2009 visitor arrivals post smallest downturn at 4.5%

Visitor arrivals fall down at 4.5 percent by 881,000 in July, marking the smallest downturn in 2009.

In comparability, visitor arrivals in June were at 8.9%, lower annually at 750,000, but, arrival days in July were at 4.6 million, a yearly decline of 11.6 percent.

The top five visitor generating markets in July were Malaysia (54,000), India (66,000), China (72,000), Australia, (79,000) and Indonesia (169,000).

Promotions by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and by airlines, coupled with sudden discounts in the Great Singapore Sale, boosted more visitors from Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Their numbers were up to 14.9%, 18.2%, and 11.2% respectively.

However, arrivals from China, Japan and South Korea slumped by 32%, 23% and 2%, respectively. The STB said the deterioration was not as steep as in previous months. The decline in June arrivals from the three markets was mainly attributed to the outbreak of H1N1 flu.

In the meantime, the estimated $127 million revenue of the gazetted hotel room in July also declined by 29.7 percent as compared from the previous year.

The average room rate (AAR) declined by 25.3 percent to $177, while the average occupancy rate (AOR) rose by 4.5 percent to 80 percent. Furthermore, the revenue for each available room (Revpar) also fell by 29.3 percent to $142.

The only properties to report a growth in AOR are the luxury hotels, which increased by 1.6 percentage points to 79 percent. Additionally, they were also the one to register the smallest downturn in Revpar, down 25.6 percent to $224.

Mid-tier hotels posted the biggest decline in ARR, a 30.5 percent drop to $133, while the smallest decline was recorded to Up-scale hotels, down 23.9 percent to $198.

Economy hotels saw the biggest contraction in Revpar, a downturn of 38.6% to $62. Their ARR and AOR also declined by 26.9 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively.