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2006 was a record breaking year for Singapore's tourism sector, registering new records in visitor arrivals, tourism receipts, average occupancy rate and hotel room revenue.

 

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) Wednesday announced these on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum.

 

Singapore welcomed 9.7 million visitors last year, exceeding its target of 9.4 million and posting a 9-percent increase over 2005.

 

The tourism sector also generated an estimated 12.4 billion Singapore dollars (about 8.1 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism receipts, some 400 million Singapore dollars more than the target and a 14.5-percent increase compared to the previous year, the STB said.

 

All top 10 source markets for Singapore registered growth last year. Indonesia, China, Australia, India and Malaysia emerged as the top five market while the Republic of Korea, China, the Philippines, India and Australia contributed double-digit growths.

 

Particularly, China has become the key market for Singapore. Singapore received more than 1 million Chinese visitors for the first time last year, with a 20.9-percent growth over 2005.

 

The hospitality industry also performed well last year. The average occupancy rate reached 85 percent, with a growth of 1.4 percent over 2005 while the hotel revenue grew 21.2 percent to reach 1.5 billion Singapore dollars, the STB said.

 

"These record highs certainly helped boost and fire up the investor and developer interest in Singapore," said Ken Low, assistant chief executive of Branding and Communications, the STB.

 

Lim Neo Chian, chief executive of the STB, expected hotel room rates to increase 10 percent to 20 percent this year.

 

He added the five new sites that were tendered for hotel development in the downtown area would add 2,700 more rooms and should be able to cope with the rising demand.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2007)