PRICE-SENSITIVE TRAVELLERS
The reality is that demand for Singapore as a destination has declined among price-sensitive regional travellers from other Southeast Asian countries. Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese travellers in particular are starting to holiday elsewhere.
Visitor arrivals from all three of these countries are significantly below 2019 levels. There was even a decline in Thai and Vietnamese visitor arrivals in 2024 compared to 2023 while all the other main markets registered year-over-year increases.
Vietnam experienced the steepest drop, with Vietnamese arrivals at Changi down 33 per cent in 2024 compared with 2019, including a 46 per cent decline in November and 42 per cent decline in December.
Thai visitor arrivals at Changi were 26 per cent below 2019 levels in 2024, including a 35 per cent drop in November and 29 per cent drop in December.
In the much bigger Indonesian market, visitor arrivals at Changi were down 16 per cent, including 22 per cent in November and 17 per cent in December.
Attracting more visitors from these and other Southeast Asian countries could require more budget accommodation options and a reduction in airport departure fees for regional travellers.
Another concern is India as Indian visitor arrivals at Changi were 13 per cent below 2019 levels in 2024 despite booming overall growth in India’s outbound travel sector, which other Southeast Asian countries have benefitted from. For example, Malaysia had 37 per cent more Indian visitors in 2024 compared with 2019.
The failure to achieve India growth is not only about Singapore’s high cost compared to other destinations but also visa-free policies. Singapore needs to lift visa restrictions to Indian citizens to compete with Malaysia, which adopted a visa-free policy for India in late 2023, and other destinations.
Singapore did adopt a visa-free policy for Chinese citizens in February 2024, which has aided the recovery of its biggest tourism source market. However, the impact has been somewhat mitigated by other Southeast Asian countries also lifting visa restrictions for China.
Chinese visitor arrivals at Changi were still 3 per cent below 2019 levels last year with very weak demand the last two months of the year. Chinese visitor arrivals at Changi were down 20 per cent in November 2024 and 23 per cent in December 2024 compared with the same months in 2019.
Indonesia, India and Malaysia are Singapore’s largest source markets after China. Malaysian visitor arrivals at Changi were down by 6 per cent in 2024 compared with 2019 but with also a concerning 24 per cent drop in December.
