Singapore is one of the world’s leading destinations for business travellers and leisure-seeking tourists due to its geographical location, stable business environment, enticing retail offer and world class infrastructure.

JLL's Singapore – The Next Chapter in Hotels and Tourism Report advises that according to MasterCard’s 2017 Asia Pacific Destinations Index tourism survey, Singapore took second spot after Bangkok based on the number of international overnight visitor arrivals recorded across Asia Pacific. However in terms of tourism spending, Singapore claimed top spot with total expenditure at USD 15.4 billion. Bangkok achieved second place in the survey (USD 12.7 billion).

As a haven for long-term investment, strong trading performance and capital appreciation in terms of hotels, Singapore is well sought after amongst investors seeking hotel ownership within the region. However, despite the significant interest, deals have been limited in recent years because of the lack of opportunity to acquire properties. Like much of Asia, hotel owners in Singapore are viewed as 'generational' - meaning vendors are less likely to sell and rather retain their asset for the long term.

In 2016, international visitor arrivals into Singapore increased 7.7% y-o-y to a record high of 16.4 million. Strong growth in arrivals from Mainland China, Indonesia and India were key drivers of this growth.

Mainland China was Singapore’s second largest source market contributing to almost 17% of total visitor arrivals and accounted for the largest y-o-y increase of 36%. Indonesia, the traditional top source market contributing to the same proportion as Mainland China, recorded a moderate increase of around 6%.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) continues to make concerted efforts to promote the island state in many countries abroad, particularly Mainland China. The STB has also been targeting long haul markets such as Germany and emerging regional markets such as Vietnam, both recording healthy rises of 15% and 12% respectively in visitor arrivals last year.

The latest visitor arrivals as at YTD June 2017 reported an increase of 4.5% y-o-y, reaching 8.5 million tourists. This is positive news and confirms Singapore is well on the way to achieving STB’s 2017 growth forecasts in total arrivals (16.4 to 16.7 million – 0% to +2%).

Click here to view the full Singapore Hotel and Tourism Report.

This article was first published on The Hotel Conversation.

See also:

8 Napier, the luxury sanctuary in the heart of Singapore

CapitaLand to take part in largest office transaction in Asia Pacific this year

Residential Sales in Singapore remain upbeat in August