Q1 visitors increase but spending down

Despite increasing its international visitors in Q1, Singapore’s tourism spending fell 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, according to data from the Singapore Tourism Board. 

Spending fell to S$6.5 billion in the quarter, with all major spending components, including shopping, accommodation, sightseeing, gaming, entertainment, and food & beverage, all recording a fall. 

As always, spending on sightseeing, entertainment, and gaming made up the largest part of tourism spending, contributing S$1.4 billion (down 3 percent) to the total in the quarter. This was followed by shopping, at S$1.4 billion (down 7 percent) and food & beverage, at S$588 million (down 7 percent). 

This was despite an increase in international visitor arrivals, which grew one percent year-on-year to 4.7 million visitors. 

The top visitor market was China at 960,000 arrivals, followed by Indonesia (725,000) and India (300,000).