Australian market helps Singapore’s tourism sector experience strong recovery

February 3, 2024

With Australia continuing to be a key market for Singapore, the city-state tourism sector has recovered strongly in 2023, and demonstrated resilience with a solid performance for 2023.

Visitor arrivals were driven by strong demand from a mix of Singapore’s key markets, led by Indonesia (2.3 million), China (1.4 million), Malaysia (1.1 million) and Australia (1.1 million). Other key markets that posted buoyant recovery included India, South Korea and USA.

A robust leisure and sporting events calendar played a pivotal role in elevating and reinforcing Singapore as an attractive international leisure destination. In 2023, Singapore hosted several notable inaugural events, including the successful debut of ART SG, Southeast Asia’s largest ever art fair, in conjunction with the Singapore Art Week. New events like the Capcom Pro Tour 2023 Offline Premier Singapore, Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) Asian Open and WB100 Celebrating Every Story (Warner Bros.) further enriched Singapore’s leisure landscape, contributing to the city’s vibrancy.

Looking ahead to 2024, the industry is anticipating exciting developments, including upcoming hotel openings, new experiences at the two integrated resorts, and a vibrant line-up of leisure offerings featuring global pop culture, lifestyle events, and music festivals. Additionally, Singapore will host top-tier MICE events, further solidifying its position on the global stage.

International visitor arrivals (IVA)reached 13.6 million in 2023 (~71% of 2019 IVA), meeting Singapore Tourism Board’s forecast of between 12.0 and 14.0 million visitors. Tourism receipts (TR) are estimated to reach S$24.5 to S$26.0 billion (~88-94% of 2019 TR), surpassing STB’s forecast of S$18.0 to S$21.0 billion set out in 2023.

Melissa Ow, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board notes “The robust performance in 2023 signals a promising recovery for tourism, in line with increasing flight capacity and growth in international travel demand. Our strategy to attract a healthy and diverse visitor portfolio, comprising long and short haul markets, has significantly contributed to our overall visitor arrivals, longer length of stay and growth in tourism receipts. Singapore’s thriving pipeline of business and leisure offerings demonstrates our continued appeal as an attractive and trusted tourism destination, and reflects the unwavering confidence our partners have in Singapore.”

Tourism receipts reached S$20.1 billion between January to September 2023. Full year tourism receipts are expected to register between S$24.5 and S$26 billion. From January to September 2023, tourism receipts across all spend categories have either exceeded or recovered close to pre-pandemic levels, compared with the same period in 2019. For the first nine months of 2023, the top TR generating markets were China, Indonesia and Australia, which contributed S$2.3 billion, S$2.2 billion, and S$1.5 billion respectively in TR (excluding Sightseeing, Entertainment and Gaming).

Visitors also spent more time in Singapore compared to before the pandemic. The average length of stay in 2023 was approximately 3.8 days. This is an increase compared to 3.4 days for the same period in 2019.

STB successfully secured several significant business events that took place in Singapore for the first time in 2023. These include SILMO Singapore, transport logistic Southeast Asia, Bar Convent Singapore, the 25th World Congress of Dermatology 2023, Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Global Conference 2023, and the International Trademark Association (INTA) 2023 Annual Meeting Live+. These accomplishments underscore Singapore's growing prominence as a leading destination for impactful and influential business gatherings.

Hotel Industry Performance
In 2023, the hotel industry welcomed 3,210 new hotel keys. The unveiling of new establishments such as Pan Pacific Orchard, Mondrian Singapore Duxton, Artyzen Singapore, and The Singapore EDITION has redefined the standards of hospitality, and expanded the accommodation options for visitors. Investments made by the private sector in these new hotel developments underscore their confidence in Singapore's longer term tourism prospects.

Cruise Industry Performance
Singapore’s position as a regional cruise hub strengthened in 2023 with a record two million passenger throughput received from more than 340 ship calls, since the opening of the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore.

In 2023, Royal Caribbean International’s Spectrum of the Seas and Resorts World Cruises’ Genting Dream continued its year-round homeport at Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore. TUI Cruises, Marella Cruises and Silversea Cruises continued their seasonal homeport while several maiden port calls were made by Virgin Voyages' Resilient Lady and Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Edge.

In addition, STB and Disney Cruise Line signed an MOU to collaborate on the exclusive five-year year-round homeporting of Disney Adventure in Singapore from 2025.

New global campaign
In September 2023, the global marketing campaign, “Made in Singapore”, was launched to capture mindshare of travellers and inspire them to choose Singapore as their next destination. The campaign puts a fresh spin on the Passion Made Possible destination brand and focuses on how Singapore transforms familiar, everyday moments into extraordinary and memorable experiences for travellers.

2024 Outlook

STB expects the tourism sector’s recovery to continue in 2024, driven by improved global flight connectivity and capacity as well as the implementation of the mutual 30-day visa-free travel between China and Singapore. In 2024, international flight capacity is expected to continue to increase, with capacity at or approaching pre-pandemic levels for the majority of our key source markets.

Latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) indicates that although global international air travel demand in 2023 is below pre-pandemic levels, the gap is rapidly closing. The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) notes that Asia Pacific carriers have seen healthy growth in international passenger demand throughout the year, in tandem with the restoration of flight frequencies and connectivity. Overall, the outlook for air travel demand remains positive.

2024 international visitor arrivals are expected to reach around 15 to 16 million, bringing in approximately S$26.0 to S$27.5 billion in tourism receipts. Geopolitical uncertainty, the state of the global economy and other factors such as the continued restoration of flight connectivity will have bearing on the pace of travel recovery.

Ow added “To sustain our growth in 2024 and beyond, STB will focus on achieving quality tourism, cultivating strategic partnerships, investing in new and refreshed products and experiences, and supporting stakeholders in building capabilities.”

Looking ahead to 2024, the industry can anticipate exciting developments, including upcoming hotel openings, new experiences at the two integrated resorts, and a vibrant line-up of leisure offerings featuring global pop culture, lifestyle events, and music festivals. Additionally, Singapore will host top-tier MICE events, further solidifying its position on the global stage.

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