Singapore Tourism Performance Update Q1 2015

Following a record-setting year with 15.6 million tourist arrivals in 2013, Singapore’s visitor arrivals declined 3% in 2014 and have continued to decline in the first quarter of 2015. From January to April 2015, Singapore received 4,850,856 international visitor arrivals, a 5.4% decline over the same period in 2014. Leading the decline are Singapore’s top four feeder markets, namely Indonesia (-14.4%), China (-3.1%), Malaysia (-5.7%) and Australia (-9.4%). On the other hand, growth in visitor arrivals from India and South Korea, Singapore’s fifth and eighth largest feeder markets, remain encouraging at 3.4% and 9.9% respectively. The drastic decline in Indonesian arrivals may be attributed to a combination of reasons including a weakening rupiah which discourages international tourism, increased competition from domestic destinations, and decreased air connectivity as a result of AirAsia’s aviation incident which prompted safety investigations, leading to the cancellation of several weekly flight services between Bandung, Surabaya and Singapore in January 2015. To boost arrival trends, Singapore Tourism Board launched a US$20 million global marketing campaign last month, targeting key markets such as Indonesia, China and India.

MERS impacting Korean tourism, economy

South Korea is being heavily publicized for an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). While the virus has not mutated, it has taken its toll on the most vulnerable members of society, mostly the ill and elderly. After 10 deaths and more than 120 cases recorded with more than 2,300 quarantined, international media has created strong awareness of the current outbreak and related risks for tourists. As a result, tourists from PR China and Hong Kong have started to cancel trips and Hong Kong is on high alert for any cases occurring locally. As the outbreak is taking its toll on a slacking economy, the Korean central bank has cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to a record-low of 1.50%. After the botched handling of the Sewol ferry disaster, the Korean government under President Park has a second opportunity to prove itself by swiftly containing the outbreak.

Outrigger Resort enters Koh Samui

On 29 May 2015, Outrigger Resorts acquired the AKARYN Koh Samui Resort and Spa for an undisclosed sum. The property has been rebranded as the Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort and remains fully operational. The Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort is located on Hanuman Bay in the northeast of Koh Samui and is approximately 10 minutes away from Samui International Airport. This boutique all-pool suite and villas property comprises of 52 keys including 27 Garden Pool Suites (80 m²), 18 Garden Pool Villas (100 m²), 4 Ocean View Pool Suites (80 m²) and 3 Ocean Front Pool Suites (80 ²). The property features five food and beverage outlets, a swimming pool, a Navasana Spa and fitness centre. Outrigger plans to improve the property’s public areas, arrival experience, villas and landscaping.

HVS Publishes: Airport Developments – Indonesian Archipelago

Airports are vital to economic development, including tourism destinations - particularly in the case of island nations such as Indonesia. As the largest archipelago in the world, Indonesia spans a distance of over 5,300 kilometres, from the westernmost province, Aceh, to the easternmost, Papua – almost the distance of London to New York. The country is made up of 17,508 islands, one third of which are inhabited. The importance of air transport for economic progress is even more significant when only a handful of cities can be connected by land. Hence, a strong transport infrastructure has a direct impact on the progress of economic growth and socioeconomic development of the country.
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