SINGAPORE. Figures released yesterday by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) suggest that visitor numbers are slowly returning as the SARS situation stabilises.
For the period 13 to 19 May, visitor arrivals totalled 39,500, STB said. This was an increase of almost 5,000 or +14% from the previous week’s figure of 34,800.
Arrivals for 13 to 19 May were still -70% lower than a year earlier. However a breakdown of the latest figures shows an increase from seven countries – among them Indonesia, the US and Australia – compared with the previous week. Arrivals from Germany, India and the UK fell slightly and arrivals from Hong Kong and China were unchanged from the previous week.
On the local front, the tourist board’s “Step Out! Singapore” campaign, which encourages locals to live life normally and visit city attractions, is enjoying some success since it was launched three weeks ago.
