Tourist spending down 4.8% to $6.5b in Q1

Spending for accommodation and shopping fell sharply during the quarter.

Tourism receipts dipped 4.8% YoY to $6.5b in Q1 even as international visitor arrivals rose over the same period, according to a report by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

Also read: Singapore's visitor arrivals jumped 6.2% to 18.5 million in 2018

Spending on all major components, such as shopping (-7%), accommodations (-12%), food & beverage (-7%) and entertainment (-3%) declined in the said quarter. Only other tourism receipts components inched up 2% to $1.87m

Also read: Tourists could account for a fifth of retail sales by end-2019

The sightseeing, entertainment and gaming segment continue to account for the lion’s share of quarterly tourism receipts figures, contributing $1.46b. This is followed by the shopping segment accommodations segment which generated $1.37b in Q1. Accommodations and F&B segments accounted for $1.26b and $588m, respectively.

However, STB noted that international visitor arrivals (IVA) rose 1% YoY to 4.7 million in Q1, suggesting that the increase in tourist arrivals wasn’t enough to offset declines in tourism spending. Visitor days also edged up 2% YoY to 15.7 million days.

China still accounts for the largest share of Singapore’s tourist arrivals at 960,000. Indonesia came next at 725,000; India at 300,000; Malaysia 283,000; and Australia at 263,000. These five markets accounted for 54% of total IVA throughout Q1.

The top three generating markets were China ($1.09b), Indonesia ($732m) and India ($338m) in the quarter as well, contributing 43% of the overall tourist spending. Amongst the top ten generating markets, Indonesia, USA and Japan registered the highest absolute year-on-year growth in tourist receipts.