Singapore tourist arrival grew 17.3% to record-high 928,000

Improving economic conditions prompted to improved travel sentiment to the country.

Visitor arrivals to Singapore registered 17.3% growth to reach 928,000 in March 2010, the highest ever recorded in the month of March. This is the fourth consecutive month of record visitor arrivals, according to a report by Singapore Tourism Board on Tuesday.

Fourteen out of the top 15 markets registered positive year-on-year growth in March this year. This can be attributed to a gradually improving economic climate, leading to an improvement in travel sentiment to Singapore.

South Korea (+45.0%), Malaysia (+36.8%) and Indonesia (+29.2%) registered the highest growth out of the top 15 markets.

Visitor days were estimated at 3.5 million days, a year-on-year growth of 16.4% in comparison with March 2009.

Indonesia (166,000), China (88,000), Malaysia (82,000), Australia (64,000), and UK (54,000) were Singapore’s top five visitor-generating markets in March 2010. These markets accounted for 49% of total visitor arrivals for the month.

Meanwhile, Average Occupancy Rate (AOR2) posted a 14 percentage point increase over March 2009 to reach 87.1% in March 2010.

Average Room Rate (ARR3) increased by 3.3% over March 2009 to reach an estimate of S$205 in March 2010.

Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR4) increased by 23.1% to reach S$179 in March 2010.

Hotel room revenue grew 23.1% against March 2009 to reach an estimated S$163 million in March 2010.

In March 2010, the AOR of Economy-tier reported the largest growth (+14.3 percentage points) against March 2009 to reach 85%.

The ARR of Upscale tier recorded the largest growth of 9.5% against March 2009 to reach $239 in March 2010.

Hotels in the Upscale tier reported the largest growth (+30.3%) in RevPAR in March 2010 to reach $210.