The Big Read: Fancy spending weeks on a tropical island? S'pore aims to shed 'stopover' tag amid tourism market shifts

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SINGAPORE — Indonesian Raihan Ridwan decided to make the little red dot her first overseas destination since the pandemic started after she learnt that all vaccinated travellers could enter the city without having to take any on-arrival Covid-19 tests from April 1.

SINGAPORE — For more than two years, Indonesian Raihan Ridwan has not left her country due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

While she previously stayed here for one week on average, she will be spending two weeks in Singapore with her family this time. Her longer stay is partly due to her pent-up wanderlust and she wants to make the most of it. Ms Raihan also cited the city state's Covid-19 protocols including the testing procedures for visitors, optional mask-wearing outdoors and a “proper testing and tracing” system.

In all, air passenger traffic in Singapore reached 400,000, or 31 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels, as of the week ending on April 17 — up from 18 per cent a month ago. Other than moves to boost manpower and alleviate business costs, there are plans to position Singapore as an “urban wellness haven”. Dr Kevin Cheong, the chairman of the Association of Singapore Attractions , said that the trend towards longer trips means that Singapore has to sell a “one-destination promise”.

“Local tourism went down, but there was an increase in foreigners,” he said, adding that his revenue from foreign tourists is now at 30 per cent of the pre-pandemic level. “It will take time, and we don’t see the numbers going up in the first instance.” To adapt to the shifting demand, he is making changes to his offerings. “We are coming up with more generic tours that are open for everyone, whichever country you are from,” said Mr Goh. “We will downsize our local offering, but we have a lot of things in our .”

“But with international borders steadily opening up and families and friends reuniting in Singapore, we are starting to welcome overseas guests in our parks again, especially from source markets such as India, Australia, the United Kingdom and South-east Asia,” he said. Mr K Ganesh, chief executive of travel agency GVS Holidays Singapore, said that he had received about 30 inbound bookings so far this month, a 25 per cent increase from the previous month.

Agreeing, Mr Toh Thiam Wei, founder of tour operator Indie Singapore Tours, said that he has noticed smaller groups making more last-minute bookings for his tours, compared to pre-pandemic when larger groups would contact his agency weeks in advance before their visits. “Mass tourism is not going to come back anytime soon, so all the big busloads of tourists might not be back that quickly,” he said.

“Previously, there were many tourists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong which we don’t see coming to Singapore now," he said. “Having fewer Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Filipino tourists will have a larger economic impact on these places, such as the shops in Marina Bay Sands, that previously had throngs of shoppers as they were part of these package tours,” said Mr Walton.

According to data platform Statista, the average length of stay for an inbound traveller into Singapore in 2019 was 3.36 nights. Last year, the average length of stay for an inbound traveller was 22.42 nights. With longer stays becoming the norm, Dr Cheong said that Singapore needs to reposition itself as a “one-destination” holiday.

The initiatives include plans to position the city as an “urban wellness haven”, which is meant to “enhance the discoverability of Singapore’s wellness offerings, or wellness quotient”. For example, STB last year launched a one-year partnership with fitness company ClassPass, which typically offers yoga, gym, and meditation classes, among other activities.

ASA’s Dr Cheong reiterated that the concept of wellness has many facets. “It need not always be about spas and massages, another form of wellness is outdoor activities, immersing yourself in nature, and I think Singapore is well positioned for that.” he said. Mr Benjamin Tan from the Mandai Wildlife Group said that Singapore’s move to focus on urban wellness “strikes a chord with us”.

There will also be flagship stores opening along the shopping belt such as a yoga and fitness studios, sports brands, and an organic food market. Agreeing, Mr Cassim said that the revitalisation of Orchard Road must be"fundamentally built on delivering memorable experiences to shoppers and visitors, and providing higher levels of personalisation".

 

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