GGRAsia – Singapore visitors top 13.6mln in 2023, Indonesia top source

Singapore received just above 13.61 million visitors in full-year 2023, up 115.8 percent from the previous year, according to the latest data from Singapore Tourism Board. The 2023 tally total was circa 71.2 percent of the pre-pandemic trading year 2019, when Singapore logged 19.12-million visitor arrivals.

The number of overnight visitors jumped to 10.25 million in 2023, resulting in a 119.3-percent increase from the prior year. The average length of stay however went down 24.9 percent year-on-year, to 3.79 days.

Indonesia was the top source market for Singapore’s visitor arrivals in 2023, showed the data. Indonesia supplied 2.30 million visitors during the year, and mainland China was second, with 1.36 million visitors to the city-state.

Malaysia and Australia were in joint-third spot, with each country supplying about 1.09 million visitors to Singapore last year. Another major source market for Singapore in 2023 was India, sending 1.07 million visitors.

Singapore is home to a casino resort duopoly: Resorts World Sentosa, operated by a unit of Genting Singapore Ltd; and Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

In 2019, mainland China had been the largest-single source of visitor arrivals to Singapore, according to tourism board data. More than 3.6 million Chinese tourists visited the city-state that year.

Singapore and China have agreed to a 30-day mutual visa-free entry system for their citizens, with the arrangement set to begin on February 9, the eve of Chinese New Year. Government representatives from both sides signed the agreement last week.

Under the arrangement, Singaporeans and Chinese citizens holding ordinary passports can enter China or Singapore without a visa for no more than 30 days if they are travelling for business, sightseeing, visiting friends and family, or engaged in other private matters.