In October, Singapore experienced a decline in international visitor arrivals for the third consecutive month, dropping to 1,125,948 visitors based on the data provided by the Singapore Tourism Board.

Singapore tourism saw a slight decrease from September’s visitor count, but it remained significantly higher than the number of visitors in October 2022, marking a 37.8% increase.

Analysts note that the tourism patterns in 2023 followed seasonal trends, with peaks in July and August due to inbound Chinese arrivals, followed by a decline in September and October.

These patterns were similar to pre-pandemic trends, according to DBS Bank analyst Geraldine Wong.

Indonesia remained the leading source of visitors to Singapore, with 180,881 tourists, showing an increase from September’s count of 175,601 tourists. China followed as the next significant source country, with 122,764 visitors in October, slightly decreasing from 135,677 visitors in September.

Ms. Wong highlighted changes in Chinese travel patterns due to safety concerns in Thailand and Japan, possibly redirecting some travelers to Singapore for the time being.

Ms. Wong doesn’t think the shift in Chinese travel was sufficient to counter seasonal patterns, mentioning that trends influenced by current news tend to diminish rapidly. Additionally, she observed that during Golden Week (Oct 1 to 7), many Chinese travelers opted for domestic trips, which was disappointing for hoteliers expecting more demand from Chinese tourists.

India surpassed Malaysia and Australia to secure the third position in visitor arrivals to Singapore, with 94,332 people visiting, marking an increase from 81,014 visitors in the previous month.

In October, Malaysia recorded 88,641 international arrivals, a slight decrease from 89,384 in September. Meanwhile, Australia, ranking fifth, contributed 88,032 visitors, down from 104,497 the previous month.