Singapore visitor arrivals up 15.9 pct in Dec, at record high

Visitor arrivals in Singapore rose 15.9 percent in December from a year ago to a record monthly high of 1.13 million, helped by the opening of two multi-billion-dollar casino-resorts, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Thursday.

For the whole of 2010, Singapore welcomed 11.6 million visitors from abroad, at the lower end of STB's 11.5 to 12.5 million forecast.

STB chief executive Aw Kah Peng said the city-state is "on track" to meet its target of 17 million visitors by 2015.

More importantly, the rise in visitor arrivals will push annual tourism receipts up to S$30 billion ($23.5 billion) by then, she said.

STB's figures do not include the thousands who cross over from Malaysia daily by land.
Singapore legalised casinos in 2005 as part of a plan to double visitor arrivals by 2015.

Genting Singapore's Resorts World at Sentosa opened its doors in February this year, while Las Vegas Sands' Marina Bay Sands began operations in late April.

STB said the average occupancy rate at Singapore hotels in December was 83 percent, a 3.2 percent point rise from a year ago. The average hotel room rate in the city-state rose by 16.8 percent from a year ago to S$209 ($164.050). ($1 = 1.274 Singapore Dollars) (Reporting by Xue Jianyue; Editing by Kevin Lim)

Source: Reuters