Merlion statue, Singapore.
(TAN): The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced its forecast for international visitor arrivals (IVA), following the city’s reopening of the borders under the Vaccinated Travel Framework launched on April 1. With global travel picking up pace, Singapore expects to receive between 4 million and 6 million visitors in 2022.
In H1 2022, Singapore clocked 1.5 million visitor arrivals, nearly 12 times more compared to the same period in 2021 (119,000). Tourism receipts (TR) reached an estimated SGD 1.3 billion (USD 930.6 million) in the year’s first quarter. While IVA and TR remain a fraction of Singapore’s pre-pandemic numbers, STB remains of the view that tourism flows will recover to pre-Covid levels by the mid-2020s.
[ALSO READ: Qatar Airways wins ‘Airline of the Year’, other honours at AirlineRatings Awards]
Keith Tan, CEO of Singapore Tourism Board, said, “The encouraging growth in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts signals strong pent-up demand, and underscore Singapore’s continued appeal as a vibrant and attractive destination for leisure and business travellers. While the pandemic is certainly not over yet, we are confident that Singapore’s very rich calendar of events, as well as new and refreshed tourism offerings, will continue to attract visitors for the rest of 2022 and beyond.”
