich culture (31%) and good attractions (31%) rate as the global affluent traveller’s three most important reasons for destination choice, while Singapore’s affluent travellers choose destinations that offer good food (45%) and are known for good shopping (37%).

With high expenditure destinations such as Hong Kong and Australia increasingly popular, affluent Singaporeans are expected to spend double what they have spent in the past with an average spend of US$5,501, much higher than the regional and global average of US$ 2,501.

Like most groups, affluent Singaporeans spend heavily on retail (28%), dining (26%) and activities (19%).

Singapore’s affluent spend significantly higher than the global average at medium and large retailers, high-end restaurants and on entertainment and nightlife. Some 43% use credit cards to make these purchases – well above the global average of 28%.

Most Singaporeans like to holiday with their families with 71% travelling with relatives, compared to the global average of 69%. However, affluent Singaporeans are twice as likely (16%) to travel alone than other Singaporeans (8%). They are also more likely to travel further and stay longer than other travellers, with 24% (compared to the Singapore average of 13%) flying more than 9 hours for holidays and 37% staying seven nights or more.