2018 marked another remarkable year for Singapore’s tourism sector, with both tourism receipts and visitor arrivals achieving historic highs for a third time running. The core tourism industries of BTMICE (Business Travel and Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions), Hotels and Cruise also posted strong results.
From January to September 2018, tourism receipts from Indonesia grew by 8 per cent and outpaced the 2 per cent annual growth in visitor arrivals. This helped to maintain Indonesia’s positon as the second largest source market after China. Among the more than 3 million Indonesian visitors, visitor arrivals from cities outside of Jakarta grew faster than visitor arrivals from Jakarta. This is a consistent trend that reflects the growing middle-class and rising demand for outbound travel across Indonesia.
STB Indonesia has also stepped up its efforts to market Singapore as a Muslim-friendly travel destination. In 2018, Singapore was named the friendliest destination for Muslim travellers among non-Muslim countries for the fourth consecutive year by the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index. The country’s safe travel environment, variety of halal dining options and ease of access to prayer spaces have been highlighted as key criteria that make the travel experience easier for Muslim travellers.
At the same event, STB also announced the opening in mid 2019 of Jewel Changi Airport, a mixed-use lifestyle development (comprising attractions, shopping, dining, accommodation and aviation facilities) that will include the world’s largest indoor waterfall and the Forest Valley, an indoor garden spanning five storeys and Canopy Park.
