Singapore among top 5 travel spots
Ng Kai Ling, Asia
News Network (The Straits Times), Singapore | Business | Tue,
06/19/2012 7:32 AM
A New study has
ranked Singapore among the top five most
popular travel destinations in the world for this
year.
The MasterCard
Global Destinations Cities Index, released on Monday by MasterCard Worldwide,
placed Singapore fourth in visitor arrivals and fifth in tourist spending, in
its second ranking of 132 international cities.
In its inaugural
list last year, the Republic came in fourth in visitor arrivals and seventh in
tourist spending.
The cities are
ranked in terms of their international visitor arrivals on direct flights, and
how much visitors spent in their destination cities in previous
years.
The arrivals
figures were obtained by MasterCard from aviation data tracking passenger
arrivals at airports, and the spending data was derived from United Nations
estimates.
Using both sets of
data, a forecast is made for the present year.
This latest report
projected visitor arrivals here to reach 11.8 million this year. Tourist
spending is expected to hit US$12.7 billion.
These figures,
though higher than the previous year's study, are different from Singapore's own projections, which
take into account tourists who visit via sea and
land.
In March, the
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said Singapore could expect up to 14.5
million visitors this year, up from last year's 13.2
million.
It also said
tourist spending this year may reach S$24 billion (US$18.90 billion), up from
last year's S$22.3 billion.
Despite these
differences, tourism analysts who spoke to The Straits Times about the
MasterCard report said the two forecasts concurred on one point: That the
numbers are going up.
“Singapore has become not only a hub
for tourism arrivals, but for tourism spending as well,” said Jonathan Galaviz,
managing director of research and consulting firm Galaviz &
Company.
“Attracting
tourists is one thing, getting them to spend is
another.”
Michael Chiam, a
senior lecturer in tourism at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said that the two integrated
resorts had created new markets in gaming and dining for the tourism
sector.
He added: “And this
year, we have new attractions such as Gardens by the Bay and River Safari
opening.” Both Gardens by the Bay and River Safari are scheduled to open this
year.
According to the
MasterCard study, the biggest spenders in Singapore this year will be from London, Jakarta and
Hong Kong. Travelers from those cities are
expected to spend between US$867 million and US$1.39
billion.
The largest number
of travellers to Singapore is
expected to come from Jakarta (1.05 million),
Hong Kong (690,000), London (616,000) and
Manila
(616,000).
With the Olympics
being held in London next month, the British capital can
expect some 16.9 million visitors, putting it on top of the MasterCard
study.
Paris is
second with 16 million visitors. In third place is Bangkok, with 12.2 million
visitors.
Sources:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/19/singapore-among-top-5-travel-spots.html
