While international visitor arrivals into Singapore grew by 7.3% year-on-year to reach 4.6 million in 1Q2018, tourism receipts dipped marginally with declines seen in shopping, accommodation and F&B expenditure, according to the Singapore Tourism Board’s 1Q report.

The destination’s top five visitor-generating markets in the quarter were China (0.9 million), Indonesia (0.7 million), India (0.3 million), Malaysia (0.3 million) and Australia (0.3 million). Combined, they accounted f or 54% of total arrivals.

Tourists spending less on shopping, F&B and accommodation 

China (+10%), India (+22%) and Indonesia (+4%) registered the largest absolute year-on-year growth, while Germany (-7%), Australia (-3%) and the Philippines (-4%) posted the largest declines.

Tourism receipts for 1Q2018 were down 0.5% to S$6.7 billion (US$4.9 billion). While sightseeing, entertainment and gaming (+6%) and other tourism receipt components (+22%) grew, shopping (-9%), accommodation (-13%) and F&B (-16%) declined.

Gazetted hotel room revenue for 1Q2018 however was up 8.5%, coming in at an estimated S$1 billion. Average occupancy rate was 86.1%, a 1.4 percentage point increase.

Average room rate increased 2.3% to S$222 while revenue per available room increased 4% to reach S$191 in 1Q2018.