Depth report

　　

In the post-pandemic era, the tourism market has gradually restarted and recovered, and Singapore has performed particularly well in this recovery. The Singapore Tourism Board announced at the beginning of 2023 that it is expected that the number of international tourists visiting Singapore in 2023 will reach 12 to 14 million, which will bring about 18 to 21 billion Singapore dollars (about 90 to 105 billion yuan) in tourism revenue. Now that the end of 2023 has arrived, how is the Singapore tourism market performing? Let's dive into a country with a total area of just 728.6 sq km (2021) to see how the tourism recovery potential is brewing here.

Excellent performance, tourism recovery "dividends" benefit

With the gradual relaxation of the control of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, countries have gradually increased their tourism, promoting the recovery of the tourism market, although the overall has not shown a retaliatory outbound boom, but Singapore has tasted the "sweetness" when the momentum of tourism recovery is emerging. On the one hand, many negative public opinions that are not conducive to the recovery of the Southeast Asian outbound tourism market in 2023 will have a relatively limited impact on Singapore; On the other hand, as one of the most prosperous countries in Southeast Asia and a model of modern cities, Singapore has held frequent related exhibitions and conferences in 2023, making it perform well in the process of promoting the recovery of tourism.

Accumulated, many aspects of "make up short" to meet growth

At a time when the world is thinking about how to further promote the recovery of the tourism industry, what are Singapore's strengths that make it enviable in the current international tourism market?

This is closely related to the fact that the Singapore government attaches great importance to the development of tourism and focuses on the planning and investment of tourism. Since the 1980s, Singapore has invested $200 million to $400 million in tourism every year. In 2007, Singapore $2 billion (about 10.64 billion yuan) was used as a tourism development fund. After the epidemic, Singapore was able to seize the first opportunity in the tourism market, to a certain extent, it is also the result of its long-term accumulation.

From the government to the private sector, Singapore's various actions have made full preparations for the recovery of tourism after the epidemic.

First of all, the COVID-19 epidemic has increased the public's awareness and demand for physical and mental health, and also stimulated tourists' travel demand for health and wellness. Tan Kin-lung, then director of the Singapore Tourism Board, said that in the next few years, health and wellness will become an important part of Singapore's tourism product. To this end, the Singapore Tourism Board has been promoting wellness programmes to the local public and international visitors for the past two years. In June 2022, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) organised its first Health and Wellness Festival, offering more than 130 different health activities and experiences to the public. Singapore's advantages in medical infrastructure configuration and medical services have also made it highly competitive in the post-epidemic tourism market.

Secondly, the recovery of the business travel market is generally faster than that of leisure tourism. Singapore's tourism economy recovered rapidly after the epidemic, and cross-border business travel plays a very important role. According to TTG Travel, the growth in international visitors to Singapore can be attributed to a number of major events held in Singapore in 2022. The three-day Formula One 2022 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, for example, attracted a record 302,000 fans.

In addition, Singapore has continued to invest in recent years to update the attractions and reception facilities. For example, for the main group of tourists to Singapore - parent-child families, various infrastructure construction has been improved and upgraded. These include the official opening of Singapore's first Children's Museum for children under 12 in December 2022, and the reopening of Singapore Bird Park on May 8, 2023. With the blessing of popular attractions such as Universal Studios, Singapore offers travelers a variety of options. In the summer of 2023, the demand of families, families and study tourists has made Singapore an unprecedentedly hot destination.

It is worth mentioning that the "joining" of Chinese tourists has also had a key impact on the further development of Singapore's tourism industry. With the adjustment of China's immigration policy in early 2023, combined with the resumption of flights and the steady growth of flight connectivity and airline seat capacity, Singapore's tourism industry in 2023 will continue the growth momentum of 2022.