Tourism spending in S'pore for 2024 set to hit all-time high, with bullish outlook for 2025

Tourism spending in Singapore in 2024 is on track to hit an all-time high, surpassing the pre-pandemic high of $27.7 billion in 2019, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Feb 4.

- Anjali Raguraman

Tourism receipts for the full year are likely to reach the upper bound of the statutory board's forecast of $27.5 billion to $29 billion, having already hit $22.4 billion between January and September 2024. This is up 10 per cent from the same period in 2023, said STB in its year-in-review report.

The full year's tourism receipts will be available in the second quarter of 2025.

International visitor arrivals continued their steady recovery from 2023, increasing by 21 per cent to 16.5 million in 2024. Singapore's pre-pandemic peak in 2019 saw 19.1 million arrivals.

China (3.08 million arrivals), Indonesia (2.49 million) and India (1.2 million) emerged as the top three source markets for visitors, with a mix of short-, mid- and long-haul markets such as Japan, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States showing "healthy year-on-year growth", said STB.

It attributed the growth in visitor arrivals to factors such as the 30-day mutual visa exemption between Singapore and China that kicked off in February 2024 and Singapore's "strong growth in air connectivity".

In January, Changi Airport announced that its passenger traffic had rebounded strongly, with 67.7 million passengers handled - or 99.1 per cent of pre-pandemic levels - just short of a full recovery.

Spending grew across all categories, but was led by the sightseeing, entertainment and gaming category, which increased by 25 per cent, and accommodation, which grew by 17 per cent.

The food and beverage, and shopping categories grew in smaller measure, at 6 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. Other categories, such as airfares and business spending, also contributed to tourism receipts.

Singapore's slate of concerts in 2024 by mega pop stars and year-round calendar of lifestyle events also boosted visitor arrivals and spending.