SINGAPORE. Visitor arrivals for the period 8 to 14 April have plunged -68% year-on-year, mainly due to the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus, according to Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
“During the period 8-14 April, total visitor arrivals recorded 48,600, a decline of -68% over year ago under the strong impact of SARS,” the STB said in a statement yesterday.
It added that visitors from Thailand, US, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia declined by more than -70% during the period. All 12 markets monitored by the tourism board registered declines of between -45% and -85%. Arrivals from Thailand dropped -85% to 1,400 while Indonesia, the island’s biggest source of touristm, fell -67% to 8,700. Visitor arrivals dropped -62% year-on-year for the first two weeks of April overall, after falling -14.8% in March.
“Travel advisories or alerts and the cancellations of events contributed to the decline in visitor arrivals over the period of 1 to 14 April,” STB said. The sharp fall in inbound travellers has caused average hotel occupancy rates to fall to 20-30%compared to normal levels of more than 70%.
There are more than 180 reported SARS cases including 14 deaths in Singapore, the fourth highest fatality rate in the world behind Hong Kong, China and Toronto in Canada.
