The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is forecasting a 0-2% rise in the range of S$22bn to $22.4bn ($15.6bn to $15.9bn) in tourism receipts in 2016 and international visitor arrivals in the range of 15.2m to 15.7m (0 – 3%).
This follows what the STB describes as the ‘mixed tourism sector performance in 2015 in the face of global headwinds’, as visitor arrivals grew by 0.9% to 15.2m and tourism receipts declined by -6.8% to S$22bn.
LESS MICE CAUSED MOST OF THE DECLINE
The STB said that the decline was largely due to a fall in BTMICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) visitor arrivals and spending. This mixed performance came on the back of various headwinds, such as an uncertain global economic outlook and weak currencies in some of Singapore’s top source markets in 2015.
“As the average BTMICE visitor spends about two times more than the average leisure visitor, the fall in BTMICE visitor arrivals and spending due to companies cutting back on both travel and trip budgets has had a significant impact on our tourism receipts,” he added.STB CEO Lionel Yeo commented: “We are encouraged by the upturn in visitor arrivals from May onwards that led to a positive growth for the whole of 2015. Of particular note is the 2% growth in leisure visitor arrivals in 2015, which helped offset the decline in BTMICE visitor arrivals. This shows that Singapore remains attractive as a leisure destination.
In terms of market highlights, the top growth-markets for 2015 tourism receipts were Japan (+6%) and the UK (+4%). Tourism receipts from Japan rose due to greater BTMICE traffic, while more leisure visitors from UK also spent more.
The STB said that the decline in tourism receipts was most keenly felt in Indonesia (-21%), Australia (-10%) and Malaysia (-26%) with all these markets facing their own economic challenges and currency devaluations.
Turning to international arrivals by market, China led the way (+22%), followed by India (+7%), South Korea (+7%) and Taiwan (+12%). Notably, there were more visitor arrivals from both tier 1 and secondary cities in China and India, where STB has intensified its marketing and channel development efforts.
These key numbers relate to Changi Airport in 2014.
The largest declines were noted from Indonesia (-10%), Malaysia (-5%), Australia (-3%) and Japan (-4%) where the STB reasons that macroeconomic factors, including currency depreciation and an uncertain economic outlook, depressed market demand.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
More positively the key highlights in 2015 included intensified marketing efforts linked to the international attention Singapore attracted during its Golden Jubilee year. STB tried to capitalise on this by collaborating in a joint marketing effort with tourism industry stakeholders to launch a S$20m ($14.2m) campaign in seven key markets.
The Board also put in place strategic partnerships with Changi Airport Group, Singapore Airlines and TripAdvisor to promote Singapore as the destination of choice.
Key growth areas identified in 2015 included cruise and business events, with the former noting a year-on-year cruise passenger rise of 14% to 1m in 2015 and nine calls that were new to both Singapore and Southeast Asia.
The STB also supported more than 350 business events in 2015, representing a 27% year-on-year growth. These events generated 287,000 visitor arrivals and S$478m ($341m) in tourism receipts.
LOOKING FORWARD…
The STB is now forecasting that tourism receipts will be in the range of S$22bn to $22.4bn (0 – 2%) and international visitor arrivals in the range of 15.2m to 15.7m (0 – 3%) this year.
In a statement it said: “Global economic growth may be hampered by the slower growth momentum of the Chinese and US economies, as well as uncertainties such as ongoing reforms in China and the impact of the normalisation of the US monetary conditions.
“Increasing regional competition will also pose challenges to Singapore’s tourism sector. At the same time, Singapore remains poised to benefit from the projected growth in outbound travel in the Asia Pacific region. The pipeline for business events also continues to be strong.”