Singapore IRs: Chinese visitors won’t reach 2019 levels until next year, analysts say

Analysts at Maybank Investment Bank think the number of tourists will remain limited this year.

Singapore.- A report from Maybank Investment Bank suggests that mainland Chinese tourists visiting Singapore are likely to have a “positive” effect on the city-state’s two integrated resorts (IRs) this year but that numbers won’t reach pre-pandemic levels pre-pandemic levels until 2024. Chinese visitors contributed around 25 per cent of gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2019.

The spending of Chinese visitors could also be impacted by factors such as declining property values in mainland China and a general slowdown in the country’s economy, including manufacturing. The high cost of airfares and room rates in Singapore will also limit their gaming budget.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) expects international visitor arrivals to reach 12 to 14 million in 2023, bringing in approximately SGD18.00bn (US$13.62bn) to SGD21.00bn in tourism receipts – around two-thirds to three-quarters of 2019 levels.

It said that to support tourism recovery, “STB will front load SGD110m of the SGD500m set aside for Singapore’s tourism recovery to ramp up business and leisure events over these two years.”

In 2022, the country’s international visitor arrivals reached 6.3 million, exceeding its initial forecast of between 4 and 6 million.