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ANNUAL REPORT 2015
FRASERS HOSPITALITY TRUST
MARKET OVERVIEW
SINGAPORE
Tourism Market
Singapore continues to be a popular
tourist destination for both business
and leisure with a busy MICE
calendar, tourist attractions suitable
for the whole family, shopping
and gaming facilities amongst
others. It is a safe, cosmopolitan
and progressive East meets West
society. In addition, Singapore is also
a dynamic business hub, a favoured
regional headquarter location
for Asia Pacific MNCs while also
maintaining its position as a regional
education hub.
In YTD August 2015, Singapore
received 10.2 million visitors, a
decline of 0.6% from the same
period in 2014 according to the
Singapore Tourism Board (“STB”).
For YTD August 2015, Asia remained
the major visitor source, accounting
for 77.1% of total international
visitor arrivals (“IVA”). European
countries, being the second largest
share, comprised 10.6% of total
IVA. Oceania countries contributed
7.5%, followed by the Americas,
representing 4.4% of total IVA.
Changi Airport is recognised as one
of the busiest airports in the world.
By YTD August 2015, there were
36.5 million passenger movements,
a 1.8% increase from the same
period in 2014. For the past decade,
there has been an average annual
increase of 5.4% and this trend is
expected to continue.
Tourism revenue has increased 1.5%
over the past four years. Despite
the decline in international visitor
arrivals, tourism receipts remained
at S$23.5 billion (USD16.7 billion)
in 2014, a 0.4% increase over 2013.
This was mainly due to the increased
expenditure on accommodation
as well as sightseeing and
entertainment, by 0.2% and 6.5%
respectively. 2014 expenditure on
accommodation was recorded at
S$5.2 million (USD3.7 million). This
represented a 5.5% increase from
2011 to 2014. In 2014, revenue for
shopping declined by 8.6%, largely
affected by the decrease of Chinese
tour groups and reduced shopping
expenditure from neighbouring
Indonesian visitors due to Rupiah
depreciation.
The success of milestone events
such as the Formula One Grand Prix
held since 2008 and the Women’s
Tennis Association Tournament,
first hosted in 2014 and planned
to continue for the next five years,
marked a turning point for Singapore
as a tourist destination. Apart from
the regular events calendar, other
notable events for 2015 included the
28th Southeast Asian Games held
during the first two weeks of June,
followed by the Jubilee Weekend
Celebration (7-10 August) which was
a historic time for Singaporeans to
celebrate 50 years of independence.
In mid-2015, the Singapore Botanic
Gardens was designated as an
UNESCO World Heritage Site at
the 39th session of the World
Heritage Committee (WHC) in Bonn,
Germany.
New attractions expected to open
this year include the Art Gallery
which is planned to open in Q3,
located in the downtown core of
Singapore, which will house the
world’s largest public collection
of Singaporean and Southeast
Asian art, consisting of over 8,000
artworks.
