Singapore Visitor Arrivals 1 - 7 April 2003

The first seven days of April saw a decline of 78,000 (-56%) in visitor arrivals to Singapore, largely due STB said to weak travel sentiments as a result of SARS and war. All major markets registered double-digit decreases in arrivals, with Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia recording the largest absolute declines.

Visitor arrivals from Japan dropped by 58% or 7,300, contributed by a reduction in seat capacity by airlines and the widespread media coverage on SARS in affected areas, including Singapore.

SARS, coupled with a reduction in air capacity, resulted in a 61% or 5,900 decline in arrivals from Australia.

Compounding effects of war on Iraq and SARS, and weak economic circumstances in the USA had a significant impact on arrivals (-67% or 3,700) to Singapore.

The increasing number of atypical pneumonia cases in Hong Kong affected visitor arrivals to Singapore, with a dip of 82% or 5,500 compared to the same period last year.

Key visitor markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, Korea, Brunei, Philippines, New Zealand, Spain, France, Belgium and Mexico have issued travel advisories or alerts against travel to SARS affected countries including Singapore, which contributed to significant decreases in arrivals from these markets.