Visitor arrivals to Singapore amounted to 1.28 million in May, up 15.3 percent year-on-year, but down 5.9 percent month-on-month from April’s 1.36 million, according to data issued by the Singapore Tourism Board.
The tally of overnight visitors in May was 963,990, up 10.9 percent year-on-year but down 2.5 percent sequentially.
Although May’s average length of stay was down 4.4 percent year-on-year, at 3.68 days, judged month-on-month it was up 7.9 percent.
Singapore is home to a casino duopoly shared between Marina Bay Sands, controlled by United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp; and Resorts World Sentosa, run by Genting Singapore Ltd.
Mainland China was the largest single contributor to Singapore tourism during May, supplying 222,330 visits, and displacing Indonesia which had been the top source market in April.
May’s tally of mainland Chinese visitors was up 132.5 percent year-on-year. Only in January last year, did China relax its outbound and inbound travel restrictions linked to control of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In February, Singapore and China agreed on mutual arrangements for 30-day visa-free travel between the two places.
Judged month-on-month, the growth in Chinese visitors during May was nearly flat, at a 0.85 percent gain on April’s 220,450.
Second-place May contributor Indonesia provided 189,190 arrivals, up 3.0 percent year-on-year. But Indonesia’s tally was down 22.4 percent sequentially.
India was in third place for May, supplying 156,560 arrivals to the city-state, up 20.0 percent on the same month in 2023. Judged month-on-month, India’s contribution was up 46.7 percent.
