Singapore among world’s top 5 destinations: Survey

SINGAPORE — The Republic has edged out New York City for the fifth spot in the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index, released yesterday.

With a record 13.11 million international visitors last year, representing 8.8 per cent growth, Singapore remains a top global destination for both leisure and business, the credit card giant’s report said.

“Singapore’s diverse world-class offerings for travellers — from tourist attractions to medical services and an efficient and well-connected transport system — have all played a part in elevating the city-state to its place as one of the top five global destinations,” said Ms Deborah Heng, country manager, Mastercard Singapore.

Bangkok took the top spot for the third year running, followed by London, Paris and Dubai.

Some 19.06 million visitor arrivals were recorded in Bangkok last year, according to the survey.

Overall, international overnight visitors to the top 10 destination cities rose last year. New York, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Istanbul made up the rest of the top ten.

The annual survey ranks 132 cities based on visitor volume and spending.

Singapore ranked second in Asia and is forecast to receive 13.45 million visitors this year, the survey said.

According to preliminary data from the Singapore Tourism Board, international arrivals here exceeded 10 million in the first seven months of the year. “With tourism a key contributor to Singapore’s economy, it’s also notable that this year-on-year growth in visitor arrivals is accompanied by the highest overall tourist expenditure in Asia,” Ms Heng said.

“This excellent showing demonstrates how collaboration between the public and private sectors can drive the right results for the local economy.”

Visitor expenditure in Singapore grew to US$15.69 billion (S$21.2 billion) last year from US$13.07 billion the year before, pushing the city up a rank to fourth place globally in terms of international visitor spending.

This compares with US$14.08 billion recorded in Bangkok last year, and US$28.5 billion in Dubai which topped the chart in terms of overnight international visitor spend last year.

Forecasts for continued growth this year are positive except for London, with Bangkok expecting the largest growth.

In Singapore, most travel is conducted for leisure purposes (76.7 per cent) over business (23.3 per cent), a trend that is similar across the top 20 destination cities.

Globally, Kuala Lumpur has the greatest percentage of visitors on vacation, recorded at 92.2 per cent.

Entertainment, sightseeing and medical services made up the greatest portion of visitor spending in Singapore, taking up almost a third of overall visitor expenditure.