Singapore Tourism Board (STB) recently informed that Singapore received 9, 28,000 visitor arrivals in March 2010, registering 17.3 per cent growth, the highest ever recorded in the month of March. Visitor days were estimated at 3.5 million days, a year-on-year growth of 16.4 per cent in comparison with March 2009. The top five visitor generating markets in March 2010 were Indonesia (166,000), P R China (88,000), Malaysia (82,000), Australia (64,000), and UK (54,000). These markets accounted for 49 per cent of total visitor arrivals for the month. Also 14 out of the top 15 markets (Indonesia, P R China, Malaysia, Australia, UK, India, Japan, Philippines, USA, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong SAR, Germany, Vietnam and Taiwan) registered positive year-on-year growth in March this year. This can be attributed to a gradually improving economic climate, leading to an improvement in travel sentiment to Singapore. South Korea (+45.0 per cent), Malaysia (+36.8 per cent) and Indonesia (+29.2 per cent) registered the highest growth out of the top 15 markets. Gazetted hotel room revenue was estimated at SGD 163 million, representing an increase of 23.1 per cent compared to a year ago. The Average Occupancy Rate (AOR) posted a 14.0 percentage point increase over March 2009 to reach 87.1 per cent in March 2010. Average Room Rate (ARR) increased by 3.3 per cent over March 2009 to reach an estimate of SGD 205 in March 2010. Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) increased by 23.1 per cent to reach SGD 179 in March 2010. Hotel room revenue grew 23.1 per cent against March 2009 to reach an estimated SGD 163 million in March 2010. |
Wednesday, May 26, 2010