FACT SHEET: TOURISM SECTOR PERFORMANCE AS AT AUGUST 2000 Visitor Arrivals in August 2000

· Visitor arrival figures in August saw an increase of 10.3% over the same month last year, to 695,186 visitors. Asia showed strong growth in visitorship, up 11.3%. This was followed by the increase in traffic from Oceania (+9.4%) and Africa (+9.2%). The Americas and Europe also posted growth in arrivals – rising 7.8% and 3.8% respectively.

· The 12 largest visitor-generating markets were:

 · Japan generated the largest number of visitors (101,730) in the month of August, 7.1% more than in August 1999. The high visitor count was attributable to the summer holidays in Japan, coupled with the improving economy and the sustained strength of the yen.

· Arrivals from Indonesia registered a growth of 5.7%, culminating in a total of 96,863 visitors, highest ever for Indonesia for the month of August.

· Malaysia posted a significant double-digit increase in visitor arrivals – rising by 13.1%.

· The UK generated a 3.5% increase in visitor arrivals, registering a historical high arrival figure (39,571) for August.

· Supported by improving consumer sentiments, Hong Kong arrivals grew by 5.2% in August.

· Arrivals from Taiwan fell for the third consecutive month – down 7.7%. The two major typhoons in August affected overall outbound travel from Taiwan.

· Boosted by the buoyant economy in Thailand, visitor arrivals from Thailand grew by 10.2%, rebounding from the flat growth in arrivals in July.

· Holiday arrivals from the top 12 markets grew by 6.9%, with South Korea (+50.9%) recording the highest growth rate. India generated a significant 25.4% increase, followed by the USA (+16.2%), PR China (+14.7%) and Malaysia (+14.2%). Taiwan posted a decline of 9.7% in holiday traffic, precipitating an overall decline in visitors from the market. Indonesia (-4.1%) also registered a decline in holiday arrivals.

· The top 12 markets for business visitors collectively registered a good growth of 14.8% in August. PR China and India exhibited strong performances in the business segment, with increases of 32.9% and 32.8% respectively. Thailand (+23.5%) and Hong Kong (+20.7%) registered significant double-digit growth.

Visitor Arrivals for January – August 2000


Visitor arrivals for January – August rose 11.7% to 5,124,148 over the same period last year.

The 12 largest visitor-generating markets were:

Hotel Sector Performance in August 2000 (Preliminary Data)

· Maximum room-nights: 905,000 (-2.4%); Available room-nights: 842,000 (-2.5%)

· Gross lettings: 727,000 (+10.6%); Paid lettings: 718,000 (+11.2%)

· Standard AOR: 86.4% (up 10.2 percentage points over August 1999)

· Standard ARR: $126.80 (+8.9%)