20/01/2023
India ranked second-largest tourist market for Singapore in 2022
In an interesting development, India has been ranked the second-largest tourist market for Singapore in 2022 with 686,000 Indian arrivals. This is according to the data, which was provided by Singapore's tourism authority.
The findings found Indonesia to be the largest tourist market for Singapore with 1.1 million arrivals from the state, while Malaysia acquired the third spot with 591,000 tourists. Singapore Tourism Board (STB) further conveyed that tourists from Indonesia, India and Australia were among the top spenders in the first nine months of the year 2022 with a spending of 8.96 billion Singapore dollars (SGD).
STB also said the country's tourism receipts are estimated to reach SGD 13.8 billion to SGD 14.3 billion for 2022 - which is about 50-52% of the 2029 levels. The country had more than 6.3 billion tourists in 2022, a figure exceeding even the forecasts of between 4 million and 6 million.
As far as travel and tourism sector is concerned, India has become extremely important for Singapore in the last decade. According to Singapore Tourism Board, two areas hold a lot of significance - strong travel trade engagement and innovative engaging consumer outreach projects. It is pertinent to note that STB was among the first National Tourism Organizations to stage an elaborate consumer engagement event in India, during the COVID-19 spread.
STB had hosted a multi-city travel trade roadshow series in India last year, with a large delegation of over 45 stakeholders, aiming to engage and reconnect with trade partners. The name of the event was 'Deepening Connections, Achieving Together'. Under the outreach programme, STB reached out to five key Indian cities – Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore - to attract more Indian visitors. These trade engagements practices were aimed at strengthening Singapore Tourism’s existing partnerships and fostering new ones with tourism stakeholders and the local travel trade fraternity.
India and Singapore share deep bilateral ties, which is characterised by their strong economic, political and cultural relations. Both the nations share a history of cooperation in trade, business and investment. Singapore is also on of the top trading allies and investors of India. Both countries have inked several deals in order to strengthen cooperation in areas including defence, education, and tourism.