R. Hirschmann
Research expert covering Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia
Tourism and hotel industry in Singapore - statistics & facts
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, around 330,000 international visitors arrived in Singapore in a year. Now, with revenge travel fully under way, visitor numbers are almost back to pre-pandemic figures, reaching more than 13 million in 2023. The return of international visitors is a welcome relief for Singapore’s billion-dollar tourism industry. To keep the visitors coming and spending, Singapore must maintain its attractiveness as a leisure destination.
As a small city-state with a lack of natural attractions, Singapore needs to not only stand out from other Southeast Asian holiday destinations but also maximize the duration of stay of its visitors. Hosting such large-scale entertainment events bolsters Singapore’s reputation as a vibrant events hub and incentivizes more visitors to come to its shores.
Tourism sector rebounding from pandemic lows
Singapore’s tourism sector posted a strong recovery from the impact of Covid-19 in 2023. Key indicators such as international visitor arrivals, tourism receipts, as well as hotel revenues have reached close to pre-pandemic numbers. This trend is expected to continue into 2024, as international travel normalizes. To further boost its tourism sector, Singapore introduced a new travel agreement with China, one of its largest tourism feeder markets. This allows for a mutual 30-day visa-free travel between citizens of both countries. This underscores China’s importance to Singapore’s tourism sector, with Chinese visitor contribution to tourism receipts exceeding three billion Singapore dollars in 2023.Diversifying Singapore’s tourism offerings to attract international visitors
Singapore is just a short flight away from popular beach holiday destinations such as Thailand and Bali. To attract international visitors to its own shores, sans white sandy beaches, Singapore has invested heavily in marketing itself as a must-visit city destination. In the last decade, several large-scale projects were completed that have since been popular with international visitors, such as the Gardens by the Bay, which houses the world’s largest glass greenhouses, and the world’s second-largest aquarium, the S.E.A Aquarium in Resorts World Sentosa. In 2019, Singapore added another superlative attraction to that list - the world's tallest indoor waterfall, located in Changi Airport.Singapore as the entertainment and events hub of Southeast Asia
Additionally, Singapore is positioning itself as an attractive host for large-scale entertainment events in the region. In the first quarter of 2024, several global music acts held concerts in Singapore, such as Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift, who performed all six of the Southeast Asian concerts of her Eras tour exclusively there. These blockbuster events helped boost Singapore’s GDP growth in that quarter, as well as contributing to a significant increase in hotel bookings. Apart from concerts by global superstars, Singapore also hosts the only Formula 1 night race every September.As a small city-state with a lack of natural attractions, Singapore needs to not only stand out from other Southeast Asian holiday destinations but also maximize the duration of stay of its visitors. Hosting such large-scale entertainment events bolsters Singapore’s reputation as a vibrant events hub and incentivizes more visitors to come to its shores.
