Tourist Arrivals from China and Amount of Tourism Receipts in 2023
Ministry of Trade and IndustrySpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Saktiandi Supaat’s query on 2023 Chinese tourist arrivals and receipts and the impact of the 30-day mutual visa exemption. Minister Gan Kim Yong reported 1.23 million arrivals between January and November and $1.12 billion in receipts between January and June, representing 37% and 56% of 2019 levels respectively. He attributed the recovery pace to Chinese domestic travel preferences and flight connectivity reaching 78% of pre-pandemic levels by December 2023. Minister Gan Kim Yong stated that the visa exemption will boost visitor arrivals and spending in the retail and F&B sectors. The arrangement also facilitates leisure travel and business networking opportunities for Singaporeans in the Chinese market.
Transcript
15 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what are the number of tourist arrivals and the amount of tourism receipts from China in 2023; (b) what are the reasons for how those figures compare to the 3.63 million tourist arrivals and $4.12 billion of tourism receipts from China in 2019; and (c) whether any studies have been conducted on the potential impact of the 30-day mutual visa exemption arrangement on Chinese tourist arrivals and spending in Singapore.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: There were 1.23 million visitor arrivals from mainland China between January and November 2023. Mainland Chinese visitors spent S$1.12 billion in tourism receipts between January and June 2023. Corrected for the same period, these represent 37% and 56% of 2019's visitor arrivals and tourism receipt figures respectively1.
In 2023, mainland Chinese travellers showed a preference for domestic over outbound travel in general and flight connectivity between China and Singapore was still recovering to pre-pandemic levels. As of December 2023, weekly flight passenger services2 between China and Singapore have recovered to 78% of 2019's figures. As outbound travel from China and flight connectivity continue to pick up, the recovery of Chinese visitor arrivals and spending in Singapore should follow suit.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Singapore Tourism Board, together with other relevant agencies, had assessed that the 30-day mutual visa exemption arrangement with China will increase Singapore's attractiveness as a tourist destination for Chinese visitors and boost visitor arrivals and spending in Singapore across the retail, F&B and related sectors in the tourism industry.
Equally important, the longer visa exemption will also make it more convenient for Singaporeans to travel for leisure into China and Singapore businesses to explore opportunities and network with their counterparts to grow their business in the Chinese market.