Singapore recorded a double digit decline of 13 percent in tourist arrivals last month compared to a year ago.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said today about 730,000 visitors came to the city-state last month compared to the 834,000 in May 2008.
In its monthly update on tourism performance in the Republic, STB said visitor days in May were estimated at 3.1 million days, a decrease of 10.6 percent in comparison to the corresponding month last year.
The board said Indonesia, India, Australia, Malaysia and China were Singapore’s top five visitor-generating markets, accounting for 53.1 percent of total visitor arrivals for last month.
Some 129,000 Indonesian, 90,000 Indian, 59,000 Australian, 55,000 Malaysian and 52,000 Chinese visitors came to Singapore last month.
Among the top 15 markets, Vietnam (+12.1 percent), Malaysia (+5.1 percent) and the Philippines (+1.4 percent) registered growth, which could be attributed to aggressive airline and marketing promotions under STB’s “2009 Reasons to Enjoy Singapore” global marketing campaign, the board said.
It added that Singapore’s tourism sector saw a sharper decline in visitor arrivals in May from markets such as China and Japan, which could be attributed in part to the global outbreak of Influenza A(H1N1).
STB also said gazetted hotel room revenue was estimated at S$ 112 million, representing a decrease of 37.7 percent compared to a year ago.
The average occupancy rate was at 69 percent for May 2009, posting a 12.2 percentage point decrease over May 2008.
The average room rate in the month under review was estimated at S$ 184, representing a decrease of 25.4 percent over May 2008, STB added.