The Merlion Park in Singapore was packed with visitors on the opening day of the Golden Week holiday in China, which occurred on October 1. These individuals were trying to take the ideal vacation photo.
There were a number of talks that took place in Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog, and French; nevertheless, different Chinese dialects were the ones that stood out from the rest of the discourse.
“We wanted to come here for the diversity of the people and the food,” said a guy from Chengdu who just wanted to be known as Mr. Guo. “We wanted to come here because of the food.” The 32-year-old individual is employed in the field of technology and spent a total of four days in Singapore with his companion, an accountant who was 27 years old and went by the name Ms. Fu.
“It’s a short flight away, and it helps that people here speak the language as well,” he added, adding that Singapore had peaked their interest after viewing information about it online. After seeing the material, they decided to go there.
During the period of time known as Golden Week, which begins on October 1 and ends on October 7, the pair is one of the rising number of Chinese visitors who have selected Southeast Asia as their vacation destination.
China was the source of 403,120 tourists that visited the Republic in August of 2024. Compared to the combined total of fewer than 339,000 visits from the following three source nations, which were Indonesia, India, and Australia, this was a much higher number.
A mutual visa-free agreement was established on February 9, enabling people of Singapore and China to visit each other’s countries without the need for a visa for stays of up to thirty days. This comes almost eight months after the arrangement was first implemented.
The Straits Times was also informed by local tour operators and travel platforms that the demand from Chinese tourists has increased significantly, even having doubled over the Golden Week holiday, and is expected to continue to be high till the end of the year.
While Singapore is working to catch up to its high of 3.6 million tourist arrivals in 2019, the country has been slowly increasing the number of hotel rooms available and the capacity of its airports. A total of around 3,300 more rooms are anticipated to be added to hotels with the completion of seven new hotels in 2024 and nine more hotels in 2025.
According to Changi Airport Group (CAG), Changi Airport is now linked to a total of 31 locations in China via the use of sixteen different airlines. Every week, there are about 430 flights that leave for China, which is equivalent to more than sixty flights each day.
On October 1, ST met with Chinese tourists who were mostly from Beijing, Chengdu, and Shenzhen who were traveling in China. They intended to remain for a period of four to six days, on average. The Singapore Zoo, Sentosa, Orchard Road, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, and Universal Studios were among the few sites that many people want to see – the same few attractions that Mr. Guo and Ms. Fu wanted to visit.
“Change of scenery” from their home towns and Singapore’s image as a “garden city” were the primary reasons why they chose to come here. They identified these two factors as the primary reasons for their decision. None of them had traveled with tour groups; rather, they had arrived on their own.
Arrivals of tourists from China are gradually making a comeback.
According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), total visitor arrivals for the year 2024 are gradually returning to levels that were prior to the Covid-19 epidemic.
Only in the month of July, which marks the beginning of China’s summer vacation season, a total of 413,000 Chinese tourists arrived in Singapore, surpassing the 390,000 that visited in 2019. In the first seven months of 2024, there were around 1.9 million tourists from China who came to the US. 85 percent of the data from before the implementation of Covid, with 2.2 million visits over the same time period in 2019.
And in August of 2024, the CAG reported that the number of passenger movements experienced by air traffic between the two nations hit a new all-time high of over 750,000. This was 106 percent of the passenger traffic that was experienced in August 2019, and it represented 149 percent of the number for August 2023.
During the first eight months of 2024, China was Changi Airport’s most important market for five of those time periods.
According to information provided by the aviation data consultancy OAG, the five Chinese cities that had the most seat capacity for passengers traveling between China and Singapore in August 2024 were Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Shenzhen. Guangzhou was the fifth largest city in China.
Over the course of the first seven months of 2024, the number of passengers arriving from other countries has remained relatively stable, reaching 9.78 million.
“Despite the fact that there are geopolitical and economic uncertainties, we are on track to meet our forecast of 15 to 16.5 million international visitor arrivals this year,” said Mr. Andrew Phua, the executive director in charge of Greater China. “This is due to the fact that there is a demand for global travel and that air capacity has been restored.”
Beneficial effects of Golden Week and a 30-day mutual visa
It was reported by the travel site Klook that the number of Chinese tourists who made reservations for services such as tours and attractions almost quadrupled between the months of June and August in comparison to the period of March to May.
Ms. Sarah Wan, who is the general manager for Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore at Klook, made the observation that “the steady momentum from February through August suggests that this trend may continue into the later part of the year.”
Furthermore, as of the 31st of August, the total number of reservations made on the travel site Trip.com for trips from China to Singapore between October 1 and October 7 has increased by 43 percent compared to the previous year. These bookings include flights, hotels, excursions, and tickets.
“This remarkable growth demonstrates the strong demand among Chinese tourists to visit Singapore,” said Mr. Edmund Ong, who is the general manager of Trip.com’s operations in Singapore.
There has been an improvement in the flow of travel, according to travel platforms, thanks to the 30-day mutual visa-free plan.
According to Chan Brothers Travel, one of the most prominent travel companies in Singapore, they have seen a substantial increase in the number of inquiries and reservations ever since the agreement went into place. These inquiries and bookings have remained steady and regular.
It was pointed out by Mr. Jeremiah Wong, who is the assistant director for marketing communications at the agency, that the arrangement “significantly enhances convenience by eliminating the need for complex visa applications for Chinese travelers to Singapore.”
In addition, Mr. Ong of Trip.com said, “We believe that the momentum of spontaneous and frequent travel between both markets will be sustained because of the ease of entry between China and Singapore.”
Optimism with discretion
The big hotel companies in Singapore are expressing a cautious optimism, as some of them have seen a slight increase in the number of reservations made by Chinese tourists for the month of October, including during Golden Week and beyond.
The length of stay that customers have stayed at Accor hotels has increased by twenty percent during the month of October, according to the Accor hotel company. A total of more than thirty hotel properties are owned by the company in Singapore.
According to Mr. Ollie Ansell, vice-president of commercial market strategy at Accor Asia, this is consistent with the typical patterns that Chinese tourists exhibit over the Golden Week holiday.
It was further stated by him that the demand from these types of travelers is spread across all of the company’s brands, ranging from more luxurious establishments like Swissotel The Stamford to a significant interest in the company’s “more accessible options” like the recently opened Mercure Icon Singapore City Centre on Club Street and the Pullman Singapore Hill Street, which is located close to City Hall.
As of the end of August, the number of reservations made by customers from China for the 15 hotels owned and operated by Marriott International had increased by sixteen percent. The Ritz-Carlton, the Millenia Singapore, and the JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach are just a few examples of these hotels. Other examples are the Sheraton Towers Singapore and the Aloft Singapore Novena.
“We anticipate that the trend will continue, and we are optimistic that demand from China will continue to be strong for us as a whole, including during its October National Day holidays,” said Mr. Oriol Montal, the managing director of luxury merchandise for Marriott International in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China.
In general, there is no slowdown in demand. An increase is anticipated in the latter half of the year, according to analysts such as Mr. Mayur Patel, who is the head of Asia at OAG Aviation.
Mr. Patel said that “we anticipate a strong travel period in December 2024,” and that “Chinese carriers are likely to adjust (flight) capacity to match demand based on seasonal factors.” He also mentioned that freight and passenger traffic tend to be greater in the later half of the year for Asia.
A multitude of reservations made by Singaporeans who are going to China
The Straits Times was informed by a number of travel sites that a significant number of Singaporeans are opting to go to China and remain there for an extended period of time during the peak vacation season that occurs at the end of the year.
A year ago, Chan Brothers said that their reservations to China had increased by a factor of three during the Natas Holidays travel expo that took place in August. In addition to Xinjiang and Tibet, prominent tourist destinations in China include Yunnan, Chongqing, and Chengdu, which are located in the south-western region of the country.
When compared to the same time period in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 epidemic, the travel agency said that it had already seen a more than threefold rise in the number of reservations for trips to China during the first half of 2024.
According to Mr. Jeremiah Wong, assistant director of marketing communications at Chan Brothers, the visa-free arrangement for a period of thirty days has also made it possible for vacationers from Singapore to spend extended periods of time in China without experiencing any difficulties.
According to Mr. Wong, the arrangement “significantly enhances convenience by eliminating the need for Chinese travelers to Singapore to submit complicated visa applications.” In the past, Singaporeans were only allowed to remain in China without a visa for a period of fifteen days.
He went on to say that their lengthier trips, which can last up to 21 days and include stops in places like Chengdu, Yunnan, Fujian, and Guangdong, have been warmly accepted by tourists who are seeking for a more immersive and leisurely vacation experience in China.
In a similar vein, Mr. Edmund Ong, the general manager of Trip.com in Singapore, anticipates a significant amount of reservations from both nations for the latter part of this year. This is due to the fact that a significant number of Singaporeans will be traveling to China for the end-of-year school vacations.
“Travel from Singapore to China has shown strong growth,” Mr. Ong remarked, noting the fact that the combined booking volume of flights, hotels, tours, and tickets increased by 322% between February 9, 2024, when the 30-day mutual visa went into effect, and August 31, 2024, in comparison to the same time in the previous year.
He said that Trip.com has reacted to the significant demand by launching targeted discounts and packages, such as travel packages and bundles that include flights and accommodations, in order to stimulate travel between the two markets.
To provide one example, a few months ago, it launched the Super China campaign, which aims to persuade people to visit to China by highlighting a new city or area every two weeks.
