How many Indians have visited Singapore by 2023? | world news

Last week, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) released visitor numbers for the city-state, topping expectations at more than 2.9 million in the first three months of the year.

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This is 62% of the 1Q 2019 figure out of the 4.7 million who visited Singapore in 1Q 2019.

A total of 1,93,230 of them came from India, 3.5 times the 54,530 arrivals in 2022. Residents of India were the fourth largest source of tourists in the first quarter, after Indonesians (5,23,300), Malaysians (2,78,910) and Australians (2,65,730). Americans ranked fifth as the country of origin with 1,68,960 people.

China is Singapore’s largest source of tourists, with more than 3.75 million tourists in 2019, but has not yet fully returned to Singapore, making it the ninth largest tourist group in the first quarter, with only 124,560 people coming to Singapore.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in 2019, nearly 170 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad.

While China lifted travel restrictions, cumbersome travel procedures for Chinese residents in countries such as South Korea and Japan dampened enthusiasm for outbound travel earlier this year.

The situation has been exacerbated by delays in passport renewals and visa applications and the inability of Chinese airlines to arrange the same number of flights as they did pre-Covid. In February, international flights from China were at less than 10% of 2019 levels, according to Fliggy, a travel booking site owned by Alibaba.

Furthermore, three years of Covid-19 restrictions have changed the travel habits of Chinese citizens, with many now content to explore their own country’s vast and diverse attractions.

CBNC quoted Wolfgang Georg Arlt, founder and CEO of China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, as saying on ITB: “We will welcome Chinese tourists this year and in the next few years will be very different from before.” Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade meeting. COTRI is an independent consulting company based in Germany.

In China and elsewhere, as elsewhere, years of pandemic-induced lockdowns have sparked a shift away from major tourist attractions to “more nature-oriented, more outdoors-oriented tourism,” Alter said. He highlighted the emergence of trends such as camping and glamping, as well as family-focused travel.

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COTRI predicts that China’s outbound travel will recover to about two-thirds of 2019, with about 110 million outbound tourists this year.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Tourism Board has not waited for the return of Chinese tourists to roll out new activities and attractions to boost tourism on the island.

To inspire people to travel to Singapore through TV dramas and movies, STB and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have announced a S$10 million (US$7.5 million) Singapore Screen Fund. The fund aims to support international media and entertainment (M&E) partners in marketing Singapore through TV and film programming aimed at international audiences.

The Singapore Screen Fund will support selected projects by leading M&E firms, which must be based in Singapore and launch by the first quarter of 2027. Successful projects will receive financial support of up to 30% of eligible costs related to Singaporean identity, including production costs and marketing costs.

That’s partly inspired by past collaborations that resulted in the movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” the hugely popular Korean drama “Little Women” (2022) and HBO’s sci-fi hit “Westworld Season 3.” (2020). The shows had an international impact and left a positive impression on audiences around the world.

Also just announced in April is the return of the free Singapore tour, which is very popular with tourists from India as well as those from Australia and Indonesia. This tour is suspended during COVID. Jointly organized by STB and Changi Airport, this itinerary is designed for transit passengers with a layover in Changi of at least 5.5 hours but less than 24 hours. They must also hold a valid Singapore entry visa to join the tour.

The aim of organizing these free tours is to entice transit travelers to make Singapore their next holiday destination.

The original three tours offered pre-Covid – City Sightseeing Tour, Heritage Tour and Jewelry Tour – have been updated to include new attractions. The new Changi District Tour will introduce travelers to the intriguing sights and sounds of the eastern region around Singapore’s Changi Airport. Each tour lasts two and a half hours and is offered daily, with plans to gradually increase to nine tours per day.

In 2019, more than 80,000 passengers took part in the Free Singapore Tour.

Another exciting development is a brand new Disney cruise ship that will be stationed in Singapore for five years from 2025. STB and Disney Cruise Line announced a memorandum of understanding on March 29.

The 208,000 gross ton ship has a capacity of approximately 6,000 passengers and a crew of 2,300, and will carry passengers to Southeast Asian countries that are home to more than 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Disney Cruises has the potential to add millions of local and foreign cruise passengers over five years, including flying cruise passengers arriving in Singapore by air. It also promises to have significant spillover effects into the wider economy.

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“We look forward to welcoming Disney Cruise Line to Singapore in 2025,” said STB CEO Keith Tan. “This is an important milestone for STB and reflects Disney Cruise Line’s strong confidence in Singapore and Southeast Asia. An attraction in itself, the new Disney cruise ship is expected to boost tourism in Singapore for many years to come. “