ASIA Travel Tips.com

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In July 2008, Singapore welcomed 916,000 visitor arrivals. While this is a decline of 3.8% compared to a year ago, July 2008 recorded the highest number of visitors since January 2008. Visitor days were estimated to reach 3.8 million days, an increase of 4.7% in comparison with July 2007.

Indonesia (167,000), P.R. China (105,000), Australia (80,000), India (63,000) and Japan (47,000) were Singapore’s top five visitor-generating markets. These markets accounted for 50% of total visitor arrivals for the month.

Among the top 15 markets, Vietnam (+17.3%), Germany (+8.3%), India (+7.1%) and Australia (+5.1%) registered the highest growth. Factors contributing to this growth include strong promotions and branding presence in these markets, as well as increased air capacity, particularly for Germany and Australia.

Eleven out of the top fifteen markets saw a dip in visitor arrivals compared to July 2007, a likely result of the global economic slowdown, as well as rising inflation and oil prices, which may have impacted consumers’ discretionary spending.

Singapore gazetted hotels were estimated to reap Sin$180 million in room revenue, representing a growth of 6.2% versus July 2007.

The Average Room Rate (ARR) in July 2008 was estimated to be Sin$238, representing an increase of 14.3% over July 2007. The Average Occupancy Rate (AOR) for hotels was estimated to reach 85% in July 2008, posting a 5.7 percentage points decrease over July 2007. Revenue Per Available Room (Revpar) grew by 7.1% to reach Sin$202 for July 2008.

The decline in visitor arrivals in July and June reflects the challenging global economic environment and outlook for the tourism sector, which the Singapore Tourism Board believes may continue into 2009. While there may be a possibility of falling short of this year’s target of 10.8 million visitors, the STB is strengthening its efforts in increasing tourism spend to achieve the tourism receipts target of Sin$15.5 billion.

See also: Singapore Visitor Arrivals for June and 1st Half 2008 and other recent news regarding: Airlines, Aviation, Flights, Hotels, Promotions, New Hotels, Singapore, Visitor Arrivals