For many Filipinos, Singapore has become a favorite get-away destination. With the Lion City just a skip and a hop away, Pinoys are very eager to enjoy its world-class attractions, delicious cuisine, colorful cultural enclaves and vibrant shopping destinations.
An annual tourism performance review conducted by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) showed a record of over 736,000 visitor arrivals from the Philippines in 2017, which marked a 6% increase from the previous year. It also posted a 6% increase in tourism receipts amounting to S$573 million (Php23 billion), for the period January to September 2017. Accommodations and shopping comprised 32% and 25% of the tourism receipts, respectively.
Singapore’s stellar year in review
Aside from reaching a big milestone with its Philippine market, Singapore attained record highs in overall tourism receipts and visitor arrivals on its second consecutive year, increasing its total tourism receipts by 3.9% to S$26.8 billion, and growing visitor arrivals by 6.2% to 17.4 million in 2017, up from the previous year.
From January to September 2017, the strong growth in tourism receipts was seen across most of Singapore’s top 10 markets and was mostly credited to high-spending markets such as China, South Korea, United States, and United Kingdom.
The increase in visitor arrivals was credited to 13 of Singapore’s top 15 markets, with China, India, Vietnam, Philippines, US, UK and Germany hitting record numbers. Among the top markets, India saw the highest growth rate with a 16% increase, and together with China (+13%), contributed to the bulk of growth in visitors. Notably, Vietnam (+13%) became a top 10 market for the first time.
The 2018 forecast
For 2018, STB expects tourism performance to continue to improve. Tourism receipts are estimated to increase 1-3%, ranging from S$27.1 to S$27.6 billion, while international visitor arrivals are expected to grow by 1-4%, ranging from 17.6 to 18.1 million.
STB is optimistic about the tourism prospects for the year ahead with the global economy improving and Asia-Pacific tourism bound to expand. However, it will not be without challenges as geopolitical tensions might affect travel sentiments and regional competition continues to intensify.
With this in mind and a vision of quality tourism growth, STB plans to boost its marketing efforts and initiatives to improve destination attractiveness and industry competitiveness.