Singapore visitor arrivals rise in Sept: govt

(Devashis Sarangi)

Singapore said Tuesday visitor arrivals in September grew 7.1 percent from last year, the first increase recorded in 2009.

The Singapore Tourism Board said in its monthly report that 799,000 people visited the city-state in September, up from 746,000 for the same month in 2008.

Increased arrivals from Indonesia and Malaysia, the biggest and third-biggest source of visitors respectively for Singapore, were the main drivers behind the rise, the tourism board said.

Malaysian arrivals increased 51.2 percent to 68,000 while Indonesian arrivals rose 27 percent to 183,000, it said, attributing the improved figures to the Eid al-Fitr Islamic public holidays in the two countries.

Singapore's tourism sector is suffering from the global slump as people cut back on business and leisure travel with arrivals slumping in the first eight months of 2009.

The city-state is targetting 9.0-9.5 million visitors this year, generating an expected 12.0-12.5 billion Singapore dollars (8.6-9.0 billion US) in revenue.

It received 10.1 million visitors last year, missing its target of 10.8 million as travel slowed in the second half due to the global slump.