Singapore Visitor Arrivals Figures - March 2004

Singapore welcomed 625,603 visitors in March 2004, registering a 12% growth in visitor arrivals over the same period a year ago. Contributing to this overall rise in visitor arrivals were increases in both the business and holiday segments.

Building on the growth momentum, which started showing since February 2004, business-related arrivals in March registered a 17% rise when compared to the same period a year ago. In particular, business arrival figures for China (+42%), the USA (+28%), the Philippines (+25%) and South Korea (+21%) posted higher growth than the average 17% growth figure.

Holiday arrivals from Thailand (+48%), the Philippines (+45%) and Indonesia (+35%) achieved strong double-digit growth, pushing up overall year-on-year (y-o-y) holiday arrival figures in March by 11%.

Country Performance

Indonesia, China and Japan were Singapore's top-three markets in March 2004, accounting for 37% of the total number of visitors for the month. In addition, arrivals from Thailand (+29%), the Philippines (+28%), and Indonesia (+22%) posted the strongest y-o-y growth rates compared to other visitor-generating markets.

The launch of low-cost travel packages, the opening of STB's regional office in Medan, and the increased flight capacity by Lion Air, SilkAir and Garuda Indonesia were several factors that may have contributed to strong holiday arrivals from Indonesia (+35%) during March 2004. The number of first-time and repeat visits also grew y-o-y by 39% and 20%, respectively. Singapore welcomed 126,000 visitors from Indonesia in March 2004 - this is a 11% rise over the pre-SARS figure in March 2002.

Business-related arrivals from China registered impressive growth (+42%) in March, as did non-group package arrivals (+33%). A social visa scheme, enabling 43 appointed travel agents across China to process visas for individuals travelling to Singapore - provided the push early this year for Singapore to tap the free and easy (F&E) market segment. The strong business arrival figures helped mitigate the effect of a 6% decrease in holiday arrivals, resulting in an overall decline in total China visitor arrivals of just 1%. Singapore welcomed 53,000 visitors from China in March 2004 - this is a 25% rise over the pre-SARS figure in March 2002.

The increase in holiday (+48%) and business-related (+17%) arrivals from Thailand in March may be attributed to consistent marketing efforts and low cost flights, which also pushed first-time (+37%) and repeat-visit (+29%) figures to achieve double-digit, y-o-y growth. Non-group package arrivals, which made up 30% of total arrivals from the country, rose 43% over the same period last year. Singapore welcomed 28,000 visitors from Thailand in March 2004 - this is a 22% rise over the pre-SARS figure in March 2002.

Business-related arrivals from the USA in March represented 46% of the overall number of visitors from the country. The strong y-o-y growth experienced in the business segment (+28%) may be partly attributed to the momentum created by the Asian Aerospace exhibition, which was held in late February. In addition, first-time and repeat visits from the USA grew by 13% and 18%, respectively.

The overall visitor arrival figure for Australia registered a 14% y-o-y growth in March, with holiday and business-related arrivals also growing by 16% and 11%, respectively. Such growth may be attributed to the strong Australian currency; STB's joint-marketing efforts with industry partners; and pent-up demand for travel after the health scares and travel restrictions of 2003. Repeat visits, which accounted for 77% of total arrivals from Australia, grew by 14%.

A range of tactical promotions with various stakeholders in the UK pushed holiday and business-related arrival figures up by 9% and 11%, respectively. The promotions had also spurred first-time (+12%) and repeat visits (+11%), contributing to the overall 12% y-o-y growth in visitor arrivals.

Visitor arrivals from Japan registered a slight decline of 3% in March 2004. This is noteworthy because it is the smallest y-o-y decline since the global SARS outbreak in March last year. Business-related arrivals showed the most potential for reaching full recovery as it posted a 15% y-o-y growth, indicating the resilience of the business travel segment. Repeat visitors, representing 52% of total arrivals from Japan, also made their presence felt with a 3% rise in March 2004.

Hotel Industry Performance

The average occupancy rate (AOR) for Singapore hotels in March 2004 is estimated to reach 80%. This is a 9 percentage-point improvement from March 2003 and a 2 percentage-point improvement over March 2002.

The estimated S$79 million collected in total room revenue for March 2004 translates into a 6% increase over the same period in 2003. Preliminary figures for the average room rate stands at S$118.

See also: Singapore Visitor Arrival Figures for February 2004.