India becomes 5th tourism-generating market for Singapore, free-visa travel takes Indonesia at the top

In 2023, Singapore welcomed 1.1 million Indian tourists, marking a substantial 115% increase in overall visitor numbers, reaching 13.6 million from the pandemic-affected 6.3 million in 2022, Singapore Tourism (STB) said on February 1.

The upswing in visitor arrivals was due to robust demand from key markets, However, India was not the primary tourism generating market for Singapore. In fact it fell to the fifth spot, with markets such as Indonesia (2.3 million), China (1.4 million), and Malaysia (1.1 million), becoming the top three markets. India was ranked fifth, after Australia, from where 1.1 million tourists visited the Asian country in 2023.

Earlier in November 2023, India was the third tourism-generating market for Singapore. However, after the city-state announced visa-free arrival for Indonesian passport holders, the country witnessed highest arrivals from there.

Singapore anticipates tourism receipts for 2023 to range between SG $24.5 billion and SG $26 billion, surpassing STB’s earlier forecast of S $18 billion to SG $21 billion. This represents approximately 88% to 94% of 2019 levels. The final figures for tourism receipts will be disclosed in the second quarter of 2024.

STB reported an increase in the average length of stay to approximately 3.8 days in 2023, compared to 3.4 days in the same period in 2019. Singapore’s tourism sector demonstrated resilience and robust recovery throughout 2023.

Singapore and China’s agreement for a mutual 30-day visa-free entry is expected to commence on February 9, coinciding with the Chinese New Year. The STB projects that international flight capacity will approach or match pre-pandemic levels in 2024, leading to an expected 15 to 16 million international visitor arrivals, generating SG $26 billion to SG $27.5 billion in tourism receipts.