Singapore Hit Hard by COVID-19... Lowest Number of Arrivals in 40 Years

2.7 Million Last Year, 86% Sharp Decline
Tourism Recovery Difficult This Year Too

[Asia Economy Singapore Correspondent Su-mi Seo] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented global travel restrictions and border closures, the number of arrivals in Singapore last year was only 2.7 million, marking the lowest level in 40 years.

According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the number of visitors to Singapore last year was 2.7 million, a decrease of 85.7% from the previous year (19.1 million). Most of these visitors came during January and February, before the COVID-19 outbreak spread. Tourism revenue through the third quarter also amounted to only $4.4 billion, a sharp drop of 78.4% compared to the same period in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the entire consumer industry, including retail and dining, with Singapore Airlines and the tourism sector among the hardest hit industries. The state-owned airline, Singapore Airlines, unable to overcome financial difficulties, decided to cut 4,300 jobs, about 20% of its workforce, in September last year, affecting the employment market as well.

With overseas travelers unable to visit, the Tourism Board launched the Singapore Rediscover Vouchers (SRV) in December last year to stimulate domestic travel demand, providing support worth $320 million. Additionally, a budget of $187 million was allocated to support the aviation industry, with plans to continue public capital injections into airlines and aviation-related companies until March.

Despite the bleak outlook for overseas travel this year, a Tourism Board official noted that although several vaccines have been developed and vaccinations have already begun in Singapore, it will take some time before people feel safe to travel abroad for leisure. They also stated that it is difficult to accurately predict when visitor numbers and the tourism industry will recover.

In November last year, Singapore announced an ‘Air Travel Bubble’ agreement with Hong Kong to exempt quarantine measures when visiting the other country. However, as the situation in Hong Kong worsened, the schedule was postponed once or twice, and the resumption date remains uncertain. Additionally, since September last year, Singapore has implemented a ‘Fast Lane’ system with countries such as South Korea, Malaysia, and Germany, allowing essential personnel like businesspeople and government officials to be exempt from quarantine when visiting for work under certain conditions. However, this was suspended earlier this month due to a significant increase in imported COVID-19 cases in Singapore. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has predicted that global passenger numbers will take until 2024 to return to pre-COVID-19 levels.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.