Popularity is growing: twice as many tourists visited Singapore in 2023

The number of international travelers arriving in Singapore in 2023 more than doubled to 13.6 million, compared to the 6.3 million recorded in 2022. The Singapore Tourism Board, according to its forecasts, emphasized that this figure is 71% of the level of 2019, the last full year before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

STB data shows that Indonesia leads the way in terms of tourist arrivals to Singapore with 2.3 million tourists, followed by China and Malaysia with 1.4 million and 1.1 million respectively. The Tourism Council also noted a significant recovery in other key markets, including Australia, South Korea and the United States. This is reported by travelandtourworld.com.

In particular, visitors extended their stay in Singapore compared to the pre-pandemic period. The average length of stay in 2023 was approximately 3.8 days, compared to 3.4 days in the same period in 2019.

Melissa Ou, STB's executive director, expressed optimism about the stable performance in 2023, which shows a promising recovery in tourism. She attributed this recovery to increased capacity and increased demand for international travel.

Tourism revenues in 2023 are estimated to be in the range of S$24.5 billion to S$26 billion (US$18.28 billion to US$19.4 billion), up from the STB's previous forecast of S$18 billion to S$21 billion per year.

Looking to the future, STB expects the tourism sector to continue to recover due to improved global air connectivity and capacity, as well as the implementation of the reciprocal 30-day visa waiver agreement between China and Singapore. The Tourism Board predicts that the number of foreign visitors to Singapore will reach approximately 15-16 million, resulting in tourism receipts of S$26 to S$27.5 billion.