2018 marked another remarkable year for Singapore’s tourism sector, with both tourism receipts and visitor arrivals achieving historic highs for a third time running. The core tourism industries of BTMICE1, Hotels and Cruise also posted strong results.
Tourism receipts (TR) rose 1.0 per cent to S$27.1 billion2, mainly due to growth in Visitor Arrivals (VA) across almost all of the top 15 markets3 and higher visitor spending from all top five TR markets4. Record growth in eight markets helped boost VA by 6.2 per cent to 18.5 million.
Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Mr Keith Tan, said, “We are pleased that Singapore’s tourism sector performed well in 2018 despite some economic uncertainties. We were fortunate to have benefited from a confluence of positive factors such as strong Asia-Pacific travel demand, increased flight connectivity to Singapore, and various high-profile events. It is also heartening to see our marketing efforts and collaborations with industry partners bearing fruit.”
Indonesia remains the second largest source market
From January to September 2018, tourism receipts from Indonesia grew by 8 per cent and outpaced the 2 per cent annual growth in visitor arrivals. This helped to maintain Indonesia’s positon as the second largest source market after China. Among the more than 3 million Indonesian visitors, visitor arrivals from cities outside of Jakarta grew faster than visitor arrivals from Jakarta. This is a consistent trend that reflects the growing middle-class and rising demand for outbound travel across Indonesia.
“The Indonesia market has remained resilient in 2018 in the face of the volatile Rupiah. Despite the weakened currency, we are particularly pleased with the strong growth in visitor spending by Indonesian visitors. This is in line with our strategy of pursuing Quality Tourism and reaffirms Singapore’s sustained attractiveness as one of the top outbound travel destination among Indonesians. Our focus in growing the source markets outside of Jakarta is also paying off, underpinned by our decision to open STB’s second regional office in Surabaya in October 2017,” said Raymond Lim, STB’s Area Director for Indonesia.
Cruise passengers from Indonesia has made significant contribution to the overall growth of visitor arrivals. Bolstered by a year round cruise itinerary and more cruise ships calling with bigger capacity in Singapore, Indonesia cruise passenger grew by 69% in 2018 compared to the previous year. The growth is experienced in both leisure cruise traffic as well as a strong surge of corporate groups conducting Meeting and Incentive programs on cruise.
STB Indonesia has also stepped up its efforts to market Singapore as a Muslim-friendly travel destination. In 2018, Singapore was named the friendliest destination for Muslim travellers among non-Muslim countries for the fourth consecutive year by the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index. The country’s safe travel environment, variety of halal dining options and ease of access to prayer spaces have been highlighted as key criteria that make the travel experience easier for Muslim travellers.
“We have made good headway with creative marketing partnerships with Muslim lifestyle brand like Zoya and support of Detik.com and Sunsilk’s Hijab Hunt program in the past year. We will continue to look at ways to improve our communication channels and reach out more effectively to Muslim travellers from Indonesia,” Raymond added.
Strategic partnerships between STB and its Indonesia affiliates were crucial in ensuring continued success that builds on the momentum of the Passion Made Possible (PMP) global tourism campaign. STB partnered with Urban Sneakers Society to showcase leading Singaporean streetwear brands targeting at the millennia and the Socialiser Passion Tribes5. 2018 also saw the completion of a romantic web series with Kumparan that brings to live our PMP destination brand messaging.
“This is arguably the first ever web series in Indonesia supported by a National Tourism Organisation. We are heartened by the good response which generated quality audience engagement and helped us to deliver our brand messaging through relevant content that has emotional appeal among the Indonesian audience,” said Raymond.
2019 Outlook and Forecast
For 2019, STB forecasts tourism receipts to be in the range of S$27.3 to S$27.9 billion (+1 to +3%) and international visitor arrivals to be in the range of 18.7 to 19.2 million (+1 to +4%).
Headwinds are expected in the year ahead, due to the volatility of the global political and economic environment, and stiffer regional competition, However, STB remains cautiously optimistic, and anticipates strong tourism growth particularly from Singapore’s key visitor source markets.
STB will continue to grow and develop the tourism sector – with new offerings and refreshed concepts – to ensure Singapore remains an attractive destination. For example, as part of STB’s three-year global partnership with William reed Business Media, spotlight will be cast on Singapore’s thriving dining and cocktail scene through a series of five 50 Best events in Singapore. Homegrown dining and bar players can also expect to drive business opportunities and reap talent development opportunities.
Jewel Changi Airport, a mixed-use lifestyle development (comprising attractions, shopping, dining, accommodation and aviation facilities) that will include the world’s largest indoor waterfall and the Forest Valley, an indoor garden spanning five storeys and Canopy Park is also slated to open in the second quarter of 2019.
“For the Indonesia market, we will work towards ensuring strong growth in tourism spending alongside modest growth in visitor arrivals. The upcoming Jewel Changi Airport and the newly opened Design Orchard in January 2019, a retail showcase of more than 60 local brands are good developments that will give us impetus in sharpening our efforts to drive up shopping receipts. Tapping into the growth of Esports, promoting our comprehensive range of walking tours and collaboration with e-commerce players are other focus areas in our pursuit of Quality Tourism,” said Raymond.