SINGAPORE, Feb 11 (NNN-CNA) — The tourism sector will take a “significant hit”, with visitor arrivals estimated to fall by 25 per cent to 30 per cent this year due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
The coronavirus outbreak has significantly impacted visitor arrivals, especially from China, which accounts for about 20 per cent of international visitor arrivals here, said STB in a media release.
There were about 3.6 million visitors from China in 2019. Compared to 2018, there was a 12 per cent increase in visitors from Tier 2 Chinese cities like Jinan, Ningbo and Xiamen, it added.
China was also Singapore’s top revenue market in the first three quarters of 2019, accounting for S$3.2 billion in tourism receipts excluding the sightseeing, gaming and entertainment segments, up by 2 per cent from 2018.
“Visitor arrivals from STB’s other key source markets are also expected to fall due to lower travel confidence globally,” said STB.
Singapore is losing an average of 18,000 to 20,000 international visitors per day and most of the lost visitor arrivals are Chinese due to travel restrictions on both sides, STB chief executive Keith Tan told media on Tuesday.
He noted that the estimated decrease in visitor arrivals could change depending on how long the situation in China lasts, how long the situation in Singapore and regional economies lasts, and how long it will take for traveller demand to return.
Adding that Singapore is more reliant on China for tourism now compared to when the SARS outbreak hit in 2003, Tan noted that China accounted for just 9 per cent of visitor arrivals that year.
As a result, Singapore will probably take longer to recover from the novel coronavirus outbreak than the SARS outbreak in 2003, said Tan.
Singapore’s tourism sector saw positive year-on-year results about seven to eight months after the World Health Organization declared Singapore SARS free, he added.
The Government will form a public-private sector Tourism Recovery Action Task Force (TRAC) to lay out the plans for recovery and future growth, said STB.
The Task Force will comprise tourism leaders from the public and private sectors, and it will work to identify opportunities arising from the coronavirus outbreak, boost confidence in Singapore’s tourism spots and create recovery plans.
The statutory board had announced on Feb 2 that licence fees for hotels, travel agents and tour guides would be waived to help Singapore’s tourism sector, which has been “directly affected” by the coronavirus outbreak.
STB will also defray the cleaning costs of hotels that provided accommodation to the confirmed and suspected cases of the coronavirus. Full details of the overall package of relief measures will be announced at Budget 2020 on Feb 18.
Singapore saw growth in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts for a fourth consecutive year in 2019. Visitor arrivals rose 3.3 per cent to a total of 19.1 million visitors, and they spent a total of S$27.1 billion in tourism receipts, 0.5 per cent more than in 2018.
After China, Indonesia and India accounted for the second and third-most number of visitors to Singapore, with about 3.1 million and 1.4 million visitors respectively.
Singapore also saw a 13 per cent increase in visitors and a 14 per cent increase in tourism receipts from the United States. This could be attributed partly to greater flight connectivity between Singapore and the United States, with new non-stop flights launched in 2019.
