Flu virus takes toll on May tourism

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TOURISM arrivals fell again in May, the 12th consecutive month they have
done so.

Worse, the spectre of Influenza A (H1N1) has cast a long shadow
over an industry that is already reeling from the effects of the global
economic downturn, and things look set to get a lot worse before they get
better.

Last month, 730,000 tourists visited Singapore, a 13 per cent
drop over the same month last year.

The H1N1 factor played a major part
in crimping arrivals: Tourists from East Asian countries like China, Korea and
Japan, which are among Singapore's key markets, stayed away in droves.

People from these countries are more careful than most about avoiding the
new flu bug, having lived through the Sars outbreak in 2003.

Visitors
from Japan dropped 30 per cent year-on-year, and the plunge for those from
China and Korea was even greater, at 40 per cent.

In its monthly
release, the Singapore Tourism Board said: 'The sharper declines in visitor
arrivals in May 2009 from markets such as China and Japan can be attributed in
part to the global outbreak of Influenza A.'

The effects of H1N1 are not
just being felt in the tourism industry.

For instance, at the recently
concluded Infocomm Media Business Exchange - billed as Asia's largest
technology trade show - Japanese telco giant NTT DoCoMo did not turn up despite
having paid for its booth.

A company representative told The Straits
Times that it was 'a last-minute decision'.

She said: 'At that time,
(the H1N1 flu) was very serious in Japan. In order not to put people at risk,
the company decided not to allow its staff to travel.'

Tourism industry
players warned that the full impact of H1N1 on the trade has not been seen
yet.

They noted that by the end of May, Singapore had only five
confirmed cases of the disease. All were imported.

This was not enough
for other countries to place the Republic on their lists of destinations to
avoid.

But now, with the virus spreading to the community, and numbers
likely to rise further, more people are expected to avoid Singapore.

So
far, no country appears to have placed Singapore on its list of destinations to
avoid.

But already, firms like Golden Travel and CTC Holidays say they
have seen inbound business drop by 50 per cent to 70 per cent.

Golden
Travel's chairman Lin Deng Li gave this stark example: The number of Chinese
students coming here during the peak July-August period stands at 400 to 500.
She said that in previous years, she had as many as 10,000 students.

These students normally visit Singapore as part of immersion programmes
organised by their schools to learn English, and to interact with their
counterparts here.

Contacted yesterday, the Singapore Tourism Board
would only say it 'has been closely monitoring' the pandemic globally and how
Singapore's key markets are responding to it.

Its spokesman Muhammad
Rostam Umar said: 'Singapore's borders remain open and we continue to welcome
visitors. Life in Singapore continues as usual.'

The continuing slump
in the tourism industry has hit the hospitality sector hardest.

Average
room occupancy fell 12.2 percentage points year-on-year to hit 69 per cent,
while average room rates dropped to $184, a fall of 25.4 per cent
year-on-year.

Gazetted hotel room revenue was estimated at $112 million,
a decline of 37.7 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The
chairman of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (Natas), Mr
Robert Khoo, warned that things are so bad that 'if this carries on, the travel
industry may have no choice but to start retrenching people'.

Additional reporting by Serene Luo

SCHOOLS SKIP S'PORE TRIPS

The number of Chinese
students coming here during the peak July-August period stands at 400 to 500,
says Golden Travel's chairman Lin Deng Li. In previous years, she had as many
as 10,000 students.

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