Tourism Sector Performance for November 2008 by STB

This monthly fact sheet provides a summary of the key statistics on total visitor arrivals and information on the performance of Singapore's top-15 visitor-generating markets. All comparisons made in this fact are year-on-year comparisons with 2007.

KEY INFORMATION

• Visitors arrivals to Singapore reached 760,000 in November 2008, registering a decline of 9.7% compared to November 2007. Visitors days were estimated at 3.1 million days, an increase of 0.1% against November 2007.

• Indonesia (118,000), P R China (78,000), Australia (60,000), Malaysia (60,000) and India (56,00) were Singapore's top five visitor-generating markets. These markets accounted for 49% of total visitor arrivals for the month.
  

• Among the top 15 markets, Vietnam (+14.7%), Malaysia (+9.1%), the Philippines (+6.1%) and Germany (+3.7%) registered growth.

• Since June 2008, there has been a decline in visitor arrivals to Singapore, reflecting the continued impact of the worsening global economic slowdown on consumer sentiments and discretionary spending. Visitor arrivals and tourism receipts are expected to fall short of the 2008 targets of 10.8 million and S$15.5 billion respectively. The Singapore Tourism Board has focused its efforts to increase visitor spending during the year-end festive period.

• Singapore gazetted hotels were estimated to generate S$161 million in room revenue, representing a decrease of 6.0% versus November 2007.

• The Average Room Rate (ARR) in November 2008 was estimated at S$231, representing an increase of 3.4% over November 2007. The Average Occupancy Rate (AOR) for gazetted hotels was estimated to reach 80% in November 2008, posting a 7.9 percentage point decrease over November 2007. Revenue Per Available Room (Revpar) decreased by 5.8% to reach S$186 in November 2008.