Singapore February 2003 Visitor Arrivals

Singapore visitor arrivals in February 2003 grew 2.3% to a total of 612,897 visitors. The 12 largest visitor-generating markets were:

Indonesia continued its 6th consecutive month of positive growth by posting an 11.3% increase in arrivals. Holiday and business-related arrivals registered double-digit growths of 23.7% and 15.2% respectively.

Strong promotion of Chinese New Year tour packages by STB contributed to China's continued growth of 9.8%. This is evident in the increase in holiday (+15.8%) and group-packaged (+14.4%) traffic. First time visitors from China increased 15.3%.

Visitor arrivals from Japan grew 1.7% in February, achieving its 6th consecutive month of positive growth due to reduction of airfare by major airlines. Holiday and group-packaged traffic showed growth of 3.6% and 9.9% respectively.

Arrivals from South Korea grew 6.2% after three months of decline, attributable to the promotion of the Celebration Singapore package. Holiday arrivals and visitors on group-packaged tours increased by 7.9% and 12.6% respectively.

Continued travel advisory warning against travel to Southeast Asian countries caused arrivals from Australia to decline by 10.3%. This is evident by the fall in holiday arrivals by 14.7% in February. Business-related arrivals declined 9.1%.

USA visitor arrivals declined 11.2%, due to the drop in holiday traffic (-3.2%) and business-related traffic (-13.3%).

Visitor arrivals from India grew 10.5%, largely contributed by the increase in holiday traffic (+14.8%) and business-related arrivals (+6.8%).

Weak economic outlook continued to dampen visitor arrivals from Hong Kong (-8.3%). Holiday traffic fell 12.0%.

Aggressive promotion of the "Hong Bao Giveaway" boosted visitor arrivals from Thailand by 11.2%. Holiday arrivals increased 12.7% while business-related arrivals increased 16.4%. The latter was mainly accrued to the strong attendance at the Asia Pacific Life Insurance Congress (2800 persons).

Overall, holiday arrivals grew by 4.8%. Growth was registered mainly from Indonesia (+23.7%), China (+15.8%), India (+14.8%), and Thailand (+12.7%). On the other hand, holiday arrivals from Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong declined by 14.7%, 13.9%, and 12.0% respectively.

Business-related1 traffic registered a positive growth of 4.1% in arrivals, largely contributed by the strong performances from Thailand (+16.4%), Hong Kong (+15.5%), Indonesia (+15.0%), and South Korea (+12.7%). Decreases were recorded from USA (-13.3%), UK (-11.7%) and Australia (-9.1%).

Singapore Visitor Arrivals in January - February 2003

Visitor arrivals in January - February increased 4.9% over the same period in 2002, to a total of 1,254,195 visitors.

The 12 largest visitor-generating markets were:

Singapore Hotel Sector Performance in February 2003

- Maximum room-nights: 853,216 (-0.5%); Available room-nights: 784,731 (-2.6%)

- Gross lettings: 589,494 (-0.8%); Paid lettings: 579,808 (-0.9%)

- Standard AOR: 75.1% (up 1.3 percentage points over February 2002)

- Standard ARR: $121.9 (-9.1%)

- Revenue per available room (Revpar): $91.6 (-7.4%)

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AOR = Average Occupancy Rate 
ARR = Average Room Rate
Revpar = AOR X ARR

Note: Figures for the Hotel Sector Performance are updated as at 21st February 2003