Tourist arrivals to Singapore up 18% in August

14 out of 15 top markets grew in August with China, Thailand, and Vietnam as leaders.

Visitor arrivals to Singapore registered 18.0% growth to reach 996,000 in August 2010, the highest number of arrivals recorded for the month of August. This is also the ninth consecutive month of record visitor arrivals. This month's visitor arrivals can be partly attributed to the on-going draw of the two Integrated Resorts, the hosting of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, and the continuing strength of the Asian economy.

Visitor days were estimated at 4.2 million days, a year-on-year growth of 20.3% in comparison with August 2009, according to a Singapore Tourism Board report.

Indonesia, P R China, Malaysia, Australia, and India were Singapore's top five visitor-generating markets Indonesia (165,000), P R China (131,000), Malaysia (76,000), Australia (68,000) and India (57,000) were Singapore's top five visitor-generating markets in August 2010. These markets accounted for 50% of total visitor arrivals for the month.

14 out of the 15 top markets registered positive year-on-year growth in August this year.

In August 2010, P R China (+50.9%), Thailand (+47.8%), and Vietnam (+34.0%) registered highest growth out of the top 15 markets.

Gazetted hotel industry performance
Gazetted hotel room revenue was estimated at S$172 million, representing an increase of 37.1% compared to a year ago.

Average Occupancy Rate (AOR) posted a 7.6 percentage point increase over August 2009 to reach 85% in August 2010.

Average Room Rate (ARR) increased by 24.7% over August 2009 to reach an estimate of S$218 in August 2010.

Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) increased by 36.9% to reach S$186 in August 2010.

Hotel room revenue grew 37.1% against August 2009 to reach an estimated S$172 million in August 2010.

Gazetted hotel industry performance by tier
In August 2010, the AOR of Economy Tier hotels reported the largest growth (+13.6 percentage points) against August 2009 to reach 85%.

The ARR of Mid-Tier hotels recorded the largest growth of 34.5% against August 2009 to reach S$178 in August 2010.

Hotels in the Economy Tier reported the largest growth (+53.8%) in RevPAR in August 2010 to reach S$91.

The hotel tiering system is a reference system developed by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to categorise the different hotels in Singapore into tiers based on a combination of factors that include average room rates, location and product characteristics.

Figures for the hotel industry are preliminary estimates, based on returns as at 13 September 2010. The current hotel tiers published are based on the hotels’ performance in 2009. The response rate across the tiers may vary.